2007 Cougar Crest Reserve Syrah

This red wine is from the Southeastern part of Washington State.  I popped the cork on a bottle of the 2007 Cougar Crest Reserve Syrah made by a rather unknown winemaker Deborah Hansen. Deborah’s original calling had nothing to do with the wine business.  Actually, she earned her degree to become a pharmacist. I am happy that she scrapped her dreams of being a friendly smile behind the counter at our local Walgreens® and found her true calling on the craggy soil of Walla Walla Valley. Let’s not try and avoid the obvious and ignore the horrendous name given to this Vineyard.  Cougar plus Crest denotes a very weird, rather peculiar image. Maybe they need a good Advertising and Public Relations guy?  Any takers?  Besides the atrocious nomenclature, this wine has a lot of stuffing.

On the nose: This is like a Tiny Dancer (don’t hold me closer Elton John!) that glides across each nostril and questions each from where such a stupefying concocted scent could be born.  Well the answer to that question is Walla Walla Valley in good ol’ Washington State.  The perfume of this beauty is plentiful. Think of delicate rose pedals being laid out on a Gulf Coast beach to be dried out.  A nice sea breeze hits your face and you breathe in at that exact moment.  A little allspice and some sweet orange bell peppers to round things out.

Palate: Has me wondering why I haven’t had more Syrah from Washington, shame on me.  This can easily pass for a ten year old Côte-Rôtie created by Marcel Guigal that would run into the hundreds of dollars.  Love the length. I actually still think I am tasting some lingering flavors from this wine when I write this review.  Easily in the top 5 wines that I have tasted this year.  I would not bother to lay this bottle down for any time as it’s hitting its stride right now.  Not the easiest bottle to find and most of the bottles are available in the Northwest.  I picked up 4 bottles on a whim from www.wtso.com. Happy Drinking!

Rating Scale (out of 5 +):

++++½

Price: $40 – I got my bottles for $20 apiece.  Keep an eye out, you may get lucky….

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