This new venture in Oregon for La Crema is a study in terroir. Decidedly lighter end leaner than its California cousin, it offers a cherry cola nose and flavors with pleasant spicy notes, in a very food friendly style. Nice spicy finish.

Wines of the Week: Eight Bottles For Easter La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir 2013 blends dark cherry, plum and cedar wood flavours, with a distinctly smoky background and a lick of spice and even hints of mocha.

A pinot noir that turns heads. Slightly earthy with ripe cherry fruit and bright acidity. Well integrated, with a great concentration of fruit. Lovely.

This plethora of great wines includes our Wine of the Week, La Crema 2012 Los Carneros Pinot Noir ($40), which is both rich and playful, in a husky kind of way. The wine has broad appeal, both in the range of people who will enjoy it and in the variety of foods that will welcome it. You don't need to look very far for a flawless match. Flawless matches are everywhere. As the first hint of fragrance rises from the glass, I find myself thinking of my step-grandfather, whose simple kisses surrounded me in a halo of cherry tobacco. I also remember him sitting in his lounge chair, carefully cleaning his beloved pipe and packing in another bowlful of his favorite flavor. That's this wine, a combination of dark cherry and pipe tobacco, with new leather, a hint of licorice root, dark roasted coffee beans, toasted cloves, black plums and a fillip of milk chocolate, all rising from a lush, broad foundation that embraces the palate like expensive satin. At the table, the wine will work beautifully with just about any red meat, from delicate rack of lamb to robust venison stew. Mushrooms, bacon, roasted tomatoes, roasted parsnips and rich but not sharp cheeses will further any match.

A lovely, floral pinot noir with aromas and flavors of cherry, blueberry and tea. Layered flavors. Nice length.

The La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2012, $25, truly reflects the difference cool climate fruit makes — good acidity, brambly fruit flavors, a very Burgundian profile. It’s a celebration red if there ever was one. It has a deep garnet color, vibrant red cherry, cola, sweet spice aromas all seamlessly woven with the spice and smoke of toasted French oak.

Sourced from select vineyard sites in proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Clones 667, 777, 115, Pommard, 2A, Martini, Flowers, Calera, “828,” and 23. 100% de-stemmed, 3 to 4-day cold soak, fermented in small, open-top tanks, minimal post-fermentation maceration, aged in 26% new (98% French) oak barrels for 6 months. Racked only once for blending just before bottling. Moderately light reddish-purple color in the glass. Enticing aromas soar from the glass including cherries, berries, purple grapes and earthy flora. Very tasty juice with excellent depth and length offering an arsenal of flavors including dark red strawberries and cherries, cola and gregarious spice with a dusting of oak enhancing the experience. Nicely crafted, with supple tannins and a long, caressing finish. As good or better than many Pinot Noirs in the marketplace costing twice as much.

La Crema's pinot noirs rarely disappoint, but this one excelled because of the excellent quality of what proved to be an historically bountiful vintage. (The 2012 Sonoma Coast chardonnay earned similarly high marks.) The wine, which spent six months in the barrel, offers notes of wild red fruits and spice.

If you are looking for an affordable pinot noir, this one is dependable year after year. Good balance with juicy cherry flavors and a dash of licorice. Nice forest floor accent and long finish.

This is the inaugural production of Oregon Pinot Noir under the La Crema label. From their home in California’s Russian River Valley, La Crema has produced Pinot Noirs from many of that state’s cool climate areas such as Mendocino, Monterey and Carneros (as well as Sonoma). Now they venture outside California for the first time, selecting fruit from 10 Willamette Valley vineyards to create a wine that offers spicy plum, violets, raspberry and pomegranate all wrapped in a warm and spicy ethereal cocoon of toasty oak and vanilla.

Dry, earthy, herbal, and so tightly wound - what a beautiful Pinot. The blast of cherry, plum, vanilla and herbs is Oregon refined and polished to a sparkling gem. This is a powerful, beautiful wine. Acidity makes it lean and mean. Fruit speaks to the highly rated 2012 vintage. It was sourced from 10 vineyards and seven clones from throughout the Willamette Valley and its sub-AVAs, and aged nine months in 100 percent French oak, 25 percent new. Get ahead of local distribution and join the La Crema Wine Club or buy it when it becomes available online at La Crema. It's a whole new taste and style profile for this artisan winemaker.

Floral aromas, hint of oak, rich, concentrated flavors of mulberries and red raspberries, long finish.

Jackson Family Wines’ first release from its project in Oregon, headed up by Canadian native Elizabeth Grant-Douglas, used fruit from eight clones off 10 vineyards — remember they’ve acquired Maple Grove, Zena East and Zena Middle. Her work at Joe Dobbes’ facility in Dundee led to aromas of black cherry, blueberry, pomegranate, chai spices and dusty herbs. The structure offers a richer style of Pinot Noir with ripe black cherry and cassis, followed by an elegantly balanced midpalate of delicious huckleberry and Western serviceberry.

After making stellar, reasonably priced wine in California, La Crema has expanded to Oregon's Willamette Valley. This terrific inaugural edition combines grapes from 10 vineyards and uses seven clones to create a floral and bay leaf nose with earthy berry and citrus flavors.

What a food wine! Winemaker Elizabeth Grant-Douglas suggests a mushroom risotto; yes, but maybe also veal piccata, osso buco or an alfredo-style pasta dish. It’s a dreamy Pinot — with that cool climate vibe: crisp, firm acidity and dark plum-pomegranate-blackberry fruit framed in sweet, supple tannins. It was aged in 94 percent French oak (26 percent new with toast ranging from medium to medium-plus. It is surely a Pinot to rival the best plate of food you can put in front of it.

This is a refreshing pinot with bright red fruit and crisp acid. Aromas and flavors of plum, strawberry and mineral. Vibrant. The quality of the pinot makes this a very tasty find at this price point.

Our touts today are all brand names. There's not an off-the-beaten-path find in the bunch. It's important for us to keep our old reliables in mind when we go bottle shopping. Sometimes, it's a good thing not to be surprised when the cork gets popped. The hand-picked fruit is sourced from various Monterey County vineyards and cold-soaked for five to eight days after the stems have been removed. Aging takes place in mostly French oak with minimal fining and filtration prior to bottling. Surprisingly elegant for the price, the wine is plummy on the nose and tastes of blackberries with hints of chocolate.

This is a very delicious and smooth pinot noir with great complexity and finish. Licorice and cola aromas with supple and sweet blackberry flavors.

La Crema Winery has dedicated more than 30 years to exploring the depth and breadth of the varietal expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in many of California’s cool-climate vineyards. The 2011 Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast offers aromas of red cherries, raspberry and vanilla with notes of black tea and mineral. The palate expands to show cherry, cola and spice with hints of earth and chocolate.

Ahh, Monterey County - located at the northernmost tip of California's Central Coast, this is one of the state's undervalued wine country gems. The cool climate, the coastal breezes and the critical fog all contribute to the production of world-class Pinot Noir. La Crema sourced fruit from throughout the county to develop this soft and rich Pinot. From the upfront aromas of flowers and red fruit to the medium-bodied flavors of plum, cassis, mineral and earthy spice, this is like having a bit of that picturesque coast in your glass.

This dark monster is still closed in, the fruit and full potential still needing time to develop — yet it offers a clear snapshot of its future: bold flavors, dusty tannins, acidity for backbone and alcohol. Think rich blackberry, cherry, cola, dark plum, dark chocolate, vanilla.

Intense floral aromas, concentrated flavors of black cherry, anise and mocha, silky and smooth.