 Wente Family Estates: A long history of service to the community—By Debra Costner Published: February, 2009  Keeping up the family wine traditions is Christine Wente of Wente Vineyards Family Estates As the country’s oldest continuously operating family-owned winery, the 125-year-old Wente Family Estates has created a tradition in excellence that the family still represents today. With the recent appointments of Christine Wente to Senior Vice President of Hospitality, and Amy Hoopes to Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, it is also clearly a family that values the women’s touch in a successful business strategy. The appointments underscore the strong performance of the family wine enterprise in the marketplace. Christine Wente was previously Vice President of Marketing before a recent maternity leave. In her new role, she will provide leadership for the Wente family’s lifestyle businesses, including The Restaurant, The Concerts, and The Golf Course at Wente Vineyards. “At Wente Vineyards, we are dedicated to a stellar visitor experience in every aspect of our business,” she explains. “Each element of our sustainable operations showcases estate wines and vineyards in a backdrop of great golf, dining and wine tasting.” In 2000, Christine Wente became the first member of the fifth generation to join the family business. Shortly after in 2002 her brother Karl Wente followed in her footsteps, bringing new perspectives of the next generation to the vineyard. In addition to an MBA from Stanford University, Christine Wente holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University. Of course everyone knows that the most important aspect of success in the wine industry is creating an excellent product, and Wente Vineyards have received many awards over the years. Most recently the 2006 Morning Fog Chardonnay won the 2008 Gold Medal for Best of the Bay Wine Competition for wines under $15. The 2006 Riverbank Riesling won double-gold at the San Francisco Wine Competition in January 2008. The 2005 Smith Bench Zinfandel won the gold medal in the 2007 Best of the Bay Wine Competition. Over the years many of their wines have earned 90+ points by the Wine Enthusiast and the Beverage Tasting Institute. Amy Hoopes’ responsibilities as Chief Marketing Officer will expand to include all aspects of the Wente Vineyards wine and lifestyle operations. “We have one mission,” she said, “sharing wines that are crafted with quality and sustainability in mind, with a discerning wine buying public who cares very much about those attributes in everything they buy.” The restaurant at Wente has also been an award winner, named as “Outstanding Wine List” by Wine Spectator magazine every year since it opened in 1986. “These organizational changes strengthen our management structure and reinforce our plans for continued growth as a dynamic, sustainable family-owned winery,” said Peter Chouinard, President and COO. The Wente family has pioneered California winegrowing and winemaking since 1883, dedicating 125 years of stewardship to the Livermore Valley and San Francisco Bay Area. They manage 1,600 acres of sustainable open range land, not planted to vineyard, with 100 head of cattle providing grass management and soil fertilization. The Estate has undertaken a major oak lands restoration. Native acorns gathered on the estate are planted to grow seedlings, which are protected from grazing animals until established. More than a century of committed stewardship to the land has led to the development of Wente Vineyards’ Farming for the Future, a system of sustainable viticultural practices designed to produce the best quality wines with the least environmental impact. This philosophy extends to all aspects of winery operations, where energy efficiency, waste reduction, recycling and social responsibility are all integral to the culture. Located just east of San Francisco in the historic Livermore Valley, Wente Vineyards is recognized as one of California’s premier wine country destinations, featuring wine tasting, fine dining and championship golf. For more information, visit http://www.wentevineyards.com. | ||
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