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Wente - Keeping it All in the Family
Previously, that is before I ever visited the Livermore
Valley, I had always heard it referenced as a “Bay Area
Wine Region”, meaning San Francisco and Oakland Bay
Area. I didn’t know for sure where exactly it was in
relation to the two cities, but I assumed it was very close
by. I guess it sort of is, but then again, it couldn’t be
much closer to the cities than Napa and Sonoma are, at
least in terms of mileage. It wasn’t until I went out to
Pleasanton, California for work that I learned of its exact
location, which is about seven miles further east along
the highway. There are plenty of wineries littered
throughout the valley. Most you probably are not very
familiar with. One of those was this little boutique Pinot
Noir winery called La Rochelle, which blew me away with
their blockbuster style Pinots handcrafted from sourced
vineyards from all over the state. Then there are two
wineries from here that you are sure to have run across
in a wine store before. One being Concannon and the
other Wente. It was the latter winery that on this
occasion, being my second trip to Pleasanton, that I
targeted for a visit. This was due in no small part to the
fact that they have made wines that have impressed me,
particularly ones that people had bought and brought
back from the winery itself.
From the highway, the entrance to the winery is not very
big and it would be quite easy to pass by. There is a
fence that shields the winery buildings from view making
it that much more difficult to find. When you pull into the
parking lot and face the tasting room and the winery
buildings, there is sort of an optical illusion going on.
The winery doesn’t seem that big. What you can’t see
from this perspective is that the winery, although not
very big in width, goes on and on lengthwise. Wente is
huge; in fact, it is the largest winery I have ever visited,
maybe with the exception of Robert Mondavi. I am not
entirely sure though, I’d have to compare the figures.
Wente is actually the 27th largest winery in the country
and after seeing it first hand, I can believe it. Normally I
would avoid visiting a winery like this. They usually tend
to be corporately run, full of men in white lab coats and a
staff that is none to interested in impressing you with the
finer details of the wines and the people that make them,
but I must say, that is not at all the case here at Wente.
They may indeed be a company, but this company is
family owned and at 124 years of age, it is the longest
single family owned winery in operation in the United
States.
The land that Wente sits on was discovered back in 1882
by Karl Wente, who emigrated over to the U.S. from
Hanover, Germany in search of his brothers. They had
settled in Chicago and subsequently, he never wound up
finding them. His travels continued west until he finally
came to settle in the Napa Valley. Since his English
wasn’t so good, he needed to find people that spoke
German and he found those kindred spirits at and went to
work for the Charles Krug winery. Interesting to me,
because as you know, now Charles Krug is Peter
Mondavi’s winery, a very well know Italian-American.
At any rate, Karl became a quick study of the craft and
ended up being the cellarmaster at the winery for about
ten years. Wanting to find land of his own that was
suitable for growing Bordeaux grape varieties, he left the
Charles Krug winery and settled on the forty-seven acres
that makes up the Wente winery in the Livermore
Valley.
The Wente’s did extremely well in agriculture. Some
went into farming, some raised cattle, which was big in
the area at the time (you can still see a lot of cows
around the area to this day) and of course Karl was
successful in starting a vineyard and winery. One of the
Wente’s actually went on to become the President of
Bank of America. Well, at least they had someone to go
to if they needed money! Today, it is the fifth generation
of Wente’s that is doing all the hard work at the winery
now. Karl Wente (30 yrs) is the winemaker and his sister
Kristine is head of marketing. The fourth generations
are the Vice President’s and CEO’s of the company with
Karl, Eric and Caroline running the operations. Kristine
just had a baby boy named Augustus, which would now be
the sixth generation of the Wente family and to make
sure he falls in line with the business, she hung grape
vines (toy versions) up in his crib, just to plant the seed!
The winery has 100’s of giant outdoor fermentation
tanks, or maybe they are just for storage, as well as
plenty on the inside of the winery too. The winery
building is divided up in a few different quadrants and
they have 8,000 barrels just in one room alone. These
barrels are a mixture of French, American, Hungarian
and Russian oak. Each barrel is capable of holding 300
bottles of wine. They produce between four to five
million gallons of wine a year, some 300,000 cases, and
distribute it to all fifty states. Yea, it’s big! I got to visit
the winery on a Monday and was privy to a rare treat for
a real wine geek like myself. What is that you ask?
Well, Wente has a bottling assembly line within the
winery and I got to see them bottle some white wines in
action. It reminded me of Laverne and Shirley,
remember that show?
I think what’s most impressive is that despite being so
large, Wente is still a family owned winery. Wineries this
size usually have names like Constellation Brands or
Fosters behind them. Not the case here. Wente is doing
their part to keep it all in the family. The proof is in the
pudding, or in this case, the wine. There seems to be
more of focus on making quality wines across the price
spectrum that you would not come to know with some of
the other wine giants. That is to be respected. If you are
in the area sometime, make it a point to visit Wente.
There is a lot of fun and good wine to be had. They also
have a restaurant that I am told is fantastic and they host
many outdoor concerts during the summer. In addition to
wine, the gift shop has some specialty gourmet goods like
flavored oils and mustards, etc… The Livermore Valley
itself is quite interesting and very different from Napa
and Sonoma. So when and if you are close by, drive out
and stop by their winery. Good food, a fun and
interesting tour that is not too long, and the wines are
both reasonable and very good and above all, family
made. If you should visit their winery, I am willing to bet
that you’ll be glad you Went-e!
Previously, that is before I ever visited the Livermore
Valley, I had always heard it referenced as a “Bay Area
Wine Region”, meaning San Francisco and Oakland Bay
Area. I didn’t know for sure where exactly it was in
relation to the two cities, but I assumed it was very close
by. I guess it sort of is, but then again, it couldn’t be
much closer to the cities than Napa and Sonoma are, at
least in terms of mileage. It wasn’t until I went out to
Pleasanton, California for work that I learned of its exact
location, which is about seven miles further east along
the highway. There are plenty of wineries littered
throughout the valley. Most you probably are not very
familiar with. One of those was this little boutique Pinot
Noir winery called La Rochelle, which blew me away with
their blockbuster style Pinots handcrafted from sourced
vineyards from all over the state. Then there are two
wineries from here that you are sure to have run across
in a wine store before. One being Concannon and the
other Wente. It was the latter winery that on this
occasion, being my second trip to Pleasanton, that I
targeted for a visit. This was due in no small part to the
fact that they have made wines that have impressed me,
particularly ones that people had bought and brought
back from the winery itself.
From the highway, the entrance to the winery is not very
big and it would be quite easy to pass by. There is a
fence that shields the winery buildings from view making
it that much more difficult to find. When you pull into the
parking lot and face the tasting room and the winery
buildings, there is sort of an optical illusion going on.
The winery doesn’t seem that big. What you can’t see
from this perspective is that the winery, although not
very big in width, goes on and on lengthwise. Wente is
huge; in fact, it is the largest winery I have ever visited,
maybe with the exception of Robert Mondavi. I am not
entirely sure though, I’d have to compare the figures.
Wente is actually the 27th largest winery in the country
and after seeing it first hand, I can believe it. Normally I
would avoid visiting a winery like this. They usually tend
to be corporately run, full of men in white lab coats and a
staff that is none to interested in impressing you with the
finer details of the wines and the people that make them,
but I must say, that is not at all the case here at Wente.
They may indeed be a company, but this company is
family owned and at 124 years of age, it is the longest
single family owned winery in operation in the United
States.
The land that Wente sits on was discovered back in 1882
by Karl Wente, who emigrated over to the U.S. from
Hanover, Germany in search of his brothers. They had
settled in Chicago and subsequently, he never wound up
finding them. His travels continued west until he finally
came to settle in the Napa Valley. Since his English
wasn’t so good, he needed to find people that spoke
German and he found those kindred spirits at and went to
work for the Charles Krug winery. Interesting to me,
because as you know, now Charles Krug is Peter
Mondavi’s winery, a very well know Italian-American.
At any rate, Karl became a quick study of the craft and
ended up being the cellarmaster at the winery for about
ten years. Wanting to find land of his own that was
suitable for growing Bordeaux grape varieties, he left the
Charles Krug winery and settled on the forty-seven acres
that makes up the Wente winery in the Livermore
Valley.
The Wente’s did extremely well in agriculture. Some
went into farming, some raised cattle, which was big in
the area at the time (you can still see a lot of cows
around the area to this day) and of course Karl was
successful in starting a vineyard and winery. One of the
Wente’s actually went on to become the President of
Bank of America. Well, at least they had someone to go
to if they needed money! Today, it is the fifth generation
of Wente’s that is doing all the hard work at the winery
now. Karl Wente (30 yrs) is the winemaker and his sister
Kristine is head of marketing. The fourth generations
are the Vice President’s and CEO’s of the company with
Karl, Eric and Caroline running the operations. Kristine
just had a baby boy named Augustus, which would now be
the sixth generation of the Wente family and to make
sure he falls in line with the business, she hung grape
vines (toy versions) up in his crib, just to plant the seed!
The winery has 100’s of giant outdoor fermentation
tanks, or maybe they are just for storage, as well as
plenty on the inside of the winery too. The winery
building is divided up in a few different quadrants and
they have 8,000 barrels just in one room alone. These
barrels are a mixture of French, American, Hungarian
and Russian oak. Each barrel is capable of holding 300
bottles of wine. They produce between four to five
million gallons of wine a year, some 300,000 cases, and
distribute it to all fifty states. Yea, it’s big! I got to visit
the winery on a Monday and was privy to a rare treat for
a real wine geek like myself. What is that you ask?
Well, Wente has a bottling assembly line within the
winery and I got to see them bottle some white wines in
action. It reminded me of Laverne and Shirley,
remember that show?
I think what’s most impressive is that despite being so
large, Wente is still a family owned winery. Wineries this
size usually have names like Constellation Brands or
Fosters behind them. Not the case here. Wente is doing
their part to keep it all in the family. The proof is in the
pudding, or in this case, the wine. There seems to be
more of focus on making quality wines across the price
spectrum that you would not come to know with some of
the other wine giants. That is to be respected. If you are
in the area sometime, make it a point to visit Wente.
There is a lot of fun and good wine to be had. They also
have a restaurant that I am told is fantastic and they host
many outdoor concerts during the summer. In addition to
wine, the gift shop has some specialty gourmet goods like
flavored oils and mustards, etc… The Livermore Valley
itself is quite interesting and very different from Napa
and Sonoma. So when and if you are close by, drive out
and stop by their winery. Good food, a fun and
interesting tour that is not too long, and the wines are
both reasonable and very good and above all, family
made. If you should visit their winery, I am willing to bet
that you’ll be glad you Went-e!