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Wente Vineyards
LIVERMORE VALLEY
In celebrating its 136th year, Wente Vineyards is America's oldest, continuously
owned and operated family winery, now under the management of the family's
fourth and fifth generations. Family owned, estate grown and sustainably
farmed — that's the Wente philosophy.
The Wente family roots date back to 1883 when German immigrant Carl H.
Wente arrived in Livermore, purchased 48 acres of vineyards and established
the eponymous winery. In 1908 his son Ernest Wente obtained Chardonnay
cuttings from the Theodore Gier Vineyard in Pleasanton, California, and
planted them at the Wente Estate. By 1912, different Chardonnay cuttings
were added which came from the F. Richter Nursery in Montpellier, France.
During the Prohibition era, the Wente family stayed in business by making
white wine for Napa Valley's Beaulieu Winery, which then sold it as sacramental
wine. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 the advent of varietal labeling
which Wente Vineyards pioneered, increased the demand for Chardonnay
and led Ernest to start selecting vines with the best physiology and flavors
to be replicated. Over the next 30 years Wente's signature cuttings were
highly desired by numerous top wineries, many of which still have the clonal
material today.
The bowl-shaped Livermore Valley (30 miles east of the San Francisco Bay) is
more than 20 miles in length and has numerous microclimates and varied soil
types. Wente's estate vineyards are located on sloping hillsides, on ancient
FACING PAGE: Rolling Hills of Wente Vineyards in the
Livermore Valley, California.
TOP RIGHT: The Winemakers Studio at Wente Vineyards
allows wine connoisseurs of all levels to blend their very own
bottle of wine.
Photographs courtesy of Wente Family Estates
LIVERMORE VALLEY
