Craig McAllister The Harvest Enologist

Craig McAllister, New Zealander spent his first 20 years in
Christchurch, New Zealand and then lived in London for 6 years.
He has travelled extensively throughout the world. He found
himself drawn not just to the wine industry, but to the wine
lifestyle due to his love of cooking, traveling and being
outdoors. This led him to Lincoln University in New Zealand,
where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in viticulture
and enology.

While traveling around the world, he found himself drawn to wine
industry. Cooking, traveling and being outdoors led him to
received his Bachelor of Science degree in viticulture and
Enology (which means study wines) at Lincoln University in New
Zealand.


Craig’s passion for winemaking has taken him all over the world,
from New Zealand to Australia, Chile and Cyprus. He first joined
the La Crema team in 2007 as the Harvest Enologist. After gaining
additional experience abroad, he joined the La Crema team
full-time in 2009. He has been a steward of La Crema’s Monterey
program and worked extensively on the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. He
also helped to further develop La Crema’s esteemed collection of
single vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. He was promoted
to head winemaker in 2017.


For Craig, there is never a dull moment in winemaking. From the
rush and intensity of harvest, to bottling the wines and taking
them to market, he continually strives to improve quality.