2013 Freeman Winery Gloria Estate Pinot Noir Russian River Valley MAGNUM

The 2013 Gloria Estate Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is Freeman’s second-ever estate bottled wine, from the hillside vineyard directly adjacent to our winery facility. We chose the name Gloria since it was Hurricane Gloria that brought Ken and Akiko Freeman together in 1985. Ken was on a sailboat forced to spend the night in port, as the hurricane prevented him and his friends from setting out into the Atlantic as originally planned. That night they went instead to a party, where the best dressed and most beautiful woman was Akiko. The rest, of course, was history.

In a happy coincidence, it was a woman of the same name who sold Ken and Akiko several acres adjacent to the original winery property. Part of our estate vineyard now lies on Gloria’s old apple orchard. In 2006 we planted the eight-acre vineyard to the heritage clones Swan, Calera, Martini and Pommard plus Dijon Clone 115. As in 2012, the 2013 Gloria Estate Pinot Noir is comprised predominantly of Calera and Swan, which are directly next to the winery.

Freeman’s vineyard consultant, Greg Adams, works with vineyard manager Arturo Robledo to cultivate Gloria Vineyard using the most rigorous, organic and sustainable methods possible.

The 2013 Gloria Estate Pinot Noir has the darkest color of all the 2013 Freeman Pinots. Compared with the inaugural 2012, the nose on the ’13 is a little shy, showing some hints of blackberries, currants and roasted meats. The palate is very complex, and with some aeration it reveals a ripe, dense Russian River Valley Pinot character with medium to high tannin and balanced acidity. It should start to come out of its shell in 2016 and last through 2026.