Hello Everyone! You may have been wondering when we would get around to talking about Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir has steadily risen in popularity since 2004. Most people in the wine industry have attributed Pinot’s rise and Merlot’s fall to the movie Sideways. Pinot Noir is not our first choice in reds partially because the recent rise in popularity has driven up prices. This has also caused a rush to production and a subsequent decrease in quality at the lower price ranges. The end result is that you are going to have to pay up for a good one, or stick with a reliable producer. This is our first Pinot Noir review and La Crema Pinot is considered one of the most popular Pinot Noirs.
Pinot Noir is the noble red grape that hails from the Burgundy region of France, which can really make an elegant and memorable, if not haunting, wine. The good Burgundies can run you big bucks though, especially in the Grand Cru and Premier Cru classifications. However, some people consider Pinot Noir the best way to step into the world of red wine because it is not as woody, earthy, or tannic as Cabernet and some Merlots. It tends to have good fruit without being too jammy, with some oak for structure, and very little tannins. Outside of Burgundy, you can find Pinot Noir in California, with the cooler climates of Oregon, Washington, and most recently New Zealand (with climates that more closely mimic Burgundy) making a good push into the production of quality Pinot.
However, for a red wine grape it is really quite finicky when compared to its rivals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo (source of the great Barolos and Barbarescos), and Sangiovese (Brunello and Chianti). Pinot Noir is a very thin-skinned grape and therefore needs cooler weather especially in the evening to flourish. Burgundy is approximately at 47° north latitude which is one of the northernmost wine regions. The Bordeaux region is at 44° north, and by comparison, Napa and Sonoma are located at about 38° north, a much warmer climate. This helps explain why cooler regions such as Oregon have come on strong over the last decade. For Pinot Noir to flourish in California, it needs the cooling fog to roll in off the coast in the evening. Areas along the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley in Sonoma are ideal, as is the Carneros region, which receives cooling fogs off the San Pablo Bay.
La Crema gets its Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, which gives it a great start. It only receives about 7½ months in French oak barrels, of which only about a quarter are new. New oak imparts much more of that “oaky” taste than old oak barrels, so a Pinot usually won’t be overwhelmingly woody. It has aromas of ripe berries, spice, and pepper. There is a very good balance of cherries, plum, vanilla, and butter. This is a very juicy and fruity wine with a smooth, almost creamy, round, toasty oak finish.
This is an occasional buy again for us, for occasions when the meal or the company call for Pinot. But the usual price range of this wine is $25 – 35 and so this puts it a little higher than our preferred price range of wines that we like to buy. However, it is a well-established, quality Pinot. In future posts, we hope to explore more Pinot Noir, to really understand what makes this grape a passion for so many.
Drink what you like, like what you drink!
Rachel and Bryan Gavini
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