Winemaker Notes
The vines are rooteddeeply in an ancient seabed that dates back morethan 200 million years ago and soar high above thesea at over 1,000 feet in elevation. Mere miles fromthe ocean, this is our highest elevation and mostcoastal pinot noir bottling. Rose petals, raspberry,purple flowers, and wild strawberry all fill the bowl,followed by notes of freshly picked wild raspberries,sea moss, and white tea. On the palate, ripe redberries persist, followed by blood orange pith,chamomile flower, and wet rock with a kiss ofsalinity, transporting us to the Sea that sits justbeyond our Sea Field site. Violet floral notes andhints of crushed wild berries follow, elegantly leadinginto an incredibly long and vibrant finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has great tension between the bold, dramatic fruit and mineral flavors and the chalky, firm and brightly crisp texture. Laced with layers of red and black cherries and vivid raspberries, with strawberries in the finish. All backed by nervy acidity and moderate tannins for a sense of tension and linearity.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a bright ruby color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Sea Field, comes from way out close to the coast just beyond Hirsch. It’s the most elegant of the reds, leading with notes of pomegranate, roses, dried earth, and spiced orange. The palate offers a medium-bodied frame, and it has fine-grained tannins, mouthwatering acidity, and a long, graceful finish.
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Wine Spectator
This is tightly coiled, with bitter cherry and damson plum fruit that is pure and unadorned, while savory, flint and sanguine flecks dart through. The long finish shows a tensile structure that lends a sense of precision and mouthwatering cut. Have patience with cellaring.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Sea Field is a powerful, intensely mineral wine. Iron, gravel, red-toned fruit and rose petal are all finely sculpted. Salivating acids and a spine of searing tannins give the Sea Field its shape and insistent, driving personality. Bright saline notes extend the nuanced, bracing finish. This nervy Pinot needs time in bottle to be at its most expressive.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Pinot Noir Sea Field bursts from the glass with an alluring perfume of strawberry, raspberry, tangerine, tea leaves and gravel dust. The medium-bodied palate is pure and delicate, offering concentration without weight and silky tannins. Its vibrant acidity is seamlessly integrated, and it has a long, latent finish. Rating: 92+
As winemakers and farmers, Carlo and Dante attribute a great deal of what they have learned to their grandfather Robert and father Tim, both whom influenced them from a young age.
Carlo and Dante’s father Tim was a pioneer for California Pinot Noir in the early 1970s and has always had a tremendous regard for the great wines of Burgundy. To this day his Pinot Noirs from the 1970s are showing incredibly well. Carlo and Dante credit their father’s passion for Pinot Noir as the early inspiration that got them excited at a young age.
Dante studied abroad in Switzerland at the Webster University in Genève as well at UC Davis in California. Carlo studied in France at the University of Aix-en-Provence and in Italy at the University of Milan. After their formal studies were complete Carlo and Dante continued their educational work with the winemaking team lead by their father Tim Mondavi at Robert Mondavi Winery and Opus One.
When Robert Mondavi Winery was sold in 2004, the brothers joined their father Tim, Aunt-Marcia and grandfather Robert as they founded Continuum in 2005.
In 2013 Carlo and Dante founded RAEN winery with the goal to produce world class Pinot Noir on the western hills of the Sonoma Coast. RAEN currently focuses on making three Pinot Noirs, from three unique sites on the Sonoma Coast.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.