Our take
La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir California Red Wine
- Style
- Red wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Pinot Noir
- Region
- Sonoma Coast
- Shelf barcode
- 0049331002307
Our take
What we make of this bottle
What is Pinot Noir, and what should it taste like? It is a red grape with thin skins, made into still wine and, in many regions, into traditional-method sparkling wine as well. Guides that describe the grape point to red cherry, berry and plum, a paler color and gentler tannin than Cabernet, and they add that the vineyard site and how ripe the fruit gets can carry it from bright and delicate toward dark and full.
La Crema says it was founded in 1979 in Sonoma County's Russian River Valley, and the winery is now part of Jackson Family Wines. This particular bottle is labeled Sonoma Coast. The 21 shoppers who rated it 4.57 out of five, as of August 12, 2026, are more than most wines we track have drawn.
If you are weighing it against the Pinot Noirs beside it, it helps to know that our September 2026 checks turned up prices from $22.99 to $37.99 depending on the store, so the nearby shelf may not match the one across town.
La Crema's technical sheet for the current Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir lists the wine as 100 percent Pinot Noir at 13.5 percent alcohol, with 5.4 grams per litre of total acidity and a pH of 3.73, numbers that describe a wine built for bright, balanced acidity rather than a soft or flat one. The producer's tasting notes describe aromas of red fruit and mocha opening into red cherry, blood orange, dark berry and spice, with fine tannins carrying a long finish, and the producer suggests pairing it with bacon-wrapped stuffed dates or chocolate mousse. Wine Enthusiast scored the wine 90 points in a June 2025 review. The producer also states the bottling carries International Wineries for Climate Action and Certified Sustainable status, and describes the Sonoma Coast AVA's cool, foggy climate and wide day-to-night temperature swings as what the region's Pinot Noir draws its balance from.
Our call: this suits a shopper paying for place, a labeled Sonoma Coast bottling from a producer with a stated 1979 founding in the Russian River Valley, and Wine Enthusiast scored the current vintage 90 points. Pass if the score is what you buy on; the shoppers on record place it below the middle of the rated wines we cover, so the appellation, the house history and the outside critic score carry this decision, not the crowd.
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$34.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$22.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$31.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$37.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$24.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$33.49
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$25.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$27.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$22.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$29.99
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 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.
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.