So, Wente Vineyards (which is pronounced like Twenty, only without the initial T) is located in Livermore, one of the few California wine producing areas that I've never been to.
You always think there will be time, don't you?
I nearly went, several years back. I was on a road trip with a friend of mine (author Kinsey Holley) and we could have detoured there. We talked about it. But it was a Sunday and we were driving back from Reno to Vallejo (along with everyone else on the planet, or so it seemed) and so we chose not to.
Vallejo is just outside of Napa and we were going to Napa the next day, so it didn't seem like a bad decision at the time. But what can you do?
Anyway, having read about Wente, I'm even more sorry to have missed it. Apparently, Wente is "the oldest continuously-operated, family-owned winery in the country.
If I'd known then that I'd go on to write (some of) the Pour Decisions books, I would definitely have made more of an effort!
The website is pretty informative: https://wentevineyards.com/ I especially found it fascinating that "75% of all California Chardonnay stems from the Wente Clone."
Anyway, the wine that I tried is the Central Coast Chardonnay, which wouldn't have been grown in Livermore, anyway. I think I missed out when I lived in the Central Coast (Paso Robles) because other than Viognier, I stuck mostly to red wines, particularly zinfandel, which I think Paso does better than nearly anyone else.
But I digress.
Unfortunately, I did not keep great notes on this wine. I did notice that it was straw colored, mildly buttery with a hint of minerality; that there were notes of apple and pineapple on the nose; and that it tasted of apricot and vanilla.
I paired this wine with butternut squash mezza luna in a brown butter sauce.
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