Solena
Cellars Soléna is a combination of two names that mean
the sun and the moon. For Danielle and Laurent, Soléna represents
the celebration of life as this is the name they gave to their daughter,
after her somewhat early, miraculous birth. Their Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet
Sauvignon, and upcoming Syrah were made to be enjoyed with family and friends
during life’s victories both big and small.
Danielle Andrus Montalieu With more than a decade of experience in the
wine industry, Danielle Andrus Montalieu has left Archery Summit winery
to start her own wine label with
her husband, Laurent Montalieu and daughter Soléna.
“After the birth of Soléna, I realized that I wanted to get
back to the basics.” The basics for her include spending more time
with her family, making a small amount of high quality wine, and returning
to a time when life was simpler.
Danielle’s father, Gary Andrus, started Pine Ridge Winery when she
was ten. “The winery was actually a small cellar under a two bedroom
farm house,” she reminisces.
During her early years, Danielle worked in the administration, the cellar,
and the hospitality departments of Pine Ridge Winery. While in college
she continued her wine education by working in retail wine stores, and
as a wine steward for a small restaurant. During this time Pine Ridge winery
grew to a 100,000 case winery. This success allowed Nancy Andrus, Gary
Andrus, and their new partners, Leucadia, to create an additional winery
in Oregon, Archery Summit.
“Moving to Oregon was the logical choice for me,” the native
Oregonian states. “Oregon’s wine community is exciting and
youthful. It was almost like returning to the time when Pine Ridge was
first being created.”
 Archery Summit Winery provided her with a wonderful
education, but when her father retired, she knew it was time to leave. “Developing
Archery Summit Winery with my father was a great joy for me, one I will
always
cherish.”
After six years at Archery Summit Winery, Danielle continues in her pursuit
of developing a small family operated winery and vineyard, and in educating
the trade and consumers about the Oregon wine industry. As a founding board
member of Oregon Pinot Camp, Danielle has endeavored to familiarize the
wine trade with Oregon wines. She remains active in consumer organizations
like Salud, which raises money for the vineyard workers health care, and
the International Pinot Noir Celebration.
With eighty acres, Danielle and Laurent have their work cut out for them.
Yet their ideology puts quality of life higher than producing large quantities
of wine. They anticipate only planting about twenty of the eighty acres,
and leaving the rest in its natural beauty.
“Moving up to our property this past
October was so exciting. From our window we see our new vineyard and
the place where Laurent and I were
married.”
The property holds special meaning for the
couple, and they look forward to raising Soléna in this environment. “In a way, life has
become a full circle for me,” Danielle smiles.
Laurent Montalieu
 Laurent Montalieu took his first steps in a vineyard in Medoc owned by
his great grandfather, Pierre Joseph Montalieu. He grew up on the Caribbean
island of
Guadeloupe, but spent summers in his family’s homeland of Bordeaux,
where he learned to grow grapes and drink wine. Laurent returned to Bordeaux
in 1980 to attend high school.
With a renewed interest in wine, he immersed himself in studies of vineyard
management and winemaking. Upon his graduation in 1987 from the Institute
of Oenology of Bordeaux, he worked for Chateau La Tour Blanche near Sauternes,
France and Domaine Mumm in California before moving to Oregon.
After seven successful vintages at Bridgeview
Vineyards in Cave Junction, Oregon, Laurent joined WillaKenzie Estates.
Laurent, as a partner and winemaker,
shared Bernard and Ronnie Lacroute’s commitment to top quality in
the vineyard and winery with a philosophy of minimal intervention in the
production of handcrafted wines.
Laurent is passionate about Pinot Noir and other varietals he creates as
winemaker at WillaKenzie Estates, but as an artist he is always looking
to continue creating wines from other varietals. Indulging in his art,
Laurent first created a private label called La Merleausine, an experiment
in blending Merlot and Zinfandel. Laurent enjoyed making small quantities
of this wine, but wanted to focus on the purity of the varietals. With
this ideology in mind, he broadened his focus to include Cabernet and
Syrah. Thus the four varietals of the new label, Soléna, were
determined, and his business relationship with Danielle, his wife, was
created.
As if Laurent was not active enough in his winemaking
career, private label, and commitments to the Oregon wine community,
he and Danielle have taken
on another new venture: developing their own Pinot Noir vineyard. When
asked how he was able to manage so many different activities, he replied, “Creating
and watching things grow gives me great pleasure. I think if you love
what you do, finding time to do it is not a problem.” With a young
daughter, new label, and a budding vineyard, Laurent is enjoying the
fullness of his life! 
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