Producer description
The Grocery Store Wine verdict
La Crema
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
La Crema offers more place and chemistry than the statewide Chardonnay benchmark, but Sonoma Coast is still an umbrella. The value question is whether its coastal freshness survives the rich house style.
- Region
- Sonoma Coast
- Grape
- Chardonnay
- The release we researched
- 2023
- Price context
- 10 exact store checks below
What to expect in the glass.
Here is the style this wine is meant to have, based on its region and how it was made.
Producer description; exact 2023 regime not stated on reviewed page
Producer description
5.1 g/L TA and pH 3.65
What it costs
Exact regular prices from dated store checks.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$24.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$19.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$20.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$21.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$17.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$21.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$25.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$30.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$24.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$26.99
Observed at specific stores; your store will vary. A price target, not an ad.
La Crema offers more place and chemistry than the statewide Chardonnay benchmark, but Sonoma Coast is still an umbrella. The value question is whether its coastal freshness survives the rich house style.
Our call combines official producer and regional evidence with the bottle's shopper ratings and category position.
- You want ripe Chardonnay with a brighter coastal frame
- AVA specificity matters, even at regional-blend scale
- Published TA and pH help you calibrate expectations
- You want lean, fully unoaked Chardonnay
- You expect Sonoma Coast to mean one site
- You need the shelf vintage proven before purchase
Serve chilled, then let the glass warm enough to show aroma and texture.
Build the pairing around its rich white structure: match weight, sweetness and acidity rather than prestige.
Getting to know Sonoma Coast.
The Pacific matters here, but ‘coastal’ is not a complete tasting note. Site mix, fog exposure, wind and producer choices determine how much freshness survives the cellar.
What the name means
A federally defined American Viticultural Area. The legal boundary is meaningful, but it is large and internally varied.
How grapes grow here
Marine air, fog and wind moderate summer heat across much of the appellation, with large differences by distance, elevation and exposure.
What lies under the vines
The AVA is too broad for one soil claim; release-level vineyard sourcing is required before connecting geology to a bottle.
How large the region is
- Research rule
- Treat Sonoma Coast as a legally protected umbrella, then ask which vineyards actually entered the blend.
Places within the region
- Boundary
- The AVA extends across a broad sweep of Sonoma County; named vineyards are more informative than the coastal shorthand.
About this bottling
This page earns its premium by testing specificity: a legally defined but broad coastal AVA, 100% Chardonnay and disclosed chemistry, with exact vineyard proportions still missing.
Winemaking
The current producer record establishes 100% Chardonnay. Adjacent technical sheets show barrel fermentation and lees work as house practice, but those details are not silently transferred to 2023.
Taste
The producer says: Meyer lemon, pear, white flowers, crisp apple, golden peach, pineapple and subtle oak.
La Crema
Part of Jackson Family Wines.
La Crema was founded in 1979 and built its identity around cool-climate West Coast sites.
The brand treats Sonoma Coast as a regional blend and publishes finished-wine chemistry for the 2023 release.
- Composition
- 100% Chardonnay from the producer
- Finished wine
- 13.5% ABV, 5.1 g/L TA, pH 3.65 from the producer
- Certification
- Producer page presents the wine as certified sustainable from the producer
Where this information comes from.
We researched this release from the producer's own material and current store listings. We haven't held this exact bottle yet. When we do, we'll say so.
SourcePublisher / how strong the source isChecked
Sonoma Coast AVA definition ↗
Electronic Code of Federal Regulationsregulator
2023 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ↗
La Cremaproducer
Launch assortment rating snapshot
Kroger retailer feedDated product-level signal; vintage and unique audience are not established.
Front, back, fine print.
The label, the barcode and the fine print, captured so you can read what the bottle actually says.
