For the first time, we visited Oregon wine country in 2007, just three years since the infamous Miles’ monologue from ‘Sideways’ shot Pinot Noir to the stratosphere. Paul Giamatti should get a case of Pinot Noir from every producer at least once per year.
We visited many wineries on our trip and Kramer Vineyard among them. Lots have changed. Since our visit, we fell in love with wine and place, and we even moved here.
Things changed not just in our life but in the Oregon wine industry too. We have seen tremendous change. Some smaller wineries really took off; others were sold to large companies, winemakers who used to work for someone else opened their own wineries. But some things didn’t.
Kramer Vineyards
Kramer Vineyards were a boutique family-run winery then, and they are still family run and operated winery now.
Keith and Trudy Kramer started the winery in 1983 by purchasing a property in Yamhill-Carlton AVA of Willamette Valley. Keith is retired, and Trudy now runs the winery with her oldest daughter Kim Kramer as the winemaker and youngest daughter Becky Kramer as general manager.
Although Kim grew up in the wine country, she initially didn’t really want to be involved in the industry. Can’t blame her. Only in the movie winemakers drive in convertibles, taste wine from the barrels in the underground cellar, and relax by the pool with a wine glass at lunchtime. The reality is long days, hard work, and dirt under your nails. Convertible not included.
Winemaker Kim Kramer
It all changed when Kim, in her mid 20’s, began to work for an Oregon winery. As she explored and learned the wine industry, she fell in love with sparkling wine and Pinot Noir, and that brought her into the family business by 2008.
In 2010 Kim took over as head winemaker. She’s in charge of all aspects of winemaking from harvest through bottling. Kim loves how diverse their 22-acre estate is with various microclimates from lot to lot, vintage variation. She loves to carry on her family’s legacy as a second-generation winemaker.
Why Visit
On our visit, we had a chance to speak with Kim about the flight of wines we were tasting. She was very passionate about the estate’s diversity. Kim explained how some plots of the estate’s same varietal vines can be separated by a few yards and have a drastically different flavor profile. And how they have to adapt to the estate’s microclimates in managing harvest and blending the wines. It’s always a good sign when we hear that winemaker follows nature to produce wine instead of manipulating it.
To us, it means we’ll be tasting authentic wines with unique characteristics.
Kramer Vineyards offer a wide range of wines. You have a chance to taste the classics of Willamette Valley, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Pinot Noir, as well as less familiar varietals Grüner Veltliner and Müller-Thurgau. They are also known for the range of sparkling wines, including some that you won’t find anywhere else, such as Rosé of Carmine grape.
A couple of our favorites of the flight were the 2018 Müller-Thurgau Estate and 2017 Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton.
Lastly, Kramer Vineyards is among a small number of wineries in Willamette Valley, where you can speak with the winemaker or other winemaking family member. How cool is that?!
If you there, ask for the name of the person who’s pouring your glass. It could be Kim, the winemaker.
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