A look into our past
We wanted to create a special place for our winery family and friends to call their own.
– Scott
Sol Invictus is focused on family and friends. This is our home, and we have a passion for taking care of each other. We want to share with you the greatness of our wine region by combining delicious grapes generated by superior soil and skilled winemaking to create magnificent wines for your enjoyment.
2014
Scott and Denise Smith purchased the future site of Sol Invictus Vineyard. Scott retired from military service and the family relocated to Star, Idaho.
2015 - 2018
Scott, Denise, family, friends and future club members plant over 5000 wine vines! During 2016 a test plot of 8 rows is planted with 9 varietals. The test is a huge success – the vines grow great! Over the next three years we will get a lot of help to plant the remaining 4.5 acres of wine vines resulting in 5 acres of 13 amazing varietals (4 white and 9 red) on our 10 acre property.
2019
It’s official! The dedication, devotion, and hard work paid off. The winery is now open for business!
2020
We are just starting to get our name out in the community then Covid hits. March and April are almost no guests whatsoever. We are so blessed to both have other full-time jobs! May brings a beautiful Mother’s Day and the Idaho “wild, wild, west philosophy” of “I’m a responsible adult who can have a glass of wine outdoors without breathing on anyone”. We had over 60 guests for Mother’s Day who we made feel extra special for joining us that day. By the end of that summer, we were up to approximately 120 guests for Sunday afternoon music.
2021
With some doubts we start our first Sol Invictus Wine Club: Stella Clava (aka Star Club), and don’t look back. We are overwhelmed with the number of people who want to become members and must start a wait list. We aren’t prepared to go beyond 100 members this first year. We choose to honor our military background by featuring six special military labels (2 in each of our 3 releases). Our Cabernet Sauvignon takes 1st place at the Western Idaho State Fair!
2022
All is going well and we hope to build a bigger production space and use the current space as an additional tasting room. We decided to honor first responders with our labels this year. We do 2 police, 2 fire, and 2 medical labels in our 3 releases. The labels are pairs, so when you put them together they make a full picture. Our Rose’ takes 1st Place and Best in Region for the Western Idaho State Fair!
2023
Denise retired in preparation for the expansion and remodel and started doing fun Sip and Learn events. The county put a hold on the expansion, remodel, and events, until we can be re-designated as an “event center”. In the interim we are making the best of the situation and holding events offsite at the Star Riverhouse. This year we featured Idaho Wildlife on our labels. Unfortunately, the State Fair didn’t do a category for wine this year.
2024
So far, we are still waiting on the County to hold our Public Hearing to become an “event center”, we are waiting on some remodeling, we are waiting on approval for hosting music over the summer, basically, we’re in “hurry up and wait” mode. We made a command decision to cycle our labels through the 3 areas most important to us; military, first responders, and keeping Idaho wild. This year we go back to military labels. Our labels this year show the amazing power of military war-fighting technology. All I can say is “Don’t Mess With the USA!”