Our take
La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir California Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Pinot Noir
- Region
- Monterey County
- Shelf barcode
- 0049331010968
Our take
What we make of this bottle
The name sells a single wine, but the price does not stay in one place. In our September 2026 checks, ten stores wanted anywhere from $16.99 to $28.99 for the same 750 ml Pinot Noir. From 19 shopper ratings, the average is 4.58 out of five, a touch under the 4.71 median of the rated wines we track. The label points to Monterey, which reads like one place but is a whole county, its vineyards running from cool, fog-cooled ground near the bay to much warmer valleys inland, so without a tighter name the exact growing site stays open.
La Crema's product page for the current vintage supplies the numbers this entry lacked: the wine finishes at 14.5 percent alcohol, with 5.2 grams per litre of total acidity and a pH of 3.72. The producer's own tasting note describes “black plum, cherry and earth aromas” opening to “flavors of raspberry and mineral,” the maker's words, with integrated toasted spice. Winemaker Craig McAllister's team hand-sorts the fruit, removes the stems, and rests it in a chilled cold soak for three to five days before fermentation, the producer states, a step meant to pull color from the skins before the juice turns to wine. Wine Enthusiast scored the current release 94 points, a score the producer quotes on its own page.
Our call: this suits the shopper who buys Pinot Noir on the producer's history and a critic's word; La Crema's account of itself, founded in Sonoma County in 1979 and a place among the Jackson Family Wines labels, is a real credential, and the producer quotes a 94-point Wine Enthusiast score for the current release. Pass if the shopper rating outweighs both for you; its average sits below the middle of the rated wines we cover.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$17.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$16.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$26.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$28.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$19.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$22.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$19.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$28.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$19.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$22.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Estate founding
La Crema says it was founded in 1979 in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley. The winery is now part of Jackson Family Wines.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know Monterey County.
Monterey County runs from cool country near Monterey Bay into much warmer southern valleys. A county origin gives useful context, but the exact AVA or vineyard is needed before treating the area as one growing site.
What the name means
Monterey County is a California county and a wine origin used on labels, not one single AVA. The county contains the Monterey AVA and other federally recognized growing areas with narrower boundaries.
How grapes grow here
A long valley pulls cool air and fog inland from Monterey Bay. That influence is strongest in the north and weakens toward warmer southern districts, with daily wind and temperature changes along the way.
What lies under the vines
The regional association reports eight broad soil types across the county, including sandy, loamy, gravelly and calcareous ground. A Monterey County label does not identify which one supplied the wine.
How large the region is
- County vineyard area
- The regional association reports about 53,000 vineyard acres.
- Recognized AVAs
- Ten American Viticultural Areas lie wholly or partly within Monterey County.
Places within the region
- Monterey AVA
- This large AVA runs through much of the county and contains several smaller AVAs.
- Other county AVAs
- Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, Carmel Valley and Chalone are among the county's separate growing areas.
Getting to know Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir is a red grape with relatively thin skins. It is used for still red wine and as one of the main grapes in many traditional-method sparkling wines.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Regional category guides commonly describe red cherry, berry and plum, with lighter color and less tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon. Site and ripeness can shift it from bright and delicate to darker and fuller.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 105 Pinot Noir wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.