Soléna Winery Name
Soléna Winery has an intrinsic connection to Sun – one of the sources of life on earth. The name of the winery is the combination of the Spanish and French words Solana and Soleil. Coincidentally, founders Laurent Montalieu and Danielle Andrus Montalieu named their daughter Soléna as well.
One might ask was it winery called after their daughter or the other way around. Why would it matter? Both wine and child are miracles of mother nature. Thanks to our Sun.
Laurent and Danielle
In May 2002, Laurent and Danielle launched Soléna by bottling their first vintage of Domaine Danielle Laurent Pinot Noir and opening a tasting room in Carlton shortly after. By the time Soléna was started, both Laurent and Danielle were accomplished professionals in the Oregon wine industry.
You may not have heard Laurent’s name, but there’s a good chance you tasted the wine he helped to create. He moved to Oregon from Burgundy in 1987 and started at Bridgeview winery in Southern Oregon. The rest is history in the making.
Have you tried WillaKenzie Pinot Noir? Laurent worked there as a partner and winemaker as far back as 1995. Have you seen or tasted Kudos and Hyland Estate wines? Laurent is responsible. And many more.
In 2003, he founded the first fully-dedicated custom crush facility in the Willamette Valley, NW Wine Company. Since then, the company grew to become one of Oregon’s largest land-holding winery, and its facility process grapes for over a dozen wine labels.
Soléna Winery Vineyards
Soléna winery primarily focused on producing wines from single vineyards and showcasing the terroir of different sights in Willamette Valley. Just like winemakers do in Bourgogne. It offers us an opportunity to taste how much of a difference different soils, microclimates, and grape clones can make. For example, Pinot Noir sourced from Guadalupe vineyard is 100% Pommard clone. This vineyard is located in Dundee Hills AVA, which is known for its volcanic Jory soils. Both have a tremendous impact on the character of the wine we get in our glass.
Another example is Domaine Danielle Laurent vineyard. It’s in Yamhill-Carlton AVA known for being the warmer site of Willamette Valley. Grapes usually are riper and tend to have dark fruit character.
Soléna Winery Tasting Flight
On our wine swinging trip to Soléna, we tasted the 2017 vintage wine flight. We started with Domaine Danielle Laurent Chardonnay.
The next four wines were Pinot Noirs representing single vineyards: Guadalupe, Zena Crown, Hyland Vineyard, and Domaine Danielle Laurent.
We had a split decision on the second favorite but unanimously picked Domaine Danielle Laurent as one to take home with us. The grapes for this Pinot came from vines planted in 2000 at the inaugural Soléna vineyard.
It was an enlightening experience to have a horizontal flight from the same producer in the same vintage but different sights. It’s a rare opportunity, and we’ll be back to try some more. The second opinion never hurts.
Have you ever been to Soléna or tried their wines?
Maybe you tasted other wines made by Laurent company?