Can it be nearly two years since I wrote about the plans for the Col Solare winery? Time flies and the winery, a home for the twelve-year-old brand, a collaboration between Washington state's Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Tuscany's Marchesi Antinori has finally been opened. The winery sits on a 40-acre site in Columbia Valley's s Red Mountain area. The 18,000-case facility will produce the well-regarded Col Solare wine, a silky blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah that retails for $70. The winery has a bell tower and a Tuscan-inspired tasting room. The winery is designed to look, from the air, like the sun with paths cutting through the vineyard like sun's rays. The vineyard has been planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Syrah and Col Solare is building a two-mile water pipeline to bring the vineyard water. If you are interested in checking out the new winery they are releasing the 2004 vintage in July.