Shaved grapefruit peel, crushed rock, crunchy green apple. Anjou pear, elderflower, white nectarine pit. Tremendously tense and biting pulses of squeezed lime and lemon zest energetically collide with notes of mint leaf, biscuit, and greek yogurt in a delightfully tart citrus-driven display. Subtle hints of flaky croissant and aged hard cheese emerge to provide glimpses of integrated autolytic complexity balanced out by wafts of white flowers and hay. Underlying flecks of stony minerality course throughout the crisp and zippy attack enhanced by wonderfully delicate yet persistent mousse. Terrifically bright, focused, and refreshing on the palate while remaining well balanced and nearly bone dry; exhibiting excellent precision and zing before concluding in a long and lingering finish. Medium minus in body and carried by a radiant streak of high acidity. This 2017 Estate Brut by Kramer Vineyards is a tremendously fresh, well made, and delicious sparkling wine from Yamhill-Carlton.

While traditional method sparkling wine is uniquely capable of developing complex autolytic and oxidative characteristics in bottle, this wildly popular style of bubbly is also able to maintain exceptionally crisp and energetic fruit character that can be thoroughly enjoyable when young. This bottling, crafted by Kramer Vineyards using a blend of 52% Chardonnay/29% Pinot Meunier/19% Pinot Noir sourced from their estate in the Yamhill-Carlton subregion of Oregon's Willamette Valley, showcases an excitingly bright and youthful style of Méthode Champenoise sparkling wine. It enthusiastically pops in the glass with lively effervescence and a crisp citrus-led fruit profile while still exhibiting pleasant reflections of the 15 months it spent en-tirage. A low 3 g/l disgorgement has kept this wine exceptionally dry on the palate, and its admirable focus and precision are thrilling to experience. This is another very impressive bottling by a fantastic family owned and operated Oregon producer.