Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery
Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery - Grape to Bottle, All in One Place
Kreck family for three generations. The family moved to the area in 1965 and opened it's winery in
1974. The Tasting room, modeled after Wood Mills found in the area at the turn of the century,
opened in 1982.
themselves on most, is the efficiency with which they produce their wine. All in one place the grape
is grown, harvested, crushed, aged, bottled, sipped and sold. It's a very sustainable process and the
integrity of the final product remains within their reach, and their control.
Fair's coveted Sweepstakes award. They were also one of the first producers to bring you varietal Merlot!
Helena, Geyser Peak and the every changing vineyards that surround them. They have abundant picnic
areas from which to basque in the beauty, the history, the memories.. and of course, the wine!
About Us
Welcome to Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery. We are a small, family
owned and operated winery located in the southern end of the Dry
Creek Valley, Sonoma County Three generations of the Kreck family
have been involved in the winemaking process from the vineyards to
the cellar and out into the marketplace. We invite you to try our award
winning wines and experience a taste of why we have made this area
our home.
Mill Creek wines have won many of the most prestigious awards
possible including the Sonoma County Harvest Fair's coveted
Sweepstakes Award , the California State Fair's Best Wine in the State
award, and Orange County Fair's Four Star Gold as well as dozens of
Best of Class awards and hundreds of Gold medals.
Conceived in 1965 when the family moved into the area and planted
grapes, the winery was not actually born until nine years later with the
first production of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Two years
later we completed transforming an existing farming structure into a
state of the art winery. In 1982, Mill Creek built its tasting room
modeled after one of the many Wood Mills that were popular in the
area around the turn of the century.
Several members of the Kreck family currently work on the Mill Creek
property. Current owners, Bill and Yvonne Kreck are involved in many
areas of the production of Mill Creek's world-class wines, from growing
to bottling to selling. Their middle son, Jeremy Kreck, is now both
winemaker and vineyard manager. Bill's brother Bob, and his wife,
Elizabeth, are still involved in some aspects of the farming and
harvesting procedures.
On this single property, you can visit a place that completes the entire
process of growing grapes through selling wine. Unlike some
properties where they purchase most of the fruit, or even make the
wine off-site, Mill Creek is the complete package where one can
experience the creation of excellent varietal wines from start to finish.
Vineyards
The Kreck family entered the wine business not as investment
bankers but as growers. Our goal then remains our goal today... grow
excellent fruit. After settling in the Dry Creek Valley in 1965, the first
plantings were mainly Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1968, the current
estate ranch was purchased and the prune trees gave way to Cabernet
Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Within a few years, Merlot was added to
the mix. Our passion of producing a great bottle of wine can only start
by producing great grapes.
Jeremy Kreck manages the growing of the grapes on the Dry Creek
ranch. Jeremy's Uncle Bob (Bill's brother and co-founder of the winery)
is still involved in some aspects of the growing and harvesting of the
home ranch. The estate ranch located in the southern end of the Dry
Creek Valley is approximately 55 acres and is planted to Sauvignon
Blanc, Gewuürztraminer, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet
Sauvignon.
Bill and Yvonne Kreck have approximately 8 acres planted on their
ranch in Alexander Valley. This region, ideal for growing Cabernet
Sauvignon and more tannic Merlots, has produced some extraordinary
fruit. Some is used in the production of Mill Creek Cabernet
Sauvignon, but much is used in Bill and Yvonne Kreck's Reflections
project.
Winemaking
Mill Creek's winery sits on a knoll overlooking the vineyards. The main
building was on the property when the Kreck family purchased the
land in 1968 and was converted to a state of the art winery in 1976.
The two main sections of the winery include temperature controlled
stainless steel fermentation tanks and small French and American
oak barrels.
Winemaker Jeremy Kreck's basic philosophy is to let the fruit shine in
Mill Creek's wines. "My goal is to have the winemaking process and
components compliment and enhance the fruit."
The whites are picked at optimum maturity, then crushed and pressed
gently. The juice is settled, then racked and inoculated with yeast.
The whites are fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks
and small oak barrels. The gewürztraminer and sauvignon blanc are
bottled early the next year, while the chardonnay is allowed to age for
a brief period.
The reds are crushed, then fermented in small stainless steel tanks
while either being pumped over or punched down, two to three times
daily. After fermentation, the must is pressed and the wine returned
to stainless steel for a brief time to settle before being racked to 60
gallon barrels. Jeremy adds, "Barrels are the seasoning, if you will, of
the wine world. Done properly, flavors are lifted and additional layers
of complexity added, without being overwhelming in the finished
product." Reds age from 12-24 months depending on the wine.
"The fruit is both influenced by the cool nights and mornings of the
Russian River Valley, but yet allowed to fully mature with the warmer
climate of the Dry Creek Valley.
Mill Creek Vineyards
Biographies
Yvonne and Bill Kreck
As proprietors of Mill Creek Vineyards, and one of three generations
running the winery, Bill and Yvonne Kreck have a hard time separating
family life from work. For them, being part of a winemaking family is
both a way of life and a way to make a living. The best part is that
neither could have have asked for a more fitting way to blend similar
backgrounds and beliefs.
Both Bill and Yvonne came from backgrounds that emphasized
respect for agriculture. Both had the idea of wise and conservative use
of land, and deep respect for those who make their livings from it,
ingrained from the time they were children. While their paths
eventually,but temporarily, separated, they both returned to their
roots in Sonoma County to marry, raise a family, and help run the
family business. Their childhood experiences also provided them with
strong senses of community, and a commitment to maintain the rural
lifestyle.
Read more...
Bill's family history is the history of Mill Creek Vineyards itself. Charles
and Vera Kreck brought their three children to Alexander Valley,
almost by accident. Moving north to Oregon from Southern California
in December, 1948, flooded roads forced a stopover in Healdsburg.
Out of curiosity and with not much else to do, Charles looked at a
couple of parcels of land, bought one in Alexander Valley, and the
young family had a new direction. They moved once more, to the
ranch on Mill Creek Road. From there, Charles continued adding to
the family's real estate holdings, with Bill and James pitching in to
help with taking care of livestock and crops. In 1969, a prune orchard
along Westside Road became a cabernet sauvignon vineyard; the
grapes were some of the first planted in the Dry Creek Valley since
before Prohibition, leading the way for the wine industry boom over
the next two-and-a-half decades. Mill Creek Vineyards now stands
where the old fruit trees once grew.
Yvonne's family also migrated to Alexander Valley-from Berkeley-
before she was born, and likewise never left. In fact, she and Bill
raised their three sons in the house in which she grew up. Land that
was once corrals and pasture for her horses are now filled with
grapevines: it took many years, but Bill's dream of a small vineyard
on the Chalk Hill Road property came true in 1991; amidst two-
hundred-year-old valley oaks are seven acres now planted to the
classic Bordeaux varietals cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and
merlot used in the Kreck Estate Meritage, Reflections. Mill Creek
Vineyards' Cabernet Sauvignon blends grapes from this vineyard with
those grown on the Dry Creek Valley Estate.
Tiny Alexander Valley School provided the first opportunity for the two
to meet-they were classmates in a combined first-second grades
class of 12 students. Bill left after that year when his family moved to
Mill Creek Road, but he and Yvonne both attended Healdsburg High
School, although memories of each other then are admittedly vague.
The third school in common proved to be the charm when they met up
again at California State University, Chico, where Bill majored in
business administration and Yvonne earned a Masters' degree in
psychology. Bill served with the US Coast Guard Reserves, stationed
out of Alameda and Monterey before returning to help run the family's
new winery, having been put in charge of marketing. He and Yvonne
were married in 1971; their oldest son Brian was born in 1973,
followed by Jeremy in 1977 and Philip in 1979. Yvonne taught
psychology at the community college level for seven years before
turning her attentions full-time to her family, and consequently, the
family business.
The Krecks believe in being involved and giving back, and have been
leaders in many community and industry organizations. Bill has been
a member of the Sonoma County Wineries Association since 1981
and is currently on its Board of Directors; he remains one of only a
few principals who participate regularly in the Association's national
Annual Grand Tour. He was a founding member of the Sonoma
County Vinter's Cooperative, which stores and ships roughly one
million cases a year for 43 member wineries. Yvonne served on local
school boards for 19 years, focusing on curriculum development, and
was involved in drafting and passing county and state legislation. In
1986 she helped start the United Winegrowers of Sonoma County,
and remains an active member of this political action and monitoring
group favoring "right to farm" ideals. Yvonne joined the Mill Creek
staff full-time in 1993, taking on hospitality and retail management
duties after Bill's mother retired. She is currently serving as President
of the Russian River Wine Road, a group comprised of wineries and
lodgings as a forum for discussion and policy setting on local
promotion and tourism issues.
Being part of a winemaking family is nothing short of carrying on a
centuries-old tradition, practiced around the world and in California.
For Bill and Yvonne Kreck, running a family winery and raising a family
have been identical endeavors-and they wouldn't have it any other
way.
Jeremy Kreck
Growing up on a vineyard outside of Healdsburg, Jeremy has a deep-
rooted appreciation for the Sonoma County wine culture. "The wine,
food, art, and climate of the greater Healdsburg area make it an
extraordinary place to live. Did I mention the wine?"
After high school, Jeremy attended California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo, where he studied Agribusiness and of
course, wine and viticulture. "The central coast, at that time, was
experiencing a huge boom in grape plantings and wine production.
There was a great interest from the industry, which in turn led to a
certain electricity in the wine and viticulture programs at the
university." Post college, Jeremy returned to Healdsburg where he
began in the cellar and vineyards at Mill Creek. "Being both in the
vineyards and winery, I attained a great perspective of the
relationships between the vines and finished wines." Jeremy worked
under Hank Skewis, Mill Creek's former winemaker, for 4 vintages and
also continued his education with wine production courses at UC Davis.
Tasting Room Hours :
Mill Creek is open for tasting
Physical Address:
1401 Westside RoadView map and get directions.
Mailing Address:
PO Box 758
Staff:
Yvonne Kreck: General Manager, Special Events
Telephone Numbers:
Retail Sales & Wine Club: (707) 431-2121 (877) 349-2121 (707) 433-5098
