The Hansens established Cougar Crest Winery in 2001. Both attended Washington State University in the 1970s and pursued careers in the San Francisco area. Deborah’s career was in pharmacy while David’s was in veterinary medicine. During the nearly two decades living in California, the couple visited wineries and became interested in making wine. They purchased […]

Harold enjoys drinking wine and has been a wine enthusiast since the early 1970s. Suzanne enjoys working with plants. Blending their two passions, it made sense for them to join others in a partnership to plant a vineyard along the Columbia River, not far from Chelan, Washington. This area is a new frontier for wine […]

Some have said it takes a lot of beer to make good wine. For Gary and Diane Forristall, that saying may not be far off the mark. They were beer drinkers before they became wine drinkers. The couple had a farm in Iowa and there was a section of land where they could grow something. […]

For some, their wine journey begins early in life. That is the case for Frank and Teri Michiels, partners at Eight Bells Winery in Seattle, Washington. Teri’s wine tasting began very early. She attended a convent school in Belgium. The nuns use to give the students a mixture of wine and water with their lunch. […]

There are many stories about how people begin their wine journey. I have been writing about our fellow travelers on the WSU trip to wine regions in France. Julie Richards was a wine consumer. One day she read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a sensory evaluation seminar offered by UC Davis. Julie […]