Wine of the Week: 2013 Freeman Pinot Noir

Thanksgiving is in the offing, the day when we eat and drink for hours on end. It is an exhausting affair, but we can’t help ourselves. We feast.

With this in mind, I tasted a flight of pinot noirs to prepare us for our feast. The wine-of-the week winner is the Freeman, 2013 Russian River Valley Gloria Estate Pinot Noir at $58. All the pinots in the lineup deserve a shout out, because they are particularly lovely. They include Iron Horse, Ron Rubin, La Crema and Loring, and you can’t go wrong with any of them.

For the value-minded, the tasty La Crema pinot noir is $30.

On this holiday we are pinot-centric for good reason. Pinot noir, the tangy incarnation, is the ideal Thanksgiving pick because it contrasts with all the decadent dishes.

The Freeman pinot definitely fits this profile. It has bright Bing cherry fruit with a touch of rhubarb and is layered with savory herbs and spices. The pinot is lively with great acid and high-toned fruit that makes it a knockout.

The winemaker behind this winning pinot is Akiko Freeman, who grew up in Tokyo. Her grandfather was one of Japan’s leading academics, and he inspired her with his love of wine.

What happened behind the scenes to make the Freeman pinot a standout?

Explains Freeman, “We planted this vineyard in 2006 with five clones that we love but are hard to find. We farm the site organically, and the vineyard sits in the Green Valley, getting both Sonoma Coast and Russian River influences.”

What the uninitiated don’t know is the tireless effort that goes into winemaking, she said.

“People don’t know how much work and care goes into every one of our bottles. We do around 40 different, clonal fermentations to produce only 4,000-5,000 cases.”

Akiko and husband Ken Freeman moved back from Singapore in 1997. “We fell in love with wines from the Russian River Valley,” she explained.

Freeman immersed herself in the world of viticulture and winemaking, and apprenticed herself to wine consultant Ed Kurtzman. Today, she oversees every aspect of Freeman’s winemaking program, from the organic farming of Freeman’s estate vineyards to the selection of grower partners.