Winemaker Doug McCrea

"I've been asked, 'Why do you make Rhône varietal wines?' Something about the flavors of this family of grapes simply resonates in me beyond any other varietals. I'm drawn to their warm and rich personality, as well as to the indigenous grapes of Spain that are the origin of several Rhône varietals.

Our family often enjoyed wine with dinner in my birthplace, New Orleans, and I find they particularly complement a wide array of foods with their easy-going nature and Mediterranean flair. I am drawn to a wine that connects to my primal nature. Rhône wines are like liquid soul food, they're rustic, inviting and hedonistic."

Outside of winemaking, Doug McCrea is an accomplished classical and jazz musician having specialized in woodwinds. Upon leaving New Orleans, he attended college in the San Francisco Bay Area where he developed a career as an educator and professional musician. During that time he made many journeys to the wine country of Napa and Sonoma at a time when the California wine industry was just beginning to flourish.

Doug moved to Washington State in 1980 and began to experiment with small lots of wine. He realized the State had excellent potential for producing exceptionally high quality wines after becoming familiar with some of the products of the founders of today's industry. While working at two early Woodinville wineries, Doug learned the technology of winemaking and developed "hands-on" experience. In 1988, he founded McCrea Cellars and the rest is Rhône wine history.

"My winemaking philosophy is simple. Wine is fundamentally created in the vineyard. A winemaker senses the grapes' subtle flavors, nurturing and expanding these elements. Then, like musical improvisation, my personal expression results from many decisions throughout the development of the wine, beginning at crush and culminating in the final blends. Both music and winemaking possess a common bond, the opportunity to release creativity.

As the late Jacques Perrin of Chateau Beaucastle once said 'Do not search in a wine for the reflection of an exact science! The formulas of scientific enology are only a thin competition which does not know how to respect the mysteries of eternal creation.' This is the great enigma of artistry, whether heard in a work of Mozart or captured in a crystal wineglass."