04/23/07 Resident Winemaker

Resident Winemaker. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Yesterday we introduced you to one of the newest wineries on the block, Col Solare on Red Mountain in Washington State. Today, I thought it would be interesting to get behind the man responsible for making the wines, Col Solare's resident winemaker, Marcus Notaro. According to Notaro, he's been working with wines for a long time. NOTARO: You know I'm Italian and my dad was a home winemaker so I kind of grew up around it as a kid although in the garage and then while I was in college I really fell in love with the wine making part of it. Notaro graduated from the University of Washington with an engineering degree. NOTARO: I started at Columbia Crest working in the lab and doing quality assurance there with the engineering degree and did that for a couple of years then moved up to what's called an enologist which is like a rookie winemaker working with Ray Einberger who's the head winemaker at Columbia Crest right now. At Columbia Crest, Notaro matured as a wine maker before moving to Col Solare. His passion for wines has grown and he believes in Col Solare's wines. NOTARO: I personally believe cabernet sauvignon has incredible potential in the state. That's what Col Solare is all about, plus a wine like Col Solare which is about top quality; the winemaker needs to be very much apart of handling the fruit of making the wine, being very, very involved with the concept of the estate and just being involved with the Antinori family as well. Col Solare will be open beginning in May by appointment only. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.