McCrea Cellars

Overview:          McCrea Cellars is Washington State's first winery dedicated exclusively to Rhône varietal wines. Founded in 1988, it is owned and operated by couples Doug & Kim McCrea, and Susan & Bob Neel.  The winery is in Rainier, Washington in a lovely rural setting, on the same property as Doug and Kim’s home.  Susan and Bob live in West Seattle, and manage King County distribution, national marketing and sales, and the URBAN enoteca tasting counter.

Winemaker:     Doug McCrea was born in New Orleans, lived in Austin, Texas and graduated from high school in San Francisco.  By the time he received his Master’s Degree in Music Education from San Jose State University he had mastered the clarinet, all the saxophones and a few double-reed instruments, in both classical and jazz.  Obviously the perfect background for a winemaker.

While working at several Seattle-area wineries in the mid-80s, Doug read extensively, took a few UC Davis short courses, and experimented with small lots of wine.  Doug and Susan bonded McCrea Cellars in 1988, with advice and encouragement from Alex Golitzin at Quilceda Creek and Rick Small at Woodward Canyon.   Brian Carter was Doug’s consulting winemaker in the early years.

Vineyards:       Doug’s great passion has always been Rhône wines.  His studies convinced him that Eastern Washington has perfect terroir for such grapes as Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier.  It took years to convince a handful of visionary growers that these grapes would succeed in Washington’s climate, at a time when the Washington wine industry was focused primarily on Bordeaux varietals.

By 1994 Doug had convinced both Jim Holmes (Ciel du Cheval vineyard - Red Mountain) and Dick Boushey (Boushey Grande Côte vineyard - Yakima Valley) to plant Syrah.  By 2000, Holmes had also planted Viognier, Roussanne, Mourvedre, Grenache and Counoise.  In 2004 Boushey planted Picpoul, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Roussanne in his Lower County Line Road vineyard.  McCrea also sources Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre from Joe Hattrup’s Elephant Mountain and Sugar Loaf vineyards in Yakima Valley.

Wines:            McCrea Cellars was only the second winery in Washington state to produce varietal Syrah, from the 1994 vintage.  In 1998 they released Washington’s first Viognier, from the 1997 vintage. 

The current McCrea portfolio includes varietal bottlings of Picpoul, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvedre and five different Syrahs, as well as two Rhône-style blends:  Sirocco (red) and Sirocco Blanc (white).  Annual Production:  3500 cases

McCrea Cellars is one of only 20 Washington Wineries to receive Paul Gregutt’s 5-Star rating.  They consistently receive 90+ scores in Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and have been repeatedly included in Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 Wineries.  They have also received accolades from the Seattle Wine Awards, Seattle Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle.  

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