Winemaker Notes
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!
Home of some of the planet’s most amazingly elegant and expressive Pinot noir, the Willamette Valley is a pastoral, mixed landscape of green, bucolic rolling hills, dramatic forestlands and small, independent, friendly wine growers. As a leader in environmental stewardship, the valley has some of the nation’s most protective land use policies, with two-thirds of its vineyards farmed sustainably and over half, organically. While the valley claims a cool, continental climate, and is heavily influenced by the cold, moist winds of the Pacific Ocean, its warm and dry summers allow for the steady, even ripening of Pinot noir.
The potential of Willamette Valley Pinot noir continues to attract the investment of serious growers and winemakers both locally and from abroad, as naturally the finished wines bring accolades from professionals and enthusiasts. With a range of styles from delicate dried cherry, raspberry and hibiscus to stronger notes of truffle, mocha, plum and spice, a fine Willamette Valley Pinot noir is a perfect expression of both character and grace.