Winemaker Notes
Aromas of Mandarin, pink grapefruit, and guava. Flavors of watermelon, strawberry, and blood orange are complemented by undertones of minerality. Delicate, crisp, and vibrant.
Pair with wild salmon, Dungeness crab, and grilled rock shrimp.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Crisp and clean aromas of strawberry, watermelon, chalk and citrus pith make for a very compelling nose on this bottling. There’s a great snap to the palate, where pure but delicate strawberry flavors leveled by an ashy streak.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 La Crema® Pinot Noir Rosé does an excellent job framing how a dry pink wine can be successful. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows appealing aromas and flavors of candied apple and red fruits. Enjoy its richness with a chicken salad with red leaf lettuce, pickled scallions, and dashes of chili and sesame oils. (Tasted: April 11, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
A geographic and climatic paradise for grape vines, Monterey is a part of the greater Central Coast AVA and contains within it five smaller sub-appellations, including Arroyo Seco, San Lucas, San Bernabe, Hames Valley and the famous Santa Lucia Highlands. The climate is relatively warm but tempered by cool, coastal winds, allowing the regions in Monterey County an exceptionally long growing season. Bud break often happens two weeks sooner and harvest tends to be two weeks later compared to other surrounding regions.
Monterey’s coastal side, where the cooling ocean fog allows grapes to develop a perfect sugar-acid balance, excels in the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. Warmer, inland subzones are home to fleshy, concentrated and full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Chardonnay, covering about 40% of vineyard acreage, is the most widely planted grape in all of Monterey County.