The "Estate Grown" designation is an important feature of our winery. In order to qualify for this closely regulated designation, our wines are made from grapes grown in our own vineyards and fermented, aged and bottled at our family winery. Estate grown wines deliver unsurpassed quality and consistency from year to year.

2006 Viognier

2005 Anniversary Cuvee

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Cabernet Franc

The rest of the 2005 vintage will soon follow. We made a 2006 Chardonnay with grapes from our friends at Willard Family Farms in Prosser. It's a very limited production wine that shows lots of pure fruit character and has none of the heavy oaky, buttery character that weighs down many Chardonnays.

 

 

Our best to you -
Debbie and David Hansen

We hope you enjoy our new electronic newsletter. Please feel free to pass this along to a friend!

 

We have officially started using our new building! The production facility was finished just in time for the 2007 harvest and the new tasting room is under "fast track" construction. If it wasn't for the last minute we'd never get anything done!

Dave and Brian are running to get the cooling system hooked up to the tanks, hand rails and stairs put on the catwalk, and all the finishing touches in the lab. The Rastra block building is performing beautifully. All summer the indoor temperature has been very pleasant without ever running the air conditioner. Dave is already laying out the "mini-vineyard" he wants to plant next year so grapes will be our major landscaping.

2007 Accolades
We have had constant good press in the Wine Spectator this year, especially regarding the high ratings of our Reserve wines. Wine Spectator recently recognized Cougar Crest Winery as one of the ten best Cabernet Sauvignon producers in Washington State. We find ourselves in great company with some of the oldest and consistently high scoring producers in the state.

Crush is early...
The warmer than usual summer has brought veraison and crush early this year. We had to put the bird nets on the vineyard the first of August this year and the Tempranillo had already turned purple. As we frantically work to get the new winery ready, the grapes are pushing us to work faster. It feels like such a luxury to have all of our winemaking and tanks indoors this year. Our new varieties are producing a small crop this year; we have Tempranillo, Grenache, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cao, and Souzou to work with for the first time. We just love having our own grapes and having such a variety to chose from. Dave's veterinary clients keep him busy as well, he loves equine medicine and working on horses. He has so many irons in the fire this time of year that it is hard to find him.

...start your burners!
We are putting together a cook book with all the wonderful recipes you have prepared, or just enjoyed, with Cougar Crest wines. This book will be produced by a publishing company here in the US that specializes in high quality artistic cook books. The categories are appetizers, salads, entrees, side dishes, and desserts. We would like to compile as many recipes as we can over the winter, so open a bottle of your favorite Cougar Crest wine and start cooking. You can email or fax however many recipes in as many categories as you like. Also, let us know if you would like to be recognized as the contributor, along with your hometown. Imagine your recipe saved for posterity, every visitor to our tasting room will see it!

Spicy Lamb Stew
with Apricots and Cardamom

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1⁄2 pounds lamb shoulder o-bone (round-bone) chops, trimmed, boned, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 cups chopped onions or substitute 1 large jar pearl onions
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 cup water
1 cup Cougar Crest Syrah
1 cup dried lentils
2⁄3 cup dried apricots, quartered
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation
Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add lamb and toss to coat. Heat vegetable oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and sauté until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add lamb and sprinkle with salt. Sauté until brown, about 5 minutes. Add minced ginger and stir 1 minute. Add dried lentils, water and wine then bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lamb is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Add apricots to pot and simmer uncovered until liquid is slightly thickened and reduced, about 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar and sugar. Season to taste with salt. Divide stew among 4 bowls.
Serve over Couscous.

Nov. 30 - Dec.2

2007 Holiday Barrel Taste Weekend
Cougar Crest Tasting Room will be open throughout the weekend 10-5.

November 30th

Salud! Wine Club Members Reception.
Friday evening:
Cougar Crest Winery 202 A Street
Walla Walla Airport
Join us for appetizers, artisan cheeses, music and exclusive barrel samples. Please RSVP
509-529-5980
or by email.

To Your Health!

Salud is dedicated to reminding our friends that wine is a part of a healthy lifestyle that combines good food, good friends, and abundant love. Our wine club lets you choose shipments of 3, 6, or 12 bottles.

Join today! Simply provide the required information on the order form. We would enjoy hearing from you and having you as part of our Cougar Crest family. Please contact us with any questions, or to enroll in Salud! by phone at 509 529-5980.

Four times each year, you will receive a convenient and reasonably priced trio of wines from Cougar Crest Winery just when you need it the most.

February:

St. Valentine's Day

May:

End of School

August:

End of Summer

November:

In time for the holidays

Wine club membership entitles you to:

Club Discounts

Ability to purchase "sold out" wines (limited quantity)

No tasting fee for members' guests

Invitations to wine club receptions

Library wine tasting

 

 

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)