2008 La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

At La Crema, Specificity Counts

La Crema is a pretty big winery.

With vineyards in Sonoma and Monterey counties, this 150,000 case-per-year subsidiary of the massive Kendall-Jackson brand makes some good wine, and makes some wine I just can’t get into.

And I think I figured it out.

La Crema makes wine from one of five listed AVAs. All of their wine will be stamped on the bottle as either Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, Los Carneros, Sonoma Coast, or Monterey.

The Monterey AVA is huge, as is the Sonoma Coast AVA. The Russian River Valley is a sub-AVA of Sonoma Coast, and Los Carneros and Anderson Valley are two additional small sub-AVAs in Sonoma. So what am I getting at? (Edit: As I was corrected in the comments, Anderson Valley is in Mendocino, not Sonoma.)

La Crema wines marked Monterey and Sonoma Coast have always disappointed me. Those stamped with one of the smaller AVAs (Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, or Los Carneros) always seems to impress me at least enough to want to drink more of it.

And this bottle fits that paradigm quite nicely.

A Christmas gift from my brother and his wife, I opened the La Crema on a quiet night at home. Just me and my sweet pea, watching TV, eating dinner, and enjoying this bottle quite a bit.

The 2008 La Crema RRV Pinot Noir is a deep burgundy red in the middle of the glass, and lightens to this not-quite-pink, pinkish-ruby on the edges. On the nose are bright, clear aromas of strawberry and ripe red cherry, plus something a bit earthy, a bit dirty that I liked very much.

The wine is light in body and medium in finish. It shows off traditional pinot noir notes of cherry and mushroom, and has an overall smokiness I found very pleasing, plus just a hint of candy sweetness.

Really a very good pinot noir. Definitely more on the “bright fruit” end of the pinot noir spectrum, as opposed to, say, earth and forest floor. But if you’re into that, this one is a very good choice.

2008 La Crema Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

2008 Foris Rogue Valley Chardonnay

Rogue Valley Chardonnay Comes Complete With Splinters

I have friends who drink wine.

The best part about wine, and about having friends who drink it, is that different people like different kinds of wine. Sure, it might make it more difficult to plan a party while keeping everyone’s wine preferences in mind, but it does make for lively conversation.

I have a friend who very much enjoys chardonnay, as do I. The thing is, I like the Chablis style, little-to-no oak barreling, steel fermentation. Crisp, clean citrus and apple flavors. She, on the other hand, prefers the traditionally-Californian style of the big, buttery, creamy, oaky chardonnay.

The problem for her is, I had to amend “Californian” with “traditionally” in that last paragraph. Many of California’s traditional purveyors of buttery, oaky chardonnay (like, say, Navarro in Mendocino, or Cakebread in Napa) are turning in recent vintages to the cleaner, “smaller,” more food-friendly version of chardonnay like that done in Chablis, France. Even Chablis’ oaky cousin, the white Burgundy, never got to the splinterifficness of the over-oaked chardonnays of California.

While I like this turn of events, I also like being able to point friends in the direction of wines they will like. And so, I cannot wait to tell her about this offering from Oregon.

The barrel-fermented 2008 Chardonnay from Foris Vineyards in Oregon’s Rogue Valley AVA fits the “oaky, buttery” paradigm quite well, although with a hint of apple that does lend it some character.

In the glass, the wine looks like it will be a Chablis-style chard, quite deceptively. The wine is a bright, light lemon yellow color. The nose reveals a creamy, buttery aroma however, though it is tempered by a bit of red delicious apple.

On the palate, the wine shows its true colors: it’s full bodied, with plenty of oak and butter, though it is a bit flabby and feels unstructured. There is a hint of the apple from the nose here, but for the most part, you’ll be picking wood out of your teeth after this wine.

Not my cup of tea, for sure… but also not “bad,” per se. Just know what you’re getting in to.

2008 Foris Chardonnay

2008 Lambert Bridge Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

Supple, Refined Sonoma Zin

One of my favorite dichotomies in California wine is the massive gulf of disparity between Sonoma and Lodi zinfandel. Both areas are well-known for California’s Grape,™ but both areas do it so very differently.

Zins from Lodi tend to be what I think most people get the idea that zinfandel is, which is big, spicy, high in alcohol but not exactly a fruit bomb. Not totally food-friendly unless you’re pairing it with something that can hold its own (a peppered steak, or maybe some pretty heavy curry).

On the flipside, zinfandel from Sonoma tends to be a bit brighter, more supple and refined. Less spicy, lower in alcohol and more food friendly. It can also be, well, pretty boring at times.

The 2008 DCV Zin from Lambert Bridge is definitely not one of the boring Sonoma zinfandels.

85% zinfandel and 15% petite sirah, this blend from Lambert Bridge’s own Winery Ranch Vineyard is an excellent example of the supple, refined side of California zinfandel. The introduction of the petite sirah, however, gives it a bit of an edge that keeps it from being too flabby or uninspired.

The wine is ruby in the center, and a light pink to the glass’s edge. On the nose is a very nice mixture of fruit and texture aromas, where raspberry and espresso mingle with tobacco and a hard-to-define chalkiness that comes off very rustic, very authentic. The wine is medium-bodied, soft and supple in the mouth. The dominant note is black cherry, but more of the chalky rusticness from the nose appears here on the palate.

What you won’t find are rough edges, super-high ABV (14%), or a lot of spice notes. A little rustic, a whole lotta refined, the 2008 Zin from Lambert Bridge is a very good example of what Sonoma has to offer zinfandel fans.

2008 Lambert Bridge Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel