Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Raeburn Winery crafts complex, elegant wines dedicated to founder Derek Benham’s mother, Phyllis, and independently minded spirits like her. A lifelong lover of nature, Phyllis has a deep respect for the complexity and spectacular beauty of the environment, and she lives fearlessly within it. Like the birds she adores, she mastered flight early in life as a pilot at age 14. She completed numerous solo expeditions at the Alaskan frontier to study birds in the wild. Phyllis instilled her love of nature and spirit of independence in her son Derek and inspired by her, he founded Raeburn in 2014. The name Raeburn is Old English for “the river where one drinks” – a salute to free-thinking adventurers, like Phyllis, who dare to venture off the beaten track and flourish there.
Raeburn wines are complex and elegant wines. Made in a California certified sustainably winery, they are committed to protect and conserve the wilderness.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.