The Saralee Vineyard lies in the Russian River Valley - a chilly part of the Sonoma Coast which is marked by fog. It can be roasting hot in the morning and by mid-afternoon freezing cold. Those big changes help make for wines that can be both rich and luscious but surprisingly fresh, just like this Chardonnay. It has all of the grand buttery peachy and pineapple richness and toast, but with this saline freshness through the finish.

The La Crema timeline goes back to 1979, when it was first launched in California's Sonoma region as La Crema Viñera - aka 'the cream of the vine'. From the start, this estate was all about cool climate wines, with Sonoma as the focus. It was a pretty basic backyard operation at first (no hot running water), run by Californian biology student-turned-winemaker Rod Bergland. It wasn't until 1993, when the estate was sold to Jess Jackson, of the eponymous Jackson Family Wines, that the renamed La Crema really took off, finding a new mission as a hero of not just Californian Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, but Oregon too. Flash forward a few decades, and La Crema is now a powerhouse of American wine. Still run by the Jackson family, what makes the Chardonnay & Pinot Noir from La Crema famous is the celebration of place, with a dazzling volume of single AVA (the American wine region designation) and single vineyard wines from plots up and down the Pacific coast.