BENTON CITY, Wash. — Stephanie Cohen had a sense back in eighth grade that her career would be tied to fermentation.
She remembers thinking during a tour of a Belgian brewery that the brewing process was “the coolest thing.” It led to thoughts of becoming a winemaker and starting down the path that’s taken her near the top of Red Mountain.
That vision as a teen growing up in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, her focus as a college student and a series of work experiences prepared her to become the head winemaker at Col Solare Winery, the premier luxury brand in the Washington state portfolio of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
Her credentials include a chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan, and she believes the ability to solve problems makes engineers ideal candidates for commercial winemaking, especially when the stakes are high.
“During harvest, everything is out of your control,” she says. “Anything can and will go wrong. Being able to think on your feet and do things differently is essential.”
Coincidentally, this is the second Rising Star profile on a Red Mountain winemaker with a degree in chemical engineering. The first was Ellie Zeron of Elk Haven Winery and Zeron Vineyards. And it’s noteworthy that Col Solare’s first winemaker on Red Mountain — Marcus Notaro — was an engineering graduate from the University of Washington.
The unpredictable, stressful and long harvest of the 2022 vintage served as another example of the mettle required, she says.
“Yields were high, and we were playing Tetris, finding room in the cellar to accommodate all the fruit without sacrificing quality,” Stephanie remembers easily.
After college, she followed the harvest seasons around the world, taking enology positions in Napa, New Zealand, Australia and Oregon before joining the red winemaking team at Columbia Crest led at the time by Reid Klei and Katie Nelson. She considers them both mentors, and Nelson is now vice president of winemaking for Chateau Ste. Michelle.
In May 2020, Stephanie moved within Ste. Michelle Wine Estates to take the enologist position at Col Solare. She was promoted to head winemaker in June 2022.
Col Solare remains a partnership between SMWE and Italy’s iconic Antinori family — 26 generations as vintners. Piero Antinori is the president. The CEO is Renzo Cotarella, who oversees winemaking. And Stephanie’s ties to the Antinori family seem to have come full circle. Her first visit to an Antinori property was in Italy with her parents when she was 8. Now, she regularly collaborates with Cotarella.
Stephanie’s father began collecting bottles from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars during the 1980s, and they became special occasion wines, always served on Thanksgiving. Those wines would become a talking point during an interview with Notaro, now the head winemaker at Stag’s Leap but who played a role in Ste. Michelle’s decision to bring Stephanie to Col Solare. The Antinori family purchased Stag’s Leap from SMWE in 2023.
She’s nostalgic and thoughtful when talking about her harvest experiences around the world, and she remains fascinated by how other countries approach the winemaking process, not only in technique, but also with the culture surrounding harvest.
“In other parts of the world, harvest is more of a celebration, and everyone is into it and excited,” she says. “Everyone works and breathes it. More conversations are about wine; everyone is interested and focused on sharing this thing they have in common.”
She also enjoys the camaraderie within the industry and how collaborative a casual drink after work can become when you run into fellow harvest workers. They have a few talking points when it comes to the 2023 vintage.
“Everything ripened phenologically,” she says. “We didn’t have to wait for sugar. Both pH and TA are in check. Tannin quality is very nice. The wines are really big, but there is still a creaminess and an elegance.”
2022 vintage serves as milestone for Cohen
She looks forward to Col Solare’s rollout of wines from the 2022 vintage, and the resulting 6,000-case production signals her first wines as the head winemaker. The flagship bottling — the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon — blends in Cabernet Franc (9%), and 100% of the fruit for that 3,500-case lot was sourced from neighboring Quintessence Vineyard.
Col Solare has often used Quintessence as a part of its program, but this is the first year 100% of their fruit was used because large blocks of Col Solare’s vineyard required replanting as a result of leaf roll virus. However, Stephanie’s experience with the “excellent” fruit from clones 2, 33 and 169 at Quintessence has her looking forward to working with those same clones grown at Col Solare.
As a winemaker, Stephanie landed at an ideal spot on Red Mountain because her favorite varietals to work with are Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Syrah. She says she’s enjoying the challenges surrounding Cabernet Franc with its tendency for clusters to ripen unevenly, potential intensity of tannins and the work required to control the grape’s herbaceous profile.
As a consumer, she misses the accessibility to Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and some of the gems she found in Napa and Australia. She appreciates sparkling wines, Chenin Blanc and Albariño because they are light and fresh. They also provide a contrast to red wines, which always send her into the work mode of analyzing and evaluating.
She’s also reluctant to say what the next phase of Red Mountain will bring.
“It’s hard to predict, because unlike Napa, there is no singular overlapping style,” Stephanie says. “It’s a plus for wineries on Red Mountain to have unique styles and business models, and it’s exciting to see the results of Quintessence fruit that goes to so many producers. Ten different vintners who purchase that fruit will create 10 different styles of wine.”
When I asked her what career advice she would give to her 14-year-old self, she laughed and recalled being so focused on getting a full-time job right out of college. It turns out the advice she needed then is the same she offers to interns when they start at a new place.
“Realize you know a lot, but become a sponge and use the time to learn everything you can,” she says. “Learn from every experience, and it will pay off.”
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