“A perfectly cellared 8-year-old Pinot Noir that delivers great aromatic complexity, texture and depth and cost only $35. Enough said!”
Freja Cellars is exactly the kind of winery I wanted to work with when I founded Insider Wine. While studying Chemical Engineering in Europe, owner/winemaker Willy Gianopulos discovered and fell in love with the red wines of the Cote D’Or. Rather than do a full-on career change right then and there, Willy opted to work both as an engineer and as a winemaker. This meant that, despite crafting pinot noir of elegance and finesse, Freja remained firmly under the radar. Why? Because Willy simply had no time to market or promote his wines. He trusted that crafting wines of quality, aging them in his cellar for up to 8 years, and releasing them at an extremely competitive price would allow him to build a small but dedicated following. And it worked. So much so that even today, when Willy has been a full-time winemaker at Freja for years, he has stuck with the strategy. The incredible result: you and I can enjoy an 8-year-old, winery-direct bottle of pinot for just $35. Act fast, at this price, I’m not expecting the wine to last long!
Leveraging not only his background as a chemical engineer but also his family’s deep roots making wine in Greece’s Peloponnese, Willy begun planting Freja’s Estate Vineyard in 1988 in the Willamette Valley’s Chehalem mountains. Long before the area was officially recognized as a unique AVA, Willy saw the potential in the area’s cool climate and distinct soil. This soil, known as Laurelwood, is comprised of an iron-rich loess on top of ancient volcanic basalt. The well-draining loess encourages the vines to dig deep with their roots and this, combined with Willy’s sustainable approach to farming, ensures high quality fruit. In the cellar, Willy aged the wines in a combination of French, Oregonian, and Hungarian oak barrels, 10% of which were new. After one year in the barrels, he bottled the wine unfined and unfiltered and left it to age in his cellar, undisurbed for 7 years.
In the glass, Freja's Estate pinot noir is wonderfully aromatic with notes of dried blueberry and blackberry, forest floor, cacao and subtle baking spices. It's mature pinot hitting its stride and is the perfect companio to roast chicken or roast vegetables.