Three-quarters of California’s famous chardonnay vines originated in the vineyards of one winemaking family: Wente Family Vineyards. The Wente [pronounced WEN-tee] family has been growing grapes and producing wine continuously since 1883. They’re based in Livermore, about an hour’s drive east of San Francisco.
Years ago, the first time I visited, they took our media group on a horseback walk through the local hills. I was petrified. But the horse—and the people—were kind, calming me so I could look around and appreciate the land that had been home to this family for so many decades. To the Wentes, being on horseback was often a normal part of their day; during Prohibition they diversified their business, expanding into cattle ranching and other agricultural ventures, while continuing to legally produce wine for sacramental and medicinal purposes.
This March, I met with 5th generation viticulturalist Niki Wente, a youthful thirty-something who is tall (like all Wentes), thin, dark and lively. She impressed me with her own commitment to continuing the Wente dedication to maintaining water access and sustainable farming in this region of California. The family has played an active role in solving these issues since the 1930s.
Both Niki’s father and grandfather worked on the landmark South Bay [San Francisco] Aqueduct project beginning in the 1950s. Since 1987 the family worked on creating wat is now the Tri-Valley Conservancy; their environmental stewardship embraces maintaining agricultural land and creating parks and open spaces—which includes bike trail easements on Wente land. Wente Vineyards have been California Sustainable Winegrowers since 2010, one of the first to be certified; Niki Wente is currently a board member of this alliance.
To taste some of the Wente wines, Niki and I met up on the terrace of the restaurant at the entrance to their property. The Grill is centered in sprawling, quintessentially Californian patios that border the barbeque and picnic section, adjacent to the open-air concert area. The hills in back lead into their Greg Norman-designed golf course; it is a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary tucked in among native grasslands, woodlands and vineyards—so close, as I recall, that you can snatch a few grapes off the vines during harvest season.
Though Wente Family Vineyards owns vineyards in other California regions, Livermore remains their headquarters and they’ve made it as family friendly as possible, especially in the outdoor spaces. In terms of the wines, distribution is not balanced through the US. On the West Coast, Wente wines are ubiquitous, while on the East Coast we see them more in restaurants than in wine shops.
WINE REVIEWS
For my tasting, Niki showed me a range of wines available through the wine club and at the winery. Frankly, these were more interesting than most of the retail wines I sampled later. There are a variety of wine tasting experiences at the Wente, with flights starting at a quite reasonable $40. In fact, most of the wines I sampled were also reasonably priced at $35-$50/bottle at the winery, though the nth Degree wines are higher.
We began with the 2025 Niki’s Rosé, a wine made with pinot noir grapes from vineyards in Arroyo Seco in Monterey, further down the coast of California, which they have owned since 1962. The wine has a light floral aroma, and flavors ranging from peach to berry to melon, with appealing fresh acidity that deftly balances the fruit.
Of the newer line of sparkling wines, the 2019 (current vintage) Brut Reserve Sparkling is made with 100% of their famous chardonnay. It has a super-fresh aroma, mild fruit, and nice sharp edges on the end palate and in the finish. The reserve is only made in exceptional vintages. Niki suggested pairings of caviar or fried chicken. (Unfortunately, I was tasting mid-morning and neither were available from the kitchen that hour, but I would endorse this concept.)
One wine I was especially interested to sample, is the 2024 Wente Clone Chardonnay, because the grapes are sourced from two vineyards first planted with the famed Wente clone in 1908. The wine has bright fruit in a restrained style with some oak apparent in the finish; not an overblown “California Chardonnay.”
The 2023 Wente Family Vineyard Cabernet Franc has a tinge of cherry fruit, yet it also has a buttery earthiness, with a hint of dry mountain herbs and fine tannins. Cabernet franc has been grown by the Wentes in Livermore since the early 1900s, though it was not made into a single-variety wine until a few decades go.
To finish, we had a taste of a wine from the nth Degree line which was debuted in 2002 by Niki’s cousin Karl. The 2022 nth Degree Cabernet Sauvignon (limited allocation) is real showcase wine, with attractive blackberry fruit and lovely balance.
