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Marlena Studer-Solterra Wines
The woman behind the wine…Women and wine are increasingly going hand-in hand and as a result the wine industry is evolving.
WineWomenOnline.com (WWOL) is delighted to feature a remarkable wine woman, Marlena Studer, President and CEO of Solterra Imports, LLC.
WWOL recently spent an afternoon at Studer’s picturesque home located in the heart of Ann Arbor college town chatting and tasting some of Studer’s wines, Solterra brand, produced and bottled in Chile....
And while her life as an importer can be charmed in the sense of meeting interesting people and assisting in the process of creating her own wine label make no mistake, this is a true passion for her and not for the faint at heart. There are long hours associated with marketing the wine to stores, the continuous trade shows, charity events, and simply keeping up with her own life. Studer is a devoted mother of two daughters, academic, jazz artist and now importer or her own wines. The wine and spirits world is still very much a boy's club and a woman entering the field really needs to be tenacious at best; however, Studer has a zeal for life and is not afraid to take chances so for the most part this has not been such a hindrance for her.
For Studer the wine journey began in 2002 when she was visiting a friend in Chile. While enjoying the startling contrasts and extreme beauty of the country, she took notice and discovered the masterfully crafted Chilean wines. It was while she was taking a horseback ride through vineyards located in the Colchagua Valley that lay at the foot of the Andes that an idea was evolving, how could she bottle this experience and provide it to everyone? Upon arriving home the concept began taking shape and with no previous experience in the wine business, Studer spent the next year testing names, bringing in wine samples for experts to try, designing a label, hiring a winemaker and digging through the myriad of bureaucratic red tape.
Initially she produced two types of cabernet sauvignons, a varietal and a reserve. Today you can find four Solterra brand wines in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana markets: Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Merlot, Reserve Chardonnay and Reserve Carmenere. The wines are presented in a bottle with a very distinct label of a sun and the scape of mountains below. Currently there are two more types in production a Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc. It is her hope to get the wines distributed throughout the U.S. and possibly China. Studer works directly with her winemaker in Chile to hand-select reserve quality wine that is fruit forward and food friendly.
The wines are designed to be appreciated by connoisseurs and neophytes alike, offering high quality everyday wines at affordable prices. Solterra wines sell for under $10.00 locally. There are also Soltera inspired recipe cards that accompany the wines in certain stores and a food and wine inspired CD that Ms. Studer produced entitled, 'Sip it Slowly'. See the side bar on home page for purchase information.
If you need assistance in finding these wines and recipe cards, please send a note to contactus@winewomenonline.com or go direct to: www.solterrawine.com.
Created: 9/30/2007 Edited: 12/30/2007