INTERVIEWER
Schmidt, Rich
DURATION
1 hour 38 minutes 2 seconds
DATE
June 10, 2026
INTERVIEW SUMMARY
This interview is with Soléna Andrus Montalieu of Soléna Estate and her mother Danielle Andrus. In this interview, the duo discusses being raised in the industry and the memories that come with it.
Danielle talks about growing up in Napa Valley with her father Gary Andrus of Pine Ridge Vineyards and eventually moving with him to Oregon to start Archery Summit in 1995. After doing a lot of the grunt work, Danielle was asked to create a hospitality department for the winery until she got married and created Northwest Wine Company and Soléna Estate with her husband at the time, winemaker Laurent Montalieu. After they went their separate ways, they left the estate in Soléna’s name.
Soléna discusses how she grew up in the wine industry. While she planned on staying away from the industry, studying psychology and entrepreneurship at Lewis & Clark College, she fell in love with the industry when she came back to pursue a wine internship. Now, Soléna runs the estate and puts an emphasis on the social media and marketing of the brand. She further discusses her big plans for the future of Soléna Estate.
Later in the interview, Danielle talks about the personality and impact of her father within the industry. She explains how he was all bout the community. The mother and daughter agree that they’ve found this community for themselves and have never regretted joining the industry they were raised in.
This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Soléna Estate on June 10, 2026.
COMMENTS
Some oral history interviews are conducted on site and may contain background noise from nature, winery, or tasting room operations.