Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1011938
{ SOMMjournal.com } 63 C alifornia's oldest con- tinuously operated family-owned winery has an intriguing history that's helped shape the character profile of our na - tion's favorite grape: Nearly eighty percent of all Chardonnay planted in California can trace its heritage to Wente Vineyards, celebrating its 135th anniversary this year in the historic Liver - more Valley. In fact, the famed "Wente clone" isn't a clone at all, but instead a selection of clones propagated over generations from multiple vines with a shared parentage. Its story begins when Livermore—a budding region for premium wine grapes—drew Carl H. Wente away from Napa Valley, where he had worked for Charles Krug, to purchase 48 acres in the Livermore Valley in 1883. Chardonnay was first planted in the area just one year prior by Charles Wetmore, then the President of Califor - nia's State Viticultural Commission. He had obtained cuttings from Meursault in Burgundy, providing the budwood for neighboring farmers, and in 1908, Carl and sons Herman and Ernest sourced Char - donnay from one of these neighbors, the Gier Vineyard. Four years later, after Carl imported cuttings from the nursery at the University of Montpellier in southern France, these two sources provided the original genetic material for the various clones of Chardonnay originating at Wente Vineyards. After Prohibition devastated the fine- grape market, Wente and Paul Masson Mountain Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains served as the only two com - mercial sources left for Chardonnay. Elea- nor and Fred McCrea of Stony Hill Vine- yard in Napa Valley procured budwood for their new estate directly from Wente in 1948 before they began supplying other producers, including Louis Martini and Hanzell, with cuttings from their property. These were all referred to by the vintners as the Wente clone. Mar tini later allowed Dr. Harold Olmo, a viticulturalist from the University of California, Davis, access to budwood from these vines (Chardonnay FPS selections 04–08 are the result of Olmo's clonal tri - als and just one example of a commercial clone's linkage to Wente Vineyards). Olmo conducted numerous studies beginning in the 1950s, directly sourcing wood from vineyards like Mar tini and Wente with a goal to promulgate Chardonnay vines that ripened more evenly. Since the Wente family had been making their own selections over the years, planting new blocks with vineyard cuttings showing op - timal evolution and flavor development, many of the heat-treated FPS clones we see today originated at Wente Vineyards. CHARDONNAY, OUR NATION'S FAVORITE GRAPE, TRACES ITS LINEAGE TO WENTE VINEYARDS by Michelle Ball / photos by Jeremy Ball A sweeping view of Wente Vineyards in California's Livermore Valley.