OUR STORY
Ladrón Cellars is an artisanal winery located in Metropolitan Denver Colorado. We specialize in producing premium wines with grapes sourced from amazing vineyards in California’s Central Coast and Washington. We ‘smuggle’ the grapes and wines to our production facility in Englewood Colorado, hence the Spanish word for thief – Ladrón, where they are transformed into our delicious wines.
Our passion for wine and the winemaking process began during our first trips to California wine country in the 90’s. Since then we have travelled around the world to several new and old world wine regions to experience and learn about the styles and traditions of the local wines. During these travels, and one in particular, we began to create the vision for Ladrón Cellars. It began with the belief of sharing various wine styles and varietals from specific locations in California and Washington. We select varietals from these regions that highlight their unique climates, allowing us to produce our incredibly complex wines.
We believe that bringing the experience of the winery and regional influences to an urban setting will introduce people that are passionate about wine to new varietals and regional styles. Ladrón Cellars was created for this purpose of sharing our same passion for wine with others…
OUR TEAM
Richard Crockett
Founder / Winemaker
Winemaker, Richard Crockett began his career in the information technology industry, building and selling several successful companies over the years. On a road trip from L.A. to San Francisco, he made an unlikely stop in a small Central Coast town that would change everything. In a small tasting room called Paso Underground, Richard met Orion and was introduced to the beauty and creativity of central coast winemaking. Richard went back to school and studied Enology at Washington State University. After completing his studies, he started Ladrón Cellars in 2015 and as they say the rest is history. When Richard is not at the Winery, he enjoys traveling with his wife, searching out the next great restaurant, and spending time with his friends – enjoying the next crazy bottle of wine.
Tracy Crockett
General Manager / Tasting Room Manager
General Manager, Tracy Crockett began her career in the telecommunications and networking industry, building sales and marketing teams supporting global companies. Wine has been her passion since 2012 and enjoyed finding that next amazing Pinot Noir wine. Combining her sales and marketing expertise with her passion for the community that surrounds the wine industry, she decided to leave the telecommunications industry and dive headfirst into managing all aspects of customer experiences in the tasting room. When Tracy is not at the tasting room, she enjoys traveling with her husband, long dog walks and cheering her son on at swim meets.
Orion Stang
Winemaker
Winemaker, Orion Stang grew up in the Central Coast surrounded by a family of bohemian artists and free spirits. Exposed to wine culture growing up, Orion was intrigued by the enriching relationship between food and wine. After culinary studying in Italy and working in Napa, Stang undertook the grueling testing to obtain his Court of Master Sommelier level two credentials. That decision kicked off a career encompassing learning every job in the field and winery, a handful of labels, some his and some as a consultant, and culminated in a partnership to build Emercy Wines.
LADRÓN’S ART
Our labels and tasting room art feature original artwork created by Phil Lear.
Phil Lear
Phil Lear’s painting strives to present a certain poetic insight into the world around. His style and brushwork harmonize with the character of his subject, to reveal the inborn charm of painting.
Born in Ontario, Canada in 1975, Phil grew up with a very close love of art. Always drawing and sketching, he expressed his creativity early by writing and illustrating stories and cartoons. His family moved to the United States in 1990, where Phil developed his skills in all the high school art classes, and worked with a select group of young artists known as Smiling Shep Designs, producing banners and artwork for the surrounding community.
In 1993 Phil enrolled in Pensacola Christian College’s Commercial Art program, where he studied for four years under established illustrators and designers. It was during this time the he began to realize a passion for painting, and for expressing the beauty he saw all around. Personal study and a deep love for the art of the Renaissance and late-Victorian eras increased both his knowledge of painterly innovation, and his fast-beating desire to become an artist himself.
After illustrating for missionaries in Switzerland in 1999, Phil returned to the United States and began taking steps toward entering the professional world of painters. He became a charter member of the Portrait Society of America, and has displayed work in several public exhibitions and competitions. Phil now furthers his study and artistic journey in the company of other fine artists at the Cottonwood Artists’ School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
His paintings deal with the beauty in common scenes of nature and everyday folk. He finds inspiration in the touching effects of light and shadow, and the narrative splendor of the simple things in life. Like the Academy painters of the 1800’s, Phil prefers to work with a warm, limited palette, using subdued colors to bring a calm and natural mood to the canvas.
“There is poetry in everything,” Phil says, “and the painter – like the poet, or musician, or sculptor – must bring it to attention, because he sees what others oftentimes do not.”