Freeman Vineyards & Winery was founded in 2001 by Ken Freeman and his wife Akiko, a Roppongi native.
Fifteen years ago, when the two had just met, they had hit it off as lovers of elegant and sophisticated Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They hoped to one day create a wine in California that would have the complex flavor and the ability to draw drinkers in, similar to Burgundy. We dreamed of making wine with our own hands.
In order to establish a winery that can rival the world, we will begin inspecting over 300 vineyards and farms, focusing on vineyards planted on cool, gentle slopes.
As a result, they chose Sonoma Valley, a region shrouded in fog and influenced by cool sea breezes blowing inland from the coast.
The grapes grown there ripen slowly, retaining fresh acidity and resulting in great purity and flavour.
When Freeman was founded in the 2000s, California was in the midst of a boom in the production and consumption of fruit-forward wines, but the company remained uninfluenced by such trends and stuck to its belief of brewing well-balanced, elegant wines based on organic farming.
As a result, Freeman's wine style began to attract attention not only in California but also around the world, and its wines were included on the wine lists of famous restaurants around the world, growing into a small but well-known brand.
In April 2015, a bottle of Ryofu Chardonnay from the 2013 vintage was served at the White House official dinner hosted by former President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, catapulting the wine into the limelight.
As of 2019, Akiko is the only Japanese female winemaker and owner of a winery and vineyard in California, and she continues to produce modest, sharp, high-quality wines.