Meet the Family...

About Us - Our Stories

Cougar Vinyards - Filsinger Winery - Frangipani Winery - Gershon Bachus Vintners - Keyways Winery - Leonesse Cellars - Masía de Yabar - Oak Mountain Winery - Robert Renzoni Vinyards

Cougar Vineyard & Winery is not our first home winery venture. Over 10 years ago we started making wine in Texas. Although there were some small vineyards near us in Fort Worth, we started by using kits. Making good wine in an 85 degree room (yes, the air conditioner was on) isn’t easy. Even though the conditions weren’t optimum for wine making, we managed to pull off some drinkable wine. We bottled under the Ironstone Winery label.

An opportunity to move to Seattle was met with smiles after the blistering Texas heat. There we began making wine from grapes obtained from Eastern Washington. We stepped up the wine making operation from a small closet to a cellar dug into the hill below our home (yes, we replaced the supports to the house with two 400-lb beams just to make this room). The temperature and the grapes were much improved. During our stay in the always green city of Seattle, we made several trips to Buhl Idaho to visit our friend Terry White. One such occasion we helped him plant an acre of Chardonnay grapes which started us thinking about a vineyard of our own. We’d have to wait since we couldn’t grow anything around our property that wasn’t snail and slug proof… We began producing some very good reds and finally some whites to be proud of. We entered and won 3rd place for our Semillon in 1998. We bottled under the Cougar Mountain Winery label.

Finally we moved to Fallbrook California. One of the conditions of the house we were searching for was that it had to have at least an acre that could be planted with a vineyard (or have an existing vineyard if lucky enough). Two years in the home and we have planted 669 vines with room for around 300 more if we’re so inclined. Along the Italian theme of the Sangiovese and Montepulciano we have planted Malbec. We'll be planting more Malbec and about 280 Cabernet Sauvignon plants early spring 2005. In order to grow the best grapes we can and make the best wine we can, we joined the San Diego Amateur Winemaking Society (www.SDAWS.org). We’re active members and enjoy the many educational and networking possibilities that the society offers. In 2003 we won a Bronze in the Orange County Fair for our Sauvignon Blanc. Check out the Awards link for our2004 awards. We now bottle under the Cougar Vineyard & Winery label.

So there you have it. 2004 and 2005 harvests were good ones. We are making estate wines from our vineyard and also purchased grapes.

In the words of our friend and mentor Lum Eisenman some words that motivate us to grow good quality grapes and make good wine… "You can't make good wine from bad grapes but you can make bad wine from good grapes". Also, it takes a lot of beer to make good wine!

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Gershon Bachus was a simple man who immigrated to the United States from Europe in 1922 with his wife and two girls. He brought with him his zest for life and his extraordinary recipes for fine wines. Like many transplanted Europeans, he continued to make wine for his friends and family, but never realized his dream of owning his own vineyard in California.

84 years later, Gershon¹s fantasy was fulfilled by his grandson. The family winemaking tradition lives on in Temecula, California. Ken and Christina captured the lifestyle described in the many stories from the old country: Family, Friends and Food.

Our life¹s philosophy is not complicated.
Live Well,
Love Much,
Laugh Often.
These plaques are prominently displayed in our home to remind us that the quality of living your life is important and you must remember that life is too short to drink bad wine. Come meet the family on the weekends. Joey V. will greet you and you can sit down and tell us your story, and maybe throw the ball for Oscar Meyer, our director of security.

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The story begins with an intense, meticulous and an insatiable desire to make the best wine possible defines proprietor / wine maker Stephen Andrews. Stephen, the winemaker never dreamed of owning a winery. As a matter of fact his drinking choice was usually beer. That all changed after Valerie came into his life. Valerie's Dad, Ed Snyder was in the gourmet wine and liquor business starting in the 60's carrying some of the best handcrafted wines in his stores including wines from Hart winery and Brander. I guess it was in the stars that someday Valerie would get into the wine business.

Steve's career path started in the 60's building and racing funny cars, drag racing and off road racing. Following a 6 year time out for the army where he was an instructor for electronics he then started yet another career as a contractor for the automobile club and Riverside County with his towing company appropriately named Steve's Towing. When Temecula Hills Winery opened Steve sold the towing company to become a full time winemaker and continues making the award wining wines for Temecula Hills and Oak Mountain Winery with Valerie by his side running the tasting room, events and everything else.

Oak Mountain Winery with views of Oak Mountain is an oasis of Temecula Valley charm. The picturesque hillside vineyards are planted to the classic Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. We have also slipped in some unique varietals such as Counoise and Pinotage. Our wines are a true reflection of this very special place with a relaxed, classic beauty that is timeless. Rise Above The Ordinary.

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The history of winemaking in the Renzoni family dates to 1886, when Robert’s great grandfather Federico began working in the vineyards near Fano, a small Italian village on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. While working in the vineyards, Federico and his father began making wine for family and friends. Federico emigrated to America and after two years working as a commercial Fisherman in New London, Connecticut he decided to relocate to Buffalo, New York in 1914, where he entered into the wine and cordial business with his brother-in-law, Romeo Battistoni. Unfortunately, that venture was short lived, as they were forced out of business by the advent of Prohibition in 1918.

After successfully operating a construction business in the intervening years, Federico and Romeo returned to a variant of their first business venture together when prohibition ended in 1933, this time in the form of a wine distributing business. Robert’s grandfather, Domenic, joined them in 1934 and together they began importing wines from Italy and France. By this time, the American wine industry was resurgent; having recovered from Prohibition. It was at this time that the trio began doing business with a number of Italian immigrants who had settled in California. These immigrants would go on to become some of the more famous winemakers in California, and included August Sebastiani, Lorenzo Cella (Roma Wines) and Cesare Mondavi (Charles Krug).

Named for his great-grandfather Federico, Robert’s father Frederick assumed control of the family business, then known as Italian and French Wine Company, in 1972. The business prospered as a wholesale wine and liquor distributorship and eventually covered all of Upstate New York. As young adults, Robert and his brother spent many hours working there.

Robert formally entered the business in 1989, spending five years in various roles, the last of which was in the sales department. In 1994, the family decided to exit the rapidly consolidating wholesale business and the business was sold. In 1996, Robert opted to relocate to California, and worked in the wine and liquor industry in Los Angeles for several years.

After many years apart, parts of our family were once again reunited in Temecula, when Robert and his parents each moved here in 2004. Once here, the muse of winemaking again beckoned. They purchased a beautiful property on De Portola Road in Temecula, and supplemented the existing vineyards with additional plantings in 2006.

The Robert Renzoni Vineyard today is a tribute to Federico, Romeo, and Domenic.

Alla Familgia!