Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/39104
UP story and photos by John Curley Carolyn Wente is in a golf cart, driving around the grounds of Wente Vineyards in the Livermore Valley, set deeply in the baked golden hills in the eastern reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area, and although she doesn’t betray it, she has to be proud of what she sees. Over there is the garden that she started on a half acre 25 years ago, one that’s now so big and robust that it provides many of the ingredients for the highly-regarded cuisine at The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards. Beyond that, workers are setting up white tables and chairs for that evening’s performance by Colbie Caillat, part of The Concerts at Wente Vineyards series, where visitors will enjoy fine music, and fine wine, in the beautiful Northern California evening. And over there, out beyond the tasting room, golfers whiz by rows of Cabernet vines on their way to the next tee of the Greg Norman–designed links, The Course at Wente Vineyards. One golfer makes a point to stop and tell Wente what a fine young man her son, Bucky, is. Imagine that—a 16-year-old being praised for being humble and gracious. So Carolyn has a lot of to be proud of, and her legacy as CEO and Fourth-Generation Winegrower at Wente Family Estates would seem secure. But it also would seem that she’s not resting on her laurels. Far from it. There are new challenges, new opportunities, that keep her engaged and at the center of operations for Wente Family Estates. The concerts, the food and, of course, the wine, all must continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing tastes of the marketplace. But the essential quality and value that have made Wente Vineyards so successful must also be protected and preserved. And Carolyn Wente is very determined to stay ahead of the pack in anticipating those changes. She’s been doing that for a long time. Back in 1986, when she opened The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards, the restaurant featured locally raised, grass-fed beef long before the current emphasis on sustainability and localness took hold. Carolyn’s grandfather, Karl, started the cattle ranch at the vineyards, and it continues to this day. And the / the tasting panel / august 201 1 Carolyn Wente Up Front with Rain and early heat in the eastern regions of the San Francisco Bay Area brought an early set to the Cabernet grapes at Wente Vineyards.