Last week, Wente Family Estates was honored to receive The Wine Enthusiast’s American Winery of the Year award. The outpouring of congratulations was quite a honor; they came from more walks of life than I had expected. Old friends from UC Davis took the opportunity to reach out and say hello, as well as restaurateurs, distributors, and retailers. My family has been producing fruit forward and food friendly wines for more than 129 years and we are extremely proud of our heritage and history. That said, one of the most important reasons that we are America’s oldest continually family owned and operated winery is because there has never been complacency—we, as a family, are continually striving to be better at what we do. I believe that this award recognizes that effort.

The last 10 years of my life have been largely focused on farming grapes on our nearly 2,800 acres of estate-grown vineyards and turning these grapes into the best wine possible in the most sustainable way possible. Every step along the way, I get the pleasure of working with my aunt Carolyn, uncle Phil, father Eric, and sister Christine. I’d like to thank everyone that has supported our family over the years. Without you, this award wouldn’t have been possible. THANK YOU.