La Crema Introduces New Monterey Series With Interactive Wine Tasting Party Online

La Crema Winery, known for producing cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, has introduced two new wines from the Monterey appellation. The 2007 Monterey Chardonnay and 2007 Pinot Noir are showcased, along with their Sonoma Coast counterparts, in an interactive "virtual tasting" and "tasting party" at http://www.lacrema.com/winter hosted by Winemaker Melissa Stackhouse.
Whether as an individual or as an at-home group of wine enthusiasts, the La Crema winemaker guides the viewer through the "virtual tasting" in a relaxed and informative manner. She speaks about the long and cool Monterey climate and its resulting fruit-driven, tropical flavored Chardonnay and its silky, beautifully-textured Pinot Noir, both as it relates to the region as well as to La Crema specifically.

The "tasting party" is an ideal way to learn how to taste like a winemaker and throw a unique wine experience at home. The viewer is guided through the suggested aroma components -- posted as a printable grocery list on the site -- that are referenced in each individual wine such as cherries, black tea and butterscotch. The virtual experience also provides pairing recipes, historical, global holiday customs as well as entertaining tips such as how to turn your flat screen into a work of art by downloading an expressionistic digital image.

Family-owned and family-run, La Crema has embarked on a quest to produce wines from upcoming vineyards in the finest coastal appellations in California. From these unique terroirs, cooling coastal winds allow the grapes to ripen slowly on the vine, developing intense and complex aromas and flavors.

As the newest addition to the winemaking team's cool climate program and joining La Crema wines from the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Los Carneros and Anderson Valley, the Monterey appellation boasts the longest cool-climate growing season of the five. Believed to possess the terroir needed to produce the fruit that lives up to the La Crema standard, fruit for the 2007 La Crema Monterey Chardonnay and 2007 Pinot Noir is selected from cool vineyard sites on the wind-swept bench lands of Monterey, all within 25 miles of the Pacific Ocean. The wine retails for $23 for 2007 Chardonnay and $25 for 2007 Pinot Noir.

SOURCE La Crema Winery