2022 RAEN ‘Bodega' Pinot Noir Freestone-Occidental Sonoma Coast

Winemaker Notes Sun-warmed rose petals, wild strawberries, black cherries, and a rainy forest floor fill the bowl. This is followed by notes of muddled blackberry, thyme, pine branches and forni brown mushrooms transporting us to the Redwood forest that surrounds this site. On the palate, there is a beautiful ballet between red berries and dark fruit that is seamlessly intertwined with exotic spice box, zesty orange pith and crushed gravel, giving way to a seemingly everlasting finish.

Steep, raw and powerful, this hillside monopole vineyard sits mere miles from the cool Pacific Ocean, facing Bodega Bay in between the villages of Freestone and Occidental, where morning fog from the coast engulfs the vineyard. This 1.8-acre site is the oldest meter-by-meter planting of pinot noir on the Sonoma Coast, and due to its high density and steep slope, is farmed 100% by hand. This site presents our coolest and most exotic terroir. 

Critical Acclaim


James Suckling - "Purple fruit with lavender and seaweed. Hints of volcanic salt and peaches. Full-bodied yet tensioned and very focused. Muscular and very, very long. Flexing with form and beauty. Uniquely Occidental. Mind-blowing sophistication with its own personality. Drink after 2028."


Jeb Dunnuck - "The 2022 Pinot Noir Bodega comes from the smallest vineyard they work with, a western-facing vineyard of 1.8 acres, on the oldest meter-by-meter farmed vines on the coast in Freestone Occidental. In the glass, the wine is expressive and high-toned, with a light reductive note that gradually blows off, revealing notes of spiced cherries, alpine herbs, forest floor, and anise. It has the most serious and chiseled structure of the Pinot Noir offerings from Raen, with ripe tannins and a long, mouthwatering, mineral persistence, notes of dark stones, and ripe acidity. If opening soon, I would recommend decanting this one, but it’s certainly deserving of another year or more in a cool cellar. Drink 2026-2046."


Vinous - "The 2022 Pinot Noir Bodega is the most exotic and dense of the three Raen Pinots. Black fruit, mocha, gravel, licorice and spice are all amplified in a pinot that posses tremendous density and pure power. There's a bit of reduction here, so I would give this a few years in bottle. This is quite muscular."