2022 Freestone Occidental Bodega Vineyard Pinot Noir, Raen Winery

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. Note from the winery 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 possesses 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. Drink 2025-2037. 96/100 (Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media)