Of the six wines Freeman produced in 2019, the Sonoma Coast bottling is the one that improves the most with exposure to air.
The wine has a slight earthy and reduction aroma, reminiscent of Oregon and Burgundy wines. After a few hours of decanting, the Sonoma Coast
It has distinctive, vivid berry aromas and a savory side. In the mouth, it has chewy acidity, ripe fruit, and soft tannins. It has a long finish and is expected to age well into 2030. The winter of 2019 was rainy and cold for many days. Budbreak in Sonoma Coast began late, and the weather during the flowering period in May was unstable, causing poor fruit set. The yield was significantly lower than in 2018, which was a bumper harvest. The weather was stable from June to harvest, and we were able to harvest high-quality grapes in 2018 and 2019, just like in 2002 and 2003. Both will be great vintages. The 2019 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a blend of two vineyards that best represent this AVA. Freeman's own Yuki Estate Vineyard accounts for 90% of the blend. The 5.26ha Yuki Estate Vineyard is one of the steepest vineyards on the Sonoma Coast. As it ages, the potential of Pinot Noir from the cooler vineyards near the Pacific Ocean is maximized. Yuki Estate Vineyard clones are 2A, 23, 114, 667, 828, Calera, and Mount Eden, all of which are used in this Sonoma Coast blend. Freeman has been sourcing Swiss Couron 2A (aka Weidensville) grapes from Jim Pratt's vineyard on Sexton Road since 2005. Pratt Vineyard is a vineyard a little southwest of Freeman's winery and has been an important part of Sonoma Coast and Akiko's Cuvée bottlings for the past 16 years. Clone 2A is a powerful and elegant grape that gives the wine a spicy and old world nuance. Freeman Vineyards & Winery was founded in 2001 by Ken Freeman and his wife Akiko, who is from Roppongi. 15 years ago, when the two had just met, they hit it off as both lovers of elegant and sophisticated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and dreamed of one day making wine in California with the complex flavor and power to attract drinkers like Burgundy. In order to establish a winery that could rival the world, they began to inspect over 300 vineyards and growers, focusing on vineyards planted on cool, gentle slopes. As a result, they chose the Sonoma Valley production area, which is covered in fog and influenced by the cold sea breezes that blow inland from the coast. The grapes grown there ripen slowly, retaining fresh acidity, and growing very pure and rich in flavor. When Freeman was founded in the 2000s, California was in the midst of a boom in the production and consumption of fruit-rich wines, but they were not influenced by such trends and stuck to their belief of brewing balanced and elegant wines based on organic farming. As a result, Freeman's wine style has attracted attention not only in California but also around the world, and has been adopted by famous restaurants around the world, growing into a small but well-known brand. In April 2015, the 2013 vintage of Ryofu Chardonnay was served at the White House official dinner hosted by former President Barack Obama, who invited Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and it suddenly became a spotlight. As of 2019, Akiko is the only Japanese female winemaker who owns a winery and vineyards in California, and continues to produce modest, sharp, high-quality wines.