Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Since 2004 Freeman has been producing a Russian River Valley appellation Pinot Noir. As opposed to the cooler, later-ripening Sonoma Coast blend, the Russian River demonstrates the ripeness which has made this area so famous. 2009 was another excellent vintage for Freeman with a small crop and later than normal ripening times. Four vineyards are found in this year's blend.

One of our favorite vineyards to work with is the Keefer Ranch, located in the heart of the Green Valley, north of Freeman. Keefer makes up the highest percentage of the '09 Russian River. Horse Ridge Vineyard is a short walk from the Freeman Winery, just up on Cherry Ridge Road. 12.5 barrels of Horse Ridge went into the '09 RRV making it the second largest part of the blend.

A new vineyard for Freeman, but by no means a new vineyard, is Helen Bacigalupi's historical site on Westside Road. Our first year working with Bacigalupi was a success, and we will continue sourcing from here in the future. An equal percentage of the 2009 Russian River comes from Ted Klopp's Thorn Ridge Vineyard, which we have worked with since 2004. '09 was a very small crop at Thorn, but the concentration and ripeness of the fruit was tremendous.

The 2009 Freeman Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is reminiscent of our very soft, lush and immediately enjoyable '04 RRV. The bright nose of Bing cherries and rhubarb is followed on the palate by plenty of ripe and chewy raspberry fruit flavors. In fact, this wine is drinking so well now it's difficult to recommend laying it down for too long. This said, a little patience will likely be rewarded. We believe the optimum timeframe for the '09 Russian River is between 2012 and 2017.

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Scores

91
91 points
91 points

Specs

Vineyards
  • 32% Keefer Ranch
  • 28% Horse Ridge
  • 20% Bacigalupi
  • 20% Thorn Ridge
Barrel Aging
11 Months in French Oak
  • 30% new
  • 50% one year-old
  • 20% two year-old
Bottling
July 2010
Fermentation
5-day cold soak in open top fermenters, hand punched down 1 to 3 times per day, free run sent directly to barrel, press wine settled and barreled separately
Production
  • 750 ml: 1028 cases
  • 1.5 L: 18 cases

Freeman

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