La Crema Monterey Chardonnay California White Wine

19 shoppers have rated this Chardonnay, at an average of 4.63 out of five, but the name on the front deserves a second look before the score does. It points to Monterey County, and a county is not one growing site: the land runs from cool, foggy country near Monterey Bay down into much warmer valleys to the south. A long valley pulls cool air and sea fog inland from the bay, strongest in the north and weaker toward the south. Two wines both labeled Monterey can come from quite different conditions, so the county name marks a general area rather than a single vineyard.

The grape name leaves the style open as well. Official category guides say Chardonnay can be made without oak for a lighter style, or fermented and aged in oak for more weight, and that oak and time on the spent yeast can add toast, spice and a rounder texture. Those guides place citrus and apple at the cooler end and stone fruit or tropical fruit in riper examples. La Crema says it was founded in 1979 in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, and Jackson Family Wines says the winery is now part of that company; its 4.63 average lands below the 4.71 median of the rated wines we track. If you want to know more about where the grapes grew, look for a narrower name than the county on the label, a specific AVA (a federally recognized growing area) or a single vineyard. In our September 2026 checks, the bottle ran $16.99 to $28.99.

La Crema's product page for the current vintage adds the numbers this entry lacked: the wine finishes at 13.5 percent alcohol, with 5.8 grams per litre of total acidity and a pH of 3.52. The producer's own tasting note describes aromas of “grilled pineapple, citrus blossom, tangerine, and papaya” and flavors of “white peach, key lime and honeydew melon,” the maker's words, alongside barrel spice and minerality. Winemaker Craig McAllister presses the fruit as whole clusters, the producer states, then ferments and ages the wine in oak with monthly hand-stirring of the settled yeast, a step that builds richness on the palate. The winery also certifies the wine through the International Wineries for Climate Action program and calls it Certified Sustainable.

Our call: buy it on the house rather than on the scores; the producer states a Russian River Valley founding in 1979 and its place in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio, and now backs that with a published technical sheet and an IWCA sustainability certification besides. Pass if the shoppers' reading decides it for you, because the average sits below the middle of the rated wines we cover and the county-wide label stops short of a specific AVA or vineyard.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.