The Tasting Panel magazine

April 2016

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april 2016  /  the tasting panel  /  93 If you've never dined with the Wente family in the Livermore Valley at their Estate and Winery, you're missing out: Between the great wines, warm welcome and hearty laughter over a shared meal, the Wente family has an innate ability to bring people into the fold, and feel, if only for a moment, like they're a part of this venerable vintner family. The mood was no different at this year's eighth annual Wente Family Estates Legacy Awards, which gathered Wente Family Estates' distributor partners for a dinner that felt more like a family reunion than a business meeting. With awards categorized based on market size, Wente Family Estates' international and U.S.-based distributors were awarded for year-over-year success, with the largest market segment recognition for the Platinum tier distributors at 50,000 cases or more in 2015. "We have friends here tonight from Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Arkansas, New York, Mississippi, Florida, Texas and lots of places in between," rattled off Carolyn Wente, Fourth Generation Winegrower and CEO. "Tonight's theme is 'For the love of the journey,'" she continued. "It has been said, 'What you think, you become; what you feel, you attract; what you imagine, you create. My great-grandfather must've thought, felt and imagined great things, because here we are today. But all along, it was for the love of the journey. Each generation of our family wanted to do this, and that's what makes our journey such a great story to share." "But," she continued, "our success has been based on you understanding our story and sharing it with your customers, so you have become part of our journey, and for that, we thank you tonight!" Southern Wine & Spirits of California With the theme of the evening at heart, Carolyn Wente was pleased to liken Southern Wine & Spirits (SWS) of California's incredible sales accomplishments to a joint family journey: "We've grown up together, worked together, laughed together, and they have been unwavering in their commitment to helping our family." Here, Steve Harden, SWS; Larry DiPietro, Wente Family Estates; Carolyn Wente; Karl Wente; James Bradney, SWS; Steve Slater, SWS; Jim Andrus, SWS; Amy Hoopes, Wente Family Estates; Tyson Overton, Wente Family Estates; Jason Schweriner, SWS. Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida "Another shining example of steady growth, year on year," commented Carolyn Wente of Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida, which saw another stellar year in sales, particularly as the off-premise chain leader for the entwine label, with over 19,000 cases sold in Florida alone. Bob Baraknski, Brittany Sales; Carolyn Wente; Steve Slater, SWS; Jason Schweriner, SWS; Karl Wente; Amy Hoopes, Wente Family Estates; Tyson Overton, Wente Family Estates; Chris Morris, SWS. Glazer's of Texas "Although Glazer's of Texas is a four-time Legacy winner," began Carolyn, "this is the first year they find themselves in the Platinum category. And because everything is bigger in Texas, they've increased case sales of Estate Grown wines by 7,700 cases this past year." Phil Wente; Heather Alper, Glazer's; James Campbell, Glazer's; Karl Wente; Carolyn Wente; Larry DiPietro, Wente Family Estates; Matt Metz, Glazer's; Amy Hoopes, Wente Family Estates; Tyson Overton, Wente Family Estates; Jody Turnbow, Glazer's. PLATINUM TIER THE EIGHTH ANNUAL WENTE LEGACY AWARDS CELEBRATE BIG SALES WITH FAMILY BY BLOOD AND FAMILY BY BUSINESS

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