2024 RAEN Pinot Noir Fort Ross Seaview Pacific Rock Sonoma Coast

“An incredible debut wine, showing beautiful aromas of strawberries, cantaloupe, flint and dried seaweed, as well as iodine and dried flowers. Medium- to full-bodied, with Musigny-like power, a magical flex of tannins and closed, poised fruit. Endless. Nothing like this in California pinot noir. Drinkable now, but wait five years if you have the patience.” – James Suckling Review Date: February 2026

“Pacific Rock is Raen's newest single-vineyard wine, with 2024 marking its inaugural vintage - the very first vintage made from this site, previously known as McDougall Ranch. The vineyard sits exposed to the coast's wind and sun, so the vines respond with thicker trunks, gnarled canopies, and thick-skinned grapes, giving the wine a clear intensity of flavour and aroma. An inviting mix of dried flowers and savoury, umami notes opens in the glass. It tastes complex, with a mix of tart, dark berries showing real richness of fruit but no sense of weight, carried by fine-grained tannin and a sense of minerality and freshness in the finish. A touch tight right now; made with 100% whole-cluster fermentation, it will certainly evolve in interesting ways over the next few years. A lovely addition to Raen's portfolio. Drinking Window: 2026 – 2038” – Ana Carolina Quintela Review Date: April 2026

A new wine in this range, the 2024 Pinot Noir Pacific Rock emerges from McDougall, a well-known site in Fort Ross-Seaview. Bold and explosive, the 2024 possesses tremendous textural depth and intensity. Dark-toned fruit, new leather, cedar, cloves, menthol and licorice fill out the layers. This imposing, broad-scaled Pinot has a lot to offer. There’s a bit of toughness in the tannin that needs to be addressed, but this is nevertheless a very fine debut. I expect the Pacific Rock will continue to improve now that the vineyard is being transitioned to organic farming, a process that takes 7-10 years to show full results. Drinking Window: 2027 – 2036” – Antonio Galloni Review Date: January 2026