This refreshing wine inspired the winemaker, who loves champagne and sparkling wine. He came up with the great idea of making a sparkling wine using the Chardonnay from this vineyard and releasing it in 2021, the year of the winery's 20th anniversary. He also got the cooperation of Craig Romer, a former winemaker at Schramsberg in Napa Valley, and thus Freeman's first sparkling wine was born. Yuki Estate is a vineyard located just 8 km from the Pacific Ocean and at an altitude of about 300 m. The first vines planted in this vineyard were Dijon clone Pinot Noir, but in 2017, 0.2 hectares of Pinot Noir were grafted with Chardonnay. The following year, Yuki Estate's first Chardonnay was harvested and confirmed that it could produce a wine as refreshing as sparkling wine. The wine is made in the traditional Brut Nature style with no sugar added during disgorgement, using a second fermentation in the bottle. The winemaking process is minimalist, allowing the wine to fully express the elegant house style and the characteristics of this special vineyard. Yuki's Blanc de Blancs is a true signature of this vineyard, with plenty of fruit. The primary fermentation in barrels on the lees gives the wine even more character. The use of old French barrels gives the wine structure and aroma, and the unfiltered finish gives the wine a natural clarity without losing body. The additional fermentation in bottle allows the yeast's unique character to shine through even more. Freeman Vineyard & 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 lovers of elegant and sophisticated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and dreamed of one day making wines in California with the complex flavors of Burgundy and the power to attract drinkers. In order to establish a winery that could rival the world, they began to inspect more than 300 fields 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 breeze that blows inland from the coast. The grapes grown there mature slowly, retaining fresh acidity, and growing very pure and rich in flavor. In the 2000s, when Freeman was founded, California was in the midst of a boom in the production and consumption of fruit-rich wines, but they are not influenced by such trends and have 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 it has been included on the wine lists of 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 the winery was suddenly thrown into the limelight. 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.