2021 Pinot Noir, Freedom Hill Vineyard

The 2021 vintage was about as perfect as it could be in Oregon. It wasn’t too hot, there wasn’t a layer of smoke, and a little rain came early in the fall, but it didn’t materialize into a full fall pattern until the fruit was in the door. This kind of timing gives us a really good feeling. In Oregon, the season can end quickly because a little rain in the forecast can spread out into a week, the temperatures drop, and the fruit doesn’t have another chance to get dry. Fortunately for us, this was not true for the vintage of 2021! The weather allowed for long hang-time and beautiful flavor maturity with moderate sugars.

This Pinot Noir clone is Pommard, an old-school clone for Oregon and a favorite of mine. Interestingly, both of our Pinots are the pommard clone and produced similarly, so the difference in the two wines is really a great example of the uniqueness of the two vineyard sites and their viticultural areas. Pinot Noir is especially expressive in this way.

This is a bigger wine than some of our previous vintages of Freedom Hill. It has nice structure, good weight, and complexity. Flowery dried violets mingle with black fruits, dried orange, and baking spice. Blue fruits tinted with cinnamon, black tea, and fruit leather complete the picture.

This is our final vintage from Freedom Hill Vineyard, as the fruit is no longer available to us. This means we will have one Pinot Noir to offer next spring, but we have a new vineyard source located in the Eola-Amity American Viticultural Area. We are really excited about it, and we will share more when we get closer to release in the spring of 2026. In the meantime, we are tucking away a little extra Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir in our personal cellar, and we recommend you do the same. It has a long life ahead and, without question, you can enjoy this excellent vintage for a number of years to come. John Abbott, Winemaker