Winemaker Notes
Orchard fruit dominates the palate, with apple crisp and apple flavors joined by cinnamon and filberts plus juicy acidity and a crisp texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
his aromatic and delicious wine is generous in floral, white-peach and baking-spice flavors on a medium body. Bosc pears, white peaches, toasted almonds and lemon zest ride a nicely tangy texture that also has a sense of fullness and breadth.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a medium yellow hue, the 2023 Chardonnay Willamette Valley is elegant and approachable. The largest blend Solena produces now, it reveals notes of ripe pear, lemon balm, fresh herbs, and powdery flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it has a lovely silky texture, is approachable, and offers a lot of value.
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Wine Enthusiast
A bouquet of aromatics features hydrangeas and honeysuckle draped over notes of lemon peel, apricot and talc. There's some weight here as flavors like limoncello, cantaloupe and green tea coat the palate. Another highlight is the wine's elevated acidity. I enjoyed the way it cut the fruit like a knife.
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Wine Spectator
Supple and handsomely built, with engaging accents of apple, melon and honeysuckle that linger on the rich finish.
Soléna is a combination of the words Solana and Soleil, celebrating the sun, moon, and cycles of life. Our story began in 2000 when our founders purchased the 80-acre estate which became our Domaine Danielle Laurent vineyard. Furthering their successful careers in the Oregon wine industry, Laurent Montalieu and Danielle Andrus gifted this vineyard to each other for their wedding, and began making wine under the label named Soléna after their newborn daughter.
Soléna Estate showcases the beauty of terroir in our site-specific wines. They craft delicious wine from our estate and other iconic vineyards around the Northwest. They're well known for ageable Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris all with Laurent's signature expressive aromatics and vibrant mid-palate. Visit our estate in Yamhill to see how they steward wines of legacy and purpose!
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.