At RAEN, brothers Carlo and Dante Mondavi, continue the pursuit of not only their dreams of making Pinot Noir, but also the one-hundred-year legacy of family love and dedication to the grape. Carlo pushes toward a truly ‘sustainable’ legacy of his own through a harmonic and symbiotic culture in the vineyard, winery, and beyond…
While the story of RAEN is just beginning, it is intertwined among the longer story of the Mondavi Family’s wine journey.
For the last century the family has been growing grapes and producing wine, and Carlo’s project, RAEN, will take the wine family into the future, while promising to leave a positive legacy for the next generation. Carlo’s end goal is for RAEN to become a true permaculture. He works towards this goal by honoring the sites he works with in order to create wines of place and elegance. For Carlo, the vineyard and winery are a circular environment; the two are able to thrive together due to a delicate touch throughout production, and perhaps most importantly, an abundance of biodiversity in the vineyard.
Throughout their one-hundred-year journey in wine, the family has presented itself in many forms – Mondavi, Continuum, and RAEN. The legacy now embarks on its next one-hundred-years with a true caretaker of the land leading the way.
THE INTERVIEW
ABOUT THE MONARCH CHALLENGE
The Monarch Challenge was developed by Carlo to encourage farming and living in unison with nature. The goal has been to plant Sonoma and Napa on the map as not only fine wine regions, but also as pioneers of regenerative farming, with the ultimate goal of inspiring farmers across all agricultural industries to adopt and incorporate biodiverse values.
The significance of the ‘Monarch’ originates from that fact that since the introduction of Roundup in 1974, the Monarch Butterfly population has declined by 90% and is now facing extinction. The true impact goes far beyond the Monarch, but if changes are made the course can be reversed.
RAEN produces ‘The Monarch Challenge Rosé’ each year and the proceeds help to raise awareness and support organizations dedicated to protecting the planet and promoting biodiversity in vineyards, farms, and land.
Visit their website themonarchchalleng.org to learn more
THE WINES
Rose ‘The Monarch Challenge’, RAEN
• Practicing Organic and Biodynamic
• Pinot Noir and Old Vine Grenache
• Whole bunch pressed on a delicate cycle
• Native fermentations in stainless steel, neutral oak, and concrete vessels
• 400 cases produced
• Proceeds from this vintage donated to the Xerces Society and Sonoma County Wildlife
Pinot Noir ‘Royal St. Robert Cuvee: Sonoma Coast’, RAEN
- • Practicing Organic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• Calera, Pommard, 828, rVR1, and 667 clones
• Royal St. Robert Vineyard (Sonoma Coast AVA)
• 658 ft elevation
• South-east exposure
• Well-drained Goldridge sandy loam and Steinbeck fine sandy loam soils in the lower rows
• Iron-rich Franciscan soils in the upper parcel
• 100% Whole cluster
• Native fermentation
• Aged in neutral French oak barrels
• This wine is dedicated to Carlo and Dante Mondavi’s grandfather, Robert Mondavi
• Bottled without fining or filtration
• 12.5% abv
Pinot Noir ‘Bodega: Freestone-Occidental’, RAEN
• Practicing Organic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• Calera, 667, and Pommard clones
• Bodega Vineyard (Freestone Occidental)
• 750 ft. elevation
• Goldridge sandy loam, iron-rich Franciscan soils
• South, south-west exposure
• 100% Whole cluster
• Native yeast fermentation
• Aged in neutral French oak barrels
• Bottled without fining or filtration
• 8 barrels produced
• 12.7% abv
Pinot Noir ‘Sea Field: Fort Ross-Seaview’, RAEN
• Practicing Organic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• 777 clones
• Sea Field Vineyard formerly known as Home Field (Fort Ross-Seaview AVA)
• Well-drained, decomposing iron-rich sandstone of the Franciscan series
• South-east exposure
• 1,025-1,270 ft. elevation
• 100% Whole cluster
• Native fermentation
• Aged in neutral French oak barrels
• Bottled without fining or filtration
• 13% abv
