Very decent indeed. Nose showed some obvious glycerol, but was otherwise nicely controlled, with cherry and flower tones undergirded by just a touch of wood. Nicely defined palate showed cherries and spice undergirded by fine tannins and a nice balance. Somewhat heavy-handed on the extract I thought, but again, not OTT. There was a slightly bitter, herby touch at the finish, otherwise this was a rather delicious wine with quite a bit of character.

I had quite forgotten that I had tried this before. This showed quite a bit better than the last time. Pleasant nose, with bright, sweetish, attractive cherry tones overlaid over a layer of funky earth notes. More earthy funk on the palate preceded simple but yummy cherry drops. Nice balance and quite a bit of elegance in the way the wine shaped up in the mouth - smooth and well-defined all the way into a decent finish showing sprinkles of herb and spice. Very, very decent new world pinot indeed. I thought the Russian River had that tad more quality and complexity, but this was drinking better on the day.

The third impressive 2004 Freeman Pinot I have had in recent times - I liked this quite a bit. It was just that little bit better than the straight Sonoma or Russian River Valley bottlings I thought. Nose showed more complexity than the other two bottles, with oyster shell minerality, savoury earth notes, peppery spice, ripe dark cherries and perfumed violets along with just a whiff of rubber. The palate was more extracted than the other wines, but also showed a touch more depth and layering, with plumply fruited pure cherry flavours with a touch of cola held up by high acidity and a nicely delineated structure. Finish was probably the weakest part of the wine, with a touch of bittersweet herbs and a dash of alcohol lingering with thyme and mineral notes. Otherwise, a very nice effort indeed.