What the French call “terroir”—a sense of place speaking through the wine in a given glass—usually refers to climate and environment. A good example of this is the distinct whiff of eucalyptus in an Aussie shiraz or the unmistakable herbal garrigue found in Rhône wines. Sometimes, it’s the flinty minerality of chardonnay grown in Chablis’ limestone soils or the classic gritty dust of cabernets from the Rutherford Bench in Napa. But what about character? Can a wine be equally reflective of the person (or more accurately, people) who farm and produce it?

A recent tasting of some excellent West Sonoma wines showcased where climate and character may intersect. A cool-climate region with mediating influences from both the river and the ocean, the far Sonoma Coast and its sub-appellations like the Green River are exceptional places for both pinot noir and chardonnay. I’ve reviewed many, many wines from this region and visited often, but the wines being made at Freeman Vineyard and Winery made me sit up and take notice all over again. My tasting notes included words like “elegant, polished, multi-layered, evolving” and both the chardonnay and the pinot noir reflected a beautiful sense of balance—of subtly integrated fruit, acidity and alcohol.  “Just who is making these wines?!”  I thought. “They’re astonishingly good.”  

The answer revealed itself in person at a recent event at the Japanese Consul General’s home in Los Angeles where winemaker Akiko Freeman was honored with the historic Green & White Medal for Agricultural Excellence, the first woman to ever receive the prestigious award. Ms. Freeman, a Stanford graduate and a cousin to the former Empress MIchiko, has led a far more adventurous life than the one initially intended for her. A chance encounter with American businessman Ken Freeman encouraged her to abandon the arranged marriage that had been planned for her; like my own father, I would argue that Ken is also “not a fool,” and his persistence eventually won over Akiko’s grandfather and family.

As they approach 30 years of marriage, the Freemans’ eponymous winery continues to win accolades both here and abroad.  In honoring Ms. Freeman at the Medal Ceremony in LA, Shinkichki Koyama noted, “She’s worked very hard to achieve the best growing conditions on the property—irrigation, ensuring that the soil was well-drained and well-oxygenated—all with the long-term vision to produce better grapes under organic farming protocols.” While the history and impact of male Japanese farmers in California is well-documented, it was important to see Akiko’s pioneering work as a woman winemaker be recognized. In receiving the award, Akiko noted, “I’m glad people recognize me for what I’m doing—the wine world is so very male-dominated. And I hope because I got this award, it’s going to open the door and be an inspiration for young female winemakers. Like, if they hope to reach for a star, it can be done.”

Another affirming milestone for Freeman wines occurred at the White House in 2015; when Obama’s official Sommelier first inquired about serving Akiko’s chardonnay at a state dinner for then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the winemaker wondered if it was a prank call. Her exceptional 2013 “Ryo-Fu” Chardonnay was featured at the dinner. More recently, Freeman wines were again poured at a State Department lunch honoring Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. Hosted by Vice-President Kamala Harris and attended by officials like Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the Freeman wines have become emblematic of the long and deep friendship between Japan and the United States, a true embodiment of east-meets-west.  

Like her wines, Akiko is polished and poised.  She is also a noted philanthropist and mentor to many in Sonoma County. If character can speak through a glass of wine, the inherent integrity of Akiko’s winemaking is only enhanced by the kind of person she is. Her wines and a visit to the gorgeous Freeman tasting room and guesthouse are a must for any serious fans of Sonoma wines.

Recommended Wines:

2022 “RYO-FU” CHARDONNAY (GREEN VALLEY OF THE RUSSIAN RIVER) SRP $49
“Ryo-Fu” is Japanese for “cool breeze” and this elegant chardonnay reflects the climate of the area beautifully. The grapes are sourced from the highly prized Heintz and Dutton Ranch vineyards. The wine presents with gorgeous stone fruit, marzipan and lemon curd aromas, framed with zesty acidity in the mid-palate.

2021 “AKIKO’S CUVÉE” PINOT NOIR (SONOMA COAST) SRP $85
This is Akiko’s flagship blend of pinot noir and it’s just gorgeous, like her. Aromatic notes of ripe cranberry, dried rose petals and lavender with beautifully polished, silken tannins and just enough oak vanillin to give structure.  Amazing pinot noir that will only develop to be even better over the next 10-15 years.

SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA, April 16. 2024:    Wines made by Freeman Vineyard & Winery were featured at a State Department luncheon hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris on April 11, 2024. The luncheon was held in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Nishida, celebrating the close ties between Japan and the United States. 

“Learning that our wines were selected to be poured at this luncheon was a total surprise” said Akiko Freeman, winemaker and co-owner of the Sebastopol, California winery. “Even better, we were invited to attend! I was pleased that they selected 2020 Yu-Ki Estate Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, the 2021 Ryo-Fu Chardonnay, and our 2021 Akiko’s Cuvée Pinot Noir to be served with the menu that Chef Larkin had created for the afternoon.

“Akiko and I were blessed to be a part of such a memorable day at the State Department” said proprietor and co-owner Ken Freeman. “Our country has an amazing relationship with Japan, and it feels great to know that we are contributing to that relationship in our small way. Being in the room with so many business and political leaders was inspiring, and this inside view of the camaraderie and shared vision of our countries for the future was thrilling, to say the least. 

The luncheon’s menu was conceived by Jason Larkin, Executive Chef of the State Department, with assistance from guest chef Masako Morishita of Maxwell Park in Washington, DC. The featured dishes included Asparagus Zucchini Pickles & Ricotta, Grilled Virginia Bass, followed by a Cherry Blossom Mousse with Coconut and Matcha Sponge Cake. 

Chef Larkin said, “I consider it a great honor to be in a position to select the wines for the Secretary’s official entertaining.”  Chef Larkin uses these events as an opportunity to showcase ties between the visiting country and the United States, with U.S. wines showcased at every event he puts together. “The Japanese heritage of Freeman Vineyards and the versatility of Akiko’s wines offered a broad palette of flavors and aromatics to work with” he says. “They allowed me to underscore some thematic and culinary ideas specific to this luncheon honoring Prime Minister Kishida — I like to think that Thomas Jefferson would be so proud that we are serving such wonderful American wines for diplomatic purposes.”

In addition to Ms. Harris and Mr. Blinken, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other U.S. and Japanese government and business luminaries were in attendance.

Wines made by Freeman Vineyard & Winery are produced from organically farmed grapes grown in Sonoma County in Northern California. Akiko Freeman was recently awarded the Green & White Medal from the Dar Nihon Agriculture Society of Japan for her work in building bridges between the Japanese and American communities through her agricultural efforts. Using estate-grown grapes from their vineyards in the Russian River Valley and West Sonoma Coast AVAs, the winery has built a solid reputation for making balanced and elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Freeman wines can be enjoyed at fine restaurants and purchased from retailers around the world, as well as ordering direct via their wine club, “The Friends of Freeman.” 5% of all wine club revenue is donated to local, Sonoma County charities. Their Sebastopol tasting room is open year-round by appointment.

Freeman Vineyards & Winery

1300 Montgomery Rd, Sebastopol, CA 95472
707.823.6937

For further information, interviews, photographs, or samples of Freeman wine, please contact Dan Fredman, dan@danfredman.com, or 323.89.9463

Akiko Freeman and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at State Dept Luncheon in Honor 

of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Nishida, April 11, 2024. 

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Akiko Freeman’s wines will be served at the State Department luncheon to honor Japan’s prime minister.

Sebastopol winemaker Akiko Freeman got the surprise of a lifetime when she opened her emails on Monday.

She’d received an invitation from Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend a State Department luncheon in Washington D.C., honoring Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to the United States.

“I’m just so humbled and excited and very honored,” said Freeman when reached by phone Thursday after the winery shared the news in an Instagram post. “It’s so rewarding.”

Freeman and her husband, Ken, will fly to Washington next Wednesday to attend the April 11 event, where three of their wines will also be served.

The State Department contacted Freeman Winery in Sebastopol a few weeks ago and asked them to send various kinds so they could choose some to serve at the lunch. A trio of wines were selected and Freeman shipped three cases of each, figuring that would be it.

Her wine had previously been served at a White House State Dinner in 2015 when President Barack Obama hosted Japan’s then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but that honor didn’t come with a dinner invitation.

“We thought this would be the same, so I didn’t expect that. It’s so amazing,” she said.

Freeman’s husband, Ken, said he was “floored” when his wife told him the news.

“She had a big smile on her face. She knew how exciting this was,” he said.

The three Freeman wines to be served at the luncheon include a sparkling wine, the 2020 Yu-Ki Estate Blanc de Blancs, a 2021 Ryo-Fu Chardonnay and a 2021 Akiko’s Cuvée Pinot Noir.

A winemaker having their wines served to a roomful of world dignitaries is already a huge honor. Being there in person, though, is the icing on the cake.

“I can witness if people are enjoying the wine, that’s all that matters to me,” said Akiko Freeman. “If people love it, it’s rewarding and makes me keep doing what I like.”

She added she is particularly fond of the sparkling wine because the vintage, 2020, was a year when she lost a lot of fruit to wildfire smoke.

“It’s one of the very few wines we were able to produce without compromise,” she said.

Her husband, in the true spirit of the State Department, quite diplomatically chose the pinot noir, “the one with my wife’s name on it,” as the one he’s most looking forward to seeing served at the lunch.

Akiko Freeman said that wine is a blend of her favorite barrels from the 2021 harvest.

“This is not a vineyard designate,” she explained. “We picked the best tasting barrels of the year, it’s just full of goodness.”

An earlier vintage of the chardonnay was served at the 2015 state dinner.

State Department luncheons are typically hosted the day after a White House State Dinner, which is a formal event. The dress code on the Freeman’s invitation states “business attire.”

That’s quite a bit different than what Akiko Freeman wears on a typical workday doing punchdowns, crawling in tanks and shoveling pomace, the solids left behind after pressing juice from grapes.

“She’s in T-shirt, jeans and work boots during the work week,” said Ken Freeman.

Nevertheless, the Freemans are looking forward to spiffing up and meeting the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and his wife, Yuko.

Akiko Freeman, who last year received an award from Japan for her contributions to the agricultural industry, said she was supposed to meet the prime minister’s wife when they were in San Francisco for the APEC summit last autumn, but her trip was canceled.

And of course being in the same room with Blinken and Harris is pretty thrilling, too.

“I just want to thank her for her service,” Akiko Freeman said of the vice president. “She’s from the Bay Area, and meeting the (first) female vice president is very exciting to me.”

Like the vice president’s husband, Doug Emhoff, Ken Freeman is proud of his wife’s achievements and is undoubtedly her biggest cheerleader.

“She had never wanted to speak to the media or promote herself,” he said. “Akiko is so humble. It’s really great to see her getting some recognition, so that’s why I’m really excited and proud about this,”

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JenInOz.

One of Eiji Akaboshi’s earliest memories is his discovery of the world through sensory exploration.

Born in Brazil to Japanese parents, Akaboshi was just 3 years old when his family moved to Chile, where he spent much of his childhood playing outdoors. That’s where he discovered his keen sense of smell and fascination with textures.

“Kids experience the world in different ways, and for me, it was always through my senses,” said Akaboshi, associate winemaker at Freeman Winery in the Russian River Valley. “That helped me develop an early appreciation for flavors and scents that I still have today.”

As a winemaker, Akaboshi’s heightened senses have served him well, especially at Freeman where he and fellow Japanese winemaker Akiko Freeman produce elegant pinot noirs and chardonnays.

Working alongside a fellow Japanese winemaker wasn’t something Akaboshi set out to do. But that’s just one of the serendipitous things that have transpired during his lifetime.

A family legacy

Growing up in Chile, Akaboshi remembers his father developing an affinity for Chilean wine — bold cabernet sauvignon, carmenère, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay — which became frequent guests at the dinner table.

“My father has always loved wine. Even though I was very young when we lived in Chile, wine is something that stuck in my mind,” said Akaboshi. “By the time I got to college, I was the kid with the wine glass drinking Chianti in the dorm.”

Majoring in biology at the University of Hawaii, Akaboshi found the research lab unfulfilling. By the time he reached his last year of undergrad, he still didn’t know what to pursue as a career.

“But one day, I had this eureka moment when I realized winemaking is a biological process,” said Akaboshi. “So I decided to link my college degree with my wine-drinking hobby and become a winemaker.”

While pursuing his master’s degree in enology from Fresno State, Akaboshi recalls his father casually mentioning they had a relative who used to make wine “a long time ago.”

“I think he gave me Kanaye Nagasawa’s name, but he mentioned it in passing so I just sort of forgot about it,” said Akaboshi. “It wasn’t until later when I looked up Nagasawa’s name that I realized I wasn’t the first person in our family to make wine in California. Nagasawa had beaten me by 120 years.”

Born in 1852 in Kagoshima, Japan, Kanaye Nagasawa was one of 15 young students smuggled out of Shogunate Period Japan on a reconnaissance mission to study Western culture in the United Kingdom.

Tens of thousands of ballots still be be counted in Sonoma and Napa counties

MARTIN ESPINOZA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

At age 13, Nagasawa was too young to attend university, so he was sent to Scotland where his path eventually crossed with religious leader Thomas Lake Harris.

Harris recruited Nagasawa to work at his commune in New York, and when Harris decided to relocate the community to Sonoma County, Nagasawa followed.

In 1875, Harris purchased 400 acres in the Fountaingrove area of Santa Rosa (for just $50 an acre), where he went on to launch Fountaingrove Winery in 1882.

When Harris left California in 1892, he put Nagasawa in charge of the entire estate, including the ranch, winery, vineyards, manor house and Santa Rosa’s iconic Round Barn, which used to house 60 horses.

Under Nagasawa’s steady leadership, Fountaingrove Winery grew to become one of California’s 10 largest wineries at that time. That earned him significant respect, both in the U.S. and abroad, where he was known as the “Wine King of California.”

Today, Nagasawa is considered a significant figure in California wine history. Not only was he the first to market California wines in Europe, he presided over one of Sonoma County’s most prominent wineries of his era.

After his death in 1934, Fountaingrove Winery was seized by the government as part of California’s Alien Land Laws, which forbid Asians from owning land or businesses. The property was eventually sold and turned into ranch land.

“I was shocked when I learned Nagasawa’s story," said Akoboshi, Nagasawa’s great, great grandnephew. “That was really a profound moment for me.”

A coincidental connection

Akaboshi never planned to work for one of the few Japanese winemakers in California, but it’s “a happy coincidence” that makes him know he’s in the right place, he said.

“About 10 years ago, I tasted Akiko’s wines at a gathering and was so impressed. I didn’t know California could produce pinot noirs with such elegance,” said Akaboshi. “I get goose bumps just thinking about it. I thought, wow, it would be wonderful to work with Akiko someday. But it was only a wish at the time.”

But last February, Freeman Winery announced they were looking for an associate winemaker. Akaboshi, it turned out, was perfect for the job.

“I was so excited, I could hardly believe it when they hired me,” said Akaboshi. “I felt like I really connected with Akiko, so I must have made a strong impression.”

“When Eiji and I started talking about working together at the winery, everything just felt right,” said Akiko Freeman, who founded Freeman Winery with her husband, Ken Freeman, in 2001. “I’d been following his winemaking career and knew he would make a strong associate winemaker.”

Their collaboration has been an interesting and special experience for Akaboshi, who said he never expected to have an opportunity to speak Japanese in the cellar.

“I’m not sure if it’s because we’re both Japanese, but Akiko and I have very similar palates and prefer lighter, Burgundy-style pinot noirs,” said Akaboshi. “But one thing I will say, is that she has an amazing work ethic, which is very Japanese. I’ll come to work early in the morning and she’ll be sweeping the floors.”

But the connection Akaboshi shares with Freeman encompasses much more than a working style or philosophy. As it turns out, his great-grandfather Akaboshi Tetsuma used to do business with Freeman’s grandfather in Japan.

“When Eiji and I discovered our ancestors back in Japan were good friends in the early 1900s it was quite a coincidence,” said Freeman. ”We both feel that us getting together is more about destiny than just luck.”

For Akaboshi, following in the footsteps of Nagasawa while working at Freeman Winery is “a dream come true.”

“It’s one of those rare instances in life where I know this is exactly where I want to be,” said Akaboshi. “That’s a wonderful feeling.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Sarah on Instagram at @whiskymuse.

When Eiji Akaboshi set out to become a winemaker, he thought he would be the first in his family to do so. But as he later learned, a Japanese ancestor had beaten him to the punch by more than a century. Pioneering winemaker Kanaye Nagasawa, a distant relative of Akaboshi, ran the Fountain Grove Winery in Santa Rosa at the turn of the 19 th century and was known to the locals as the “Wine King of California.” “There are so many coincidences that you start wondering if things are connected,” says Akaboshi, who joined Freeman Winery in Sebastopol as associate winemaker this past spring.

“Maybe it’s in my DNA or my blood that I had a tendency toward wine that somehow came from my ancestors.”

By another remarkable coincidence, Akaboshi now works alongside another Japanese winemaker, Akiko Freeman, making Russian River and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Though he once dabbled in launching his own Pinot Noir label, Akaboshi says he’s happy to remain part of an in-house team.

“I have a terrible affliction that when I make something delicious, I just want to give it to people,” he says. “I’m more of a craftsman than a businessperson.”

Most proud of: This was my first harvest at Freeman Winery, and the most exciting wines that I worked with were the Estate Pinot Noirs that came in from our Gloria Estate and Yu-Ki Estate vineyards. Even before the fermentation started in the open top tanks, it already had substance and depth.

More Sonoma standouts: The Tempranillo from our neighbor, Marimar Estate. I tasted it this year before harvest and it was lovely— very balanced with a mineral character and depth. I would like to revisit it in 2024 to see how it is developing. It will definitely keep getting better.