Cougar Vineyard and Winery — Attraction in Temecula

If you were lucky enough to snag their TravelZoo Deal than kudos to you. If not this place is still a fine winery to visit!

The Deal:

Travelzoo subscribers can take a 2.5-hour tour through Cougar Vineyard & Winery in Temecula -- complete with a wine class, vintage tastings and complementary appetizers -- for $29 per person. An experience that would regularly cost $150, this package saves visitors $121 on the regular price.

The tour and wine seminar are led by the winery's owners and include:

A tour through the vineyard and winery that details the art behind wine making, including planting, harvesting, crushing and bottling

Eight wine tastings that take place throughout the tour

A wine tasting class that educates guests on the different flavors, grapes and vintages

Artisanal cheeses, salami, chocolates and baguettes that complement the wines and expand the wine education (offerings subject to change)

The Reality:

2.5-hours of getting tipsy off some tasty ass wine!!

*Yes we toured the vineyard, but its the winter its just twigs and branches not a lush field of bountiful grapes.

*It said 8 wine tastings but it was more like 12 so kudos. The more the merrier and they were stingy with the tasting amounts ^_^

*We did learn the etiquette for storing, tasting and holding your wine. Which was really cool since I've been doing everything completely wrong for years. (Hold for the stem of the glass, don't store reds in the fridge and make circular motions with your wine to get the wine peculating)

*Vegetarian so I enjoyed the Artisanal cheeses (one cheese type to be exact a semi-hard nutty white cheese the name escapes me) and the baguette. The bread was warm and delicious the cheese nutty and paired well with one of the many wines we tried. No chocolates :(

Overall GREAT AMAZING deal and experience. The staff was helpful. Our tour guy was charming and my boyfriend and I learned a great deal. We even purchased a bottle to take home. Love the wine here would want to go back when the grapes are...

Cougar Winery has one of the most BEAUTIFUL views in Temecula. Sit outside with your glass of wine and get lost in the scenery… time will fly by. Great place to relax, have good conversations, or even read a book… though, if you don’t keep your eyes peeled, you may miss out on the beauty of nature and the wildlife that roams freely throughout the valley.

This was my second time at this winery and I remain unimpressed by the bar area (for tasting) and food. My sandwich was 90% bread and our tasting pours seemed small for a tasting (they were the smallest pours out of the four wineries we visited that day). They have a good list of wines, but only really enjoyed TWO of the twelve tastings we had; our favorites being the Primitivo Port and the Full Monte, which was highly recommended paired with chocolate. Please note, I prefer bold red wines like Malbecs and refreshing whites like a Sauvignon Blanc, I normally do not gravitate towards ports or sweeter wines.

The sangria was also highly recommended, but after being disappointed with the Cougar Bubbly, the Dolce Bubbly, and the O.P.M. tastings, I didn’t want to waste more tastings on the sangrias and be disappointed with them too.

I do like the decor indoors and, again, the outside seating areas, but I would recommend finding one wine you like and sticking to that while enjoying the view. The tasting wasn’t worth it; despite one of the larger wine lists out of the four wineries we visited that day. The customer service was okay, not great, but I think that’s also because the tasting bar is so small and when you have multiple tours and locals coming in at the same time, the staff doesn’t have the space to move around very freely OR converse/be personable with...

Located along Temecula’s DePortola wine trail, Cougar is a small, family-owned and run boutique winery that produces some awesome Italian varietals, including a number of estate wines from their vineyards. They grown 95% of their wine grapes and all their wines are produced on-site. The owners have been making wine for 30 years, opening Cougar here in Temecula in 2006.

This review is long overdue! We first stopped in to Cougar awhile back on a weekday for a tasting and a bite to eat. This winery has a relaxed and casual vibe with seating indoors as well as picnic tables and a few comfy adirondack chairs outside. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable. I love that they have Sangio’s Deli right there to pair your Italian wines with great deli fare – antipasti, hand-tossed pizzas, salads, and sandwiches. Not to be missed is their awesome happy hour (Tues-Thurs 2-4pm) where you get a free pizza with the purchase of 1 bottle red or 2 whites.

We’ve followed up that first visit to Cougar with several more relaxing afternoons there. You just can’t beat a freshly baked Mediterranean veggie pizza and a bottle of Primitivo while enjoying a stunning view of another spectacular Temecula sunset in wine country.

Oh, and they are kid-friendly and they love dogs! They even have a “K-9 wine club”! You get a bandana, discount on merch, a bottle of “Barkbera” wine, treat Tuesdays and monthly...