On the Road with the Grape Guy
Report from - Wente Tasting November 12, 2008 (11:00 AM) Part 1 of 3
16 Nov 2008- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
It's been a long day so bear with me … Today I went to three tastings, all downtown, and I walked to them all. For those of you who know Toronto, I was at the Sutton Place Hotel, then went south to the Esplanade, and finally a walk west to Niagara Street (off King, west of Bathurst). My legs are tired, my eyes are heavy and my palate is close to shot … but before I retire for the evening let me run down of the day's activities.
Started my day at the Sutton Place Hotel, where I met Carolyn Wente of Wente Vineyards, who are celebrating 125 years of winemaking excellence in the Livermore Valley (North of San Francisco). Carolyn proved to be an excellent host and the three writers present on this, the early leg of her meet and greet, helped guide her into some very interesting stories: like how her great grandfather (or is that great great?), founder C.H. Wente, found his way to the San Francisco Bay area; how the Wente brothers and Beaulieu circumvented wine regulations during the prohibition era on nothing more than a handshake; and about an upcoming Mexican-Californian venture they seem to be involved it. She spoke highly of winemaker Karl Wente, the fifth generation family member to be involved and how he brings the maverick approach and young sensibility to winemaking … and how his willingness to try new things lead to the establishment of the Nth Degree small lot wines (no more than 300 cases of each varietal made).
Wente started as a 47 acre winery in 1883, today they have 2,000 acres in the Livermore Valley and another thousand in Monterey ... (Read more)
