Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/807384
april 2017 / the tasting panel / 51 obert Louis Stevenson once wrote, "Wine is bottled poetry," and it resonates with the writer in me. As a creative person, I feel like the wine industry found me, and not the other way around. Wine blends the best of art and science, of precision and intuition, and many per- sonalities in this business seem to feel the same way. The idea for this Make Time for Music series (or #MTFM)—featuring successful, passionate professionals in different facets of the wine business and how music fits into their lives—is actually the brainchild of Karl Wente, Fifth Generation Winemaker of Wente Vineyards. "The idea basically goes hand in hand with the Wente Foundation [which supports arts initiatives for the local Livermore youth]," he explains when asked the impetus for the program. "We'd like to see fewer remote controls in kids' hands and more musical instruments. But beyond that, we all lead busy lives and it's such a shame that music gets lost in the mix. So #MTFM is about encouraging musicians, music lovers, everyone . . . to make time for music." The Tasting Panel sat down with Wente to further explore the connection between wine and music, two integral passions in his life, and how he emphatically makes time for music. Karl Wente, guitarist and composer for Wolf Hamlin and The Front Porch Drifters, is Fifth Generation Winemaker of Wente Vineyards.