After 12 years, Col Solare – Washington state’s Italianate answer to Opus One and a partnership between Piero Antinori and Chateau Ste Michelle – has its own winery, whose doors flew open to the public last Thursday for an open house attended by local officials, trade and perhaps most significantly, Col Solare’s neighbours on Red Mountain.
This relatively new sub-appellation (2001) within the Yakima Valley is home to some of the state’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards (including Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval and Kiona) and an all-star cast of producers who buy Red Mountain grapes and make the wines...