2002 Kazmer & Blaise Primos Hill Pinot Noir

Kazmer & Blaise is in the Carneros appellation. Its vineyard has been in Peter Kazmer Molnar’s family since the 1970s. The Kazmer & Blaise label started in 1970 when business partners Peter Molnar and Michael Terrien teamed up to make Pinot Noir. Terrien had been a winemaker at such wineries as Acacia and Hanzell.

Carneros AVA, also known as Los Carneros, is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys at the top of the San Francisco Bay. The 8,000 vineyard acres are mostly planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, both of which thrive in the district’s cool, marine climate. Carneros became an AVA in 1983 and it has attracted foreign wine companies along with local producers. It has been especially appealing to European producers of sparkling wines including the giant Spanish cava producers Codorniu and Frexinet, and the French Champagne house Taittinger. Codorniu in Carneros is called Artesa, and Frexinet’s Carneros brand is Gloria Ferrer. Taittinger calls its Carneros winery Domaine Carneros. The European producers also make still wines in Carneros.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.

Winemaker: Flavors of ripe plum, cherry and blackberry..roasted meat, sage & sweet pipe tobacco...the soft coat of tannin provides a velvet sweet weight to the mouth-feel & owes its presence to the vintage and the vineyard.