A historic Oregon winery, Kramer Vineyards dates back to 1983 when Trudy and Keith Kramer acquired their 60 acre property in the Yamhill-Carlton appelation. They eventually planted 22 acres of vines for their estate vineyard. Now they have a range of varietals planted including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Müller-Thurgau, Carmine, Muscat, Pinot Meunier and Grüner Veltliner. The Kramer’s daughter and winemaker Kim Kramer, has taken over as winemaker. Kim first began making wine in 2006, using an excess of Chardonnay from St. Innocent winery. In 2010 she spent a harvest in Burgundy, which helped cement her knowledge in making great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Speaking Kim yesterday about her wines, she talked about the importance of using estate fruit, as she is constantly in the vineyard testing fruit and acid levels. Look for the completely delicious 2014 Kramer Vineyards ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine (WWB, 90), which is an awesome value that shows wonderful poise and minerality with a beautiful array of flavors. Her 2014 Kramer Vineyards ‘Estate’ Pinot Noir (WWB, 90) is an awesome valuein Oregon Pinot at $28.00. This wine is both fruity and structured, showing lovely red fruits, and will cellar well into the next decade. Learn more about these great wines at kramervineyards.com Here are the great new release wines by Kramer Vineyards.
Just a killer photo of the Kramer Vineyards co-owner and vineyard manager, Keith Kramer, during harvest.
2014 Kramer Vineyards ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine- Head winemaker Kim Kramer has crafted a fantastic new wine with her 2014 ‘Brut’ Sparkling Wine. This delightful Sparkling Wine opens with a bouquet of brioche, lemon oil, white peach and allspice accents. This leads to bright flavors of Gravenstein apple, marzipan, baking spices and suggestions of green papaya. This shows wonderful poise and length, with a nice stringency towards the back end. Drink 2017-2023- 90
2014 Kramer Vineyards 'Yamhill-Carlton' Pinot Noir- This limited, 125 case production Pinot Noir wine opens with aromatics of black cherry, black tea, black olive and suggestions of baking spices. There is lovely acidity as the wine displays open flavors of cranberry, Mandarin orange rind, red cherry and red currant. This has wonderful poise from this hot vintage. I can see this cellaring well for a decade. Drink 2017-2026- 91
2014 Kramer Vineyards 'Estate' Pinot Noir- Weighing in at 13% alcohol, this excellent wine opens with aromatics of black cherry, black tea, black truffle and forest floor. There is lively acidity as the wine shows ripe strawberry, guava, red cherry and red currant flavors with peat moss. This is a great value out of Oregon. Drink 2017-2025- 90
2014 Kramer Vineyards 'Dijon 225 Clone' Pinot Noir- This excellent Pinot Noir wine underwent 25% whole cluster fermentation and is a wonderful wine made by Kim Kramer. There are deep flavors of forest floor, wild mushroom, peat moss, and wet rock with black cherry and black tea elements. The mid-palate has nice weight and lively structure as the wine yields flavors of black tea, forest floor, black olive tapenade and baking spices. Drink 2017-2025- 90
2014 Kramer Vineyards 'Pommard Clone' Pinot Noir- An excellent bottling by head winemaker Kim Kramer, this Pinot Noir wine shows earthy aromatics of wet stone, black truffle, with black raspberry coulis and wild blackberry. There are rich flavors of black cherry, blackberry pie, white truffle oil and peat moss. The Pinot shows wonderful terroir and minerality and will cellar well into the next decade. Drink 2017-2026- 91
2014 Kramer Vineyards 'Dijon 777 Clone' Pinot Noir-This wine opens with terroir driven aromatics of wet stone, forest floor, cigar box, black cherry and black tea. This leads to lithe flavors of black cherry, wild blackberry and peat moss. Drink 2017-2025- 90