Born into a Bordeaux vineyard, formally educated at the Institute of Oenology of Bordeaux, having wet his feet at Chateau La Tour Blanche in Sauternes and Domaine Mumm in Napa Valley, Laurent Montalieu is more than a three-time tenured Oregon winemaker (see Bridgeview Vineyards, WillaKenzie Estate and now Soléna Estate) and c0-founder of the state-of-the-art winemaking facility Northwest Wine Company, he is a hopeless romantic. To commemorate their marriage in 2000, Laurent and his wife Danielle Andrus Montalieu purchased an 80-acre vineyard and gave it her name. The winery, which had its first release two years later, was named for their daughter, Soléna, the combination of the Spanish and French words Solana and Solene, celebrating the sun and the moon. Bright like the sun, the 2012 Pinot Gris a fragrant bouquet (partially in thanks to two percent of Gewurztraminer), stuffed with orange blossom, jasmine, honeysuckle, pear and apricot. Full like the moon (okay, sometimes), the palate is off-dry with honeysuckle influence but spritzy in acid and melon fruit flavors.
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