Wines

Col Solare

Darel Allwine
Col Solare

Featured:
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Congress Has Heart Reception
Saturday, May 2, 2020 Grand Tasting Reception

Col Solare is the partnership between two influential wine producers who are recognized leaders in their respective regions: Tuscany’s Marchesi Antinori and Washington State’s Chateau Ste. Michelle. Col Solare, Italian for ‘shining hill,’ represents the first and most significant investment to date in Washington State by a European wine company with a winery and an estate vineyard located on Red Mountain. Col Solare’s mission is to unite two unique viticultural and winemaking cultures to produce an ultra-luxury Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine. 

For many of us, retirement is a time to pursue hobbies and travel. For Darel Allwine, retirement from the U.S. Air Force led to a new calling in wine. Returning to his native Washington state after 20 years traveling the globe for the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, including a stint in Germany where he first  became interested in wine after touring the Mosel and the Rheingau, Allwine answered an ad for a cellar worker at Columbia Crest winery, where he quickly rose through the ranks. Under Allwine’s care, the reserve program at Columbia Crest grew from -100 barrels to over 2000 barrels. The winery’s 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was also ranked No-1 on Wine Spectator’s annual list of the Top -100 wines of the world in 2009. 

During this time, Allwine also met and began working with Marcus Notaro, then red winemaker at Columbia Crest. Both began working with Col Solare during the production of the 2003 vintage. In 2006, the pair assumed full responsibility for winemaking at Col Solare and oversaw planting of the estate vineyard and construction of the estate winery on Red Mountain, which opened for crush that year. In 2013, Allwine was appointed winemaker for Col Solare by the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates-Marchesi Antinori partnership, after Notaro became winemaker for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. 

In addition to learning about and drinking new wines, Allwine is an avid golfer who also enjoys participating in outdoor activities with his family – a lifelong passion instilled by becoming an Eagle Scout in his youth. He lives with his wife in Richland, Washington 

Family is why