Winemaker Notes
The Bodega Vineyard is RAEN's coolest and most exotic terroir. Steep, raw, and powerful, Bodega sits just east of Bodega Bay between the villages of Freestone and Occidental. This westerly planting is one of the oldest meter-by-meter plantings of pinot noir on the Sonoma Coast and this vine density shows in the wine. Black cherry, wild strawberry, coastal forest floor, rose petals, black tea, wet rock, and exotic spice box fill the bowl. On the palate, the wine is held together with bright acidity backed by youthful fine-grained tannins. Flavors of wild red and dark berries and crushed gravel give way to a beautiful long finish.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A really taut, focused red with lots of strawberry and black-tea aromas and flavors, as well as green tea. It’s full-bodied with a racy tannin structure and a pure, energetic finish. Needs time to shows all it has, but already beautiful. Drink after 2022.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Freestone Occidental Bodega has delicate scents of fresh cranberries, strawberries and Bing cherries with nuances of woodsmoke, graphite and earth. The palate is light-bodied with bright fruits, a soft frame and juicy finish.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.