Meet The Staff

Chris Cree, MW

Founder - Managing Partner

Raised in Hunterdon County, Chris began his pilgrimage into the wine business as a teenager with a part-time job at Central Liquors in Flemington, working his way up to a wine sales manager position. 

During this time he began to take advantage of being the son of a TWA airline pilot and use the travel privileges to visit as many wine regions as he could. He learned the wine trade from the ground up by visiting countless wineries, working during a harvest, reading everything he could find about wine - and of course, tasting, tasting, tasting! From there he made a career of the wine trade, working in many aspects including retail, wholesale, import, restaurant, marketing, and as an educator.

In 1996, Chris passed the rigorous Institute Master of Wine program and became the 13th American to pass the exam. Now there are 56 Americans and 418 in the world who are Masters of Wine. Click here to better understand what it took for Chris to become New Jersey's only Master of Wine! 

Chris soon became an in-demand wine consultant, operated a wine retail business in Clinton during the 1990s, founded The Chelsea Wine Vault in Manhattan, opened 56 Degree Wine in Bedminster, revamped Terminal "C" at Newark Airport with a dynamic food and wine program, and was Managing Editor at WineAccess. He joined the Wine Spectator Grand Award winning in 2015 Pluckemin Inn as their Director of Education and Retail Wine Sales. 

In November of 2021, Chris reopened the doors of the historic Perryville Inn as the Cree Wine Company, first selling wine "to go" only while an extensive renovation was completed on the Inn, then introducing Cree Wine Company to the public in November of 2021. Cree Wine Company is the culmination of Chris's passion for wine, extensive industry experience, and his desire to share the world of wine with our customers and community.

Clifford Bell

Retail Sales Manager

Cliff first fell in love with wine while studying abroad in Aix-en-Provance, France. Clifford's Cree Wine journey began while he was attending one of our wine tasting. He inquired about working in the wine world and asked if we were hiring, the rest is history! Cliff not only works in the retail department, but you might even find him behind the bar from time to time to enrich us with his wine knowledge! His favorite wine is Champagne, so if you have a love for bubbles, strike up a conversation with Cliff and he'd be thrilled to make some suggestions.