2024 Raen "Royal St. Robert Cuvée" Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

The 2024 Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert is fabulous. Deeply pitched spice notes, blood orange, new leather, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco meld into a core of sweet red cherry fruit, mint, spice and cedar. This is one of the finest vintages of the Royal St. Robert I have ever tasted, going all the way back to Raen's early days. (AG)

A truly benchmark expression of the ultra-cool, western edge of the Sonoma Coast. This wine is sourced from a handful of vineyards, all within a few miles of the frigid Pacific. Fruit comes from Occidental, Bodega, and Fort Ross, where temperatures tend to hover in the upper 60s and low 70s even in mid-summer. This long, moderate growing season allows for incredible flavor development while preserving the fruit’s natural acidity. Clones include Calera, Swan, and Dijon selections 667, 115, and 777. The wine is made with 100% whole-cluster native fermentation and aged in neutral French oak to preserve a pure expression of the coast. The nose soars from the glass with dried rose petals, alpine strawberry, bramble leaf, torn herbs, camphor, subtle leather, and earthy spice. The fruit profile mirrors the aromatics beautifully, with wild red berries, black raspberry, lifted floral tones, and deeper earthy notes. Woodsy spice, coastal chaparral, and brambly tones are always present, interwoven with the bright red fruit. Long and silky on the palate, this is beautifully resolved even as a young wine, though it will surely become even more striking and gain additional mid-palate breadth with a few years in bottle. A singular, distinctive, and truly compelling expression of Pinot Noir that deserves a place on anyone’s dinner table.