La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2023
£28.95
The wine
A velvety smooth Pinot Noir, with notes of wild red cherry, plum and blackberry layered with a subtle touch of tea. Lovely integrated tannins frame a palate full of boysenberry, with layers of espresso, spice and a bright acidity that drives the long finish.
La Crema was founded in 1979, before the Russian River Valley had established itself as one of California's great Pinot Noir regions, and the first vintages were spent learning how cool-climate viticulture worked there. The winery has focused exclusively on cool appellations ever since.
The producer
La Crema
View all La Crema winesLa Crema was founded in 1979 as La Crema Viñera, meaning the best of the vine. At that point the Russian River Valley had yet to establish itself as one of California's most important addresses for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and the first few vintages were devoted to learning how cool-climate viticulture worked there.
The winery has focused exclusively on cool appellations ever since, and the range is built to show what the same two grapes do in different places. Monterey is chilled by fog funnelling in from Monterey Bay, the Sonoma Coast by the Pacific directly, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon is cooler again, sitting several hundred miles further north.
That makes the range unusually instructive: six wines, two grapes, three regions, and the differences are all site rather than winemaking. Willamette in particular produces Pinot Noir closer in character to Burgundy than to California.
