Freeman Winery

Gloria Estate Pinot Noir

Gloria is Freeman’s estate vineyard, planted adjacent to the winery and just 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Ken and Akiko acquired this site—previously a Gravenstein apple orchard—from a neighbor in 2005 and planted it the following year. They named the vineyard for the orchard’s owner, Gloria, and especially for the fortuitous event that brought Ken and Akiko together in 1985. Ken had been on a sailboat heading south in the Atlantic when Hurricane Gloria forced him to spend the night in port. That evening he attended a friend’s party where he met Akiko, who was the best-dressed and most beautiful woman in the room. The rest, of course, is history.

We planted the 8-acre vineyard to heritage Pinot Noir clones—Swan, Calera, Martini and Pommard—along with Dijon 115. Because Gloria is a challenging site to farm, with steep hillsides and varying exposures, Akiko works closely with Freeman’s vineyard team on all decisions regarding this challenging and rewarding vineyard.

After the unusually cool and late 2023 vintage, things got back to a more typical growing season for Russian River’s Green Valley. This was surprising since the winter of 2024 was just as cold and rainy as the previous year. March temperatures warmed up just enough to get the roots and the vines going—two weeks earlier than the prior year. Crop levels are typically set in May, during and immediately after flowering. In 2024, the month alternated between cool and warm weather, which led to a slightly smaller crop size. The summer was exactly what we expected, with sunny afternoons and cool, foggy nights and mornings. Fortunately, we harvested all of the Gloria Pinot right before the September heat waves set in.

Freeman’s 2024 Gloria Estate Pinot Noir, with an almost opaque purple color, is one of the darkest wines we have produced. The nose takes a while to emerge from the glass at this young stage, but with some aeration, it reveals ripe plums, roasted black tea and tobacco. There is considerable tannin on the palate in this youthful Gloria, and after swirling it in the glass, deeply concentrated and ripe blackberry flavors begin to reveal themselves. Lay this down until 2027 and enjoy it through 2040.