Since its inaugural 1995 vintage, Col Solare winery has been steadily evolving to fulfill its goal of producing a Red Mountain-designated vintage of its flagship wine: the 2011 Col Solare Red Blend. This limited-production bottling of just 2,500 cases is now available at the Col Solare estate winery, at the Col Solare Bottega in Woodinville, Wash., at select restaurants and retailers, and from the winery’s website.
LEFT Winemaker Darel Allwine; RIGHT Col Solare on Red Mountain is a collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle and the Antinori family of Tuscany.
“The 2011 vintage of Col Solare shows a wonderful combination of concentration and power together with elegance and polish,” said Darel Allwine, winemaker for Col Solare. “This is exactly the wine profile that attracted us to Red Mountain in the first place, and it is so exciting to finally see a ‘Red Mountain’ on the label,” said Allwine.
An equal partnership between Washington state’s founding winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle, and the first family of Italian wine, Marchesi Antinori, Col Solare was launched in 1995 to produce the premier Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine from Washington state.
The partnership purchased land on Red Mountain, “ a small appellation in south central Washington state renowned for Cabernet Sauvignon,” and established their own estate vineyard and winery there in 2006. Since then, Col Solare has been steadily progressing to fulfill its goal of becoming a Red Mountain designation.
With the 2009 vintage, fruit from the young estate vineyard, then in just its third leaf, began to play an important role in the blend for Col Solare, comprising 13% of the blend. Overall, Red Mountain contributed 42% of the final blend for the 2009 vintage. With the 2010 vintage, the contribution of the estate vineyard jumped to 48% of the blend, with Red Mountain comprising 69% of the blend for this vintage.
For the newly-released 2011 vintage, the estate vineyard makes up 87% of the blend, while Red Mountain contributes 89% of the final blend. Each subsequent vintage of Col Solare will also carry the Red Mountain designation, which requires that at least 85% of each wine be sourced from Red Mountain according to Federal law.
“We’re thrilled to be realizing the vision we’ve shared with the Antinori family since we started Col Solare together almost 20 years ago,” said Ted Baseler, president and CEO of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. “Red Mountain is a very special place, and we’re proud to help bring greater recognition for this outstanding winegrowing region with the Red Mountain designation for Col Solare,” said Baseler.
About Col Solare
Col Solare is an equal partnership between two influential wine producers who are recognized leaders in their respective regions: Washington state’s Chateau Ste. Michelle and Italy’s Marchesi Antinori. From the inaugural 1995 vintage, the mission of Col Solare has been to unite these two unique viticultural and winemaking cultures to produce a world-class Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine from Washington state’s top vineyard sites. With the planting of the Col Solare estate vineyard on Red Mountain in 2007, the vision of the partners has evolved to focus on showcasing the Cabernet Sauvignon of this renowned appellation and, ultimately, the specific fruit of the estate vineyard. With the 2009 vintage, fruit from the estate vineyard plays an important role in the Col Solare blend for the first time and, beginning with the 2011 vintage, all future vintages of Col Solare will carry the Red Mountain designation. For more information on Col Solare, visit http://www.colsolare.com/
Editor’s note: Read more about Col Solare and Ste. Michelle’s ‘sister’ wineries in Washington State.