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.

This was one of the latest harvests we’ve ever seen since we started Freeman in 2002, and it was definitely our latest at Gloria. In many ways, 2023 was a European-style vintage for us in California. We had plenty of rain in the winter, and the temperature remained very cool through the month of March. This led to a late bud break, which happened in the beginning of April. With ideal weather throughout the entire growing season and no wild temperature swings, the vines never caught up to their normal ripening time. We began picking the fruit at Gloria in late September,
five to six weeks later than when we usually start the harvest. The fruit quality was excellent.

The 2023 Gloria Estate Pinot Noir is the darkest and ripest of our lineup, which is typical for Gloria. A plethora of different berries and spices come jumping out of the glass, including black currants, bilberries, marionberries, nutmeg and cloves. The wine has moderate acidity and firm tannins on the palate, which predict a long life ahead for this bottling. Try the ’23 Gloria in 2026 and enjoy it through 2040.