Progress & Solutions

The 2023 vintage marks the seventh Rosé release dedicated to the Monarch Challenge. Thanks to our friends and supporters, we are optimistic about the progress made and hopeful about the future for a cleaner, healthier and more brilliant planet.

Through the Monarch Challenge and conversations with farmers, Carlo Mondavi, along with his co-founders, began Monarch Tractor - offering a solution for farmers around the world.

And, for the third year in a row, the 2023 Rosé release also allows us to donate to Xerces Society & the Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, two organizations supporting biodiversity through the important work they do.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. They are leading the charge for education and activism around pollinator health, and through last year’s release, we supported their Pollinator Conversation program.

The Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue are close friends and partners of RAEN Winery. They are dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife; and the promotion, understanding, appreciation, protection and conservation of wildlife through both Educational Outreach Programs and advocacy efforts. They have helped wineries, including RAEN, add owl boxes to their vineyards, and our donation last year went towards building an outdoor rehabiliation space for large birds, as well as a bear enclosure.

Hear more about the Movement

from Carlo Mondavi, founder of Monarch Challenge:

Earth Day 2023 | A Letter from Carlo Mondavi: “As we enter our eighth year, we pause to appreciate all the exciting progress that has been made along this important journey and to thank all those who have joined us on this important mission. Even with the success we have had we are far from out of the woods. In fact, these years ahead are, without question, our most critical…”

New York Times | “Robert Mondavi Changed Wine. His Grandson Aims to Change Farming” Carlo Mondavi takes on climate change by pushing regenerative and organic agriculture, with the help of a smart electric tractor.

Disruptors for Good Podcast | “Making Sustainable Farming Economically Superior With the Tesla of Tractors”
“The true definition of sustainable is all over the place, blurring the root meaning of what sustainable is. With that said, truly sustainable farming is leaving the soils and environment farmed as good, if not better, than before to allow for life and farming to continue on healthily. This means no herbicides or systemics and a basic regenerative practice to help build soil health and biodiversity on the farm. Once this balance is found on a farm, there is the opportunity for a healthier farm team meaning healthier community and, most importantly, a better and healthier product to share and sell.”

The Four Top | “The Tractor that’s Bringing Sexy Back”

SF Chronicle | “Self-driving tractors could be widespread on California farms by next year” Mondavi felt strongly about eliminating synthetic pesticides and decreasing carbon emissions, and he started a campaign called the Monarch Challenge.

BBC Sounds - People Fixing the World | “Saving California’s Butterflies”

“The Challenge is really to make Sonoma and Napa herbicide free… We’ve lost connection to land, and to Mother Earth. The Challenge is to create a path forward for farmers to move away from chemicals.”

Before it Happened Podcast | “In the Pursuit of Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies”
“We want to be a solution to making farmers safer, healthier, happier, and more profitable at the end of the day, so that we can continue to do what we love. I see a really bright future in agriculture, and it's not just in getting rid of the chemicals, it’s in making farms more successful and more profitable.”

Future of XYZ Podcast | “The Future of Viniculture”
“My goal for the next 100 years is to be in the company of the great wines of the world, while helping protect our planet in the way we need to. If we don’t start acting now, we won’t have that path going forward.”

SevenFifty Daily “Why Organic Winegrowing can be More Profitable than Conventional”
“When you’re using synthetics and you’re using herbicides, you’re hurting not only your soil’s microbiome, you’re hurting the plant that you’re farming”

BBC “The Race to Save California’s Rarest Butterflies”
"I don't know any of my farmer friends that wakes up in the morning and says, 'I want to go spray chemicals.' Not one of them. They're terrible for the soil microbiome and the farm algae.”

RAEN Instagram - Carlo Mondavi shares about the birth of the Monarch Challenge & progress made since 2016 (2021, 2022)