She then completed the Master’s program of Viticulture and Oenology of the ENITA of Bordeaux and received her National Diploma of Enology from the University of Bordeaux.ĭuring her years in school, Anne would return to Burgundy for internships with well esteemed Pinot Noir producers Domaine jean-Francois Coche-Dury, Domaine Hubert Lignier, Maison Bouchard Pere & Fils.Īfter graduating she traveled to the United States to perfect her English and experience another Pinot Noir region of the world. She left Reunion after high school to attend college in Dijon where she received her degree in Biology, Physics, and Mathematics. It was her summers in France though where her passion for wine and love for viticulture first blossomed. As a teenager, she spent her summer in Burgundy at the family vineyard, and it was there where her affinity for wine first blossomed. When she was 14, her parents purchased a vineyard in Côte de Nuits.

As a steward of the land, Laurent takes a humble approach to wine, and ultimately his goal is to leave his land in better shape than it was before him.Īnne was born and raised in Reunion Island, a tropical French island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, off the East Coast of Madagascar. A focus on growing the highest quality fruit to achieve balanced and terroir-driven wines with freshness, depth, and structure. Over the years, Laurent has dialed in his unique style. Laurent Montalieu has been growing grapes and making wine in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for 32 vintages. Finally in 2003, he founded the first fully-dedicated custom crush facility in the Willamette Valley, NW Wine Company. In 1999 he purchased 80 acres in Oregon’s Yamhill-Carlton AVA, which would grow into the estate vineyard and winery, Solena Estate. In 1987, a pivotal move to Oregon led Laurent to Bridgeview Vineyards and then, in 1995, to WillaKenzie Estate where he was a founding partner and winemaker. It was in those vineyards that Laurent found his calling. He would help with vineyard chores to allow for more ski time with his buddies. As a student in agricultural engineering at the Institute of Oenology in Bordeaux, Laurent became friends, through their shared interest in skiing, with a group of students who were studying viticulture and winemaking. Growing up on the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe and in Bordeaux, France, winemaking wasn’t actually Laurent Montalieu’s first choice of profession.

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