Wente Music

Homegrown: Our New Concert Series

2011-07-09T02:45:03-05:00

Hi, sorry for the long absence, but we’ve been retooling and tweaking our independent music series in the last few months which we’re really excited about sharing with you this summer and beyond. This summer marks the second season of new music on the Estate lawn of Wente Vineyards where we’ll be showcasing some of the best local talent from the Northern California region, as always across different genres. This is a program near and dear to Karl Wente’s heart and whenever he’s traveling (which is a lot), by car, boat, plane he’s listening to new music, seeing live acts, talking with friends in the music world and outside of it to learn about emerging artists and styles. It’s like the world of wine choice, fascinating, endless, a pleasure to the senses...we could go on and on.

Best Dive Bars, Best Music Writing 2010, Best Wine on the Block in Your Best Hand

2010-12-17T07:31:11-05:00

Here at DWDM, we celebrate wine, music, & the fine folks who write about both! How could we match last year’s Aquarium Drunkard’s “Decade in Review” Party at Origami Vinyl? By jumping at the chance to enhance a Holiday meeting of the music minds down the street at Stories, pouring all six wines in Vintage 4.

LA Times Music Editor Randall Roberts read his moving Ozomatli piece included in De Capo’s Best Music Writing 2010

Followed by LA Weekly’s Nightranger Lina Lecaro reading from her Los Angeles’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking & Diving in the City of Angels (I am credited as a “researcher”...excellent gig)

Both fine scribes signed copies after the readings, while much sampling of Vintage 4’s three whites & reds ensued. The music journo theme continued with a performance by Death Kit, featuring LA Times’ August Brown & Jessica Gelt, & LA Record’s Dan Collins manning the decks. Special thanks to our pal Lucy Rendler-Kaplan for the festive pix!

Day of Discovery = Saturday September 4

2010-08-24T22:25:31-05:00

It’s hard to feel “summery” when store windows are chock full of woolen delights, & your local corner mart has morphed into Halloween Central. Come fight for your right to summer at our inaugural Day of Discovery Festival Saturday September 4/Labor Day Weekend.

Any ol’ festival can stick some bands on stage, but a fest with DWDM in the title means you are in for a wine/music lovers’ treat: from noon to 10pm, you’ll be checking out performances in the Barrel Room, The Small Lot Winery, & on the Tesla Lawn, while your taste buds banish the end-of-summer blues with your favorite Wente Vineyards reds & whites, along with perfectly paired noms for your tum.

Tickets are $29 in advance, $35 day of the festival (kids 12 & under get in FREE!) Skip the ticketing fees by buying directly from the Wente Box Office: 925-456-2424. There are special discounts for Club Wente Entertainment, Golf, & Wine Members. We will be giving away tickets on facebook & twitter, so friend us immediately!

Click for the complete line-up & all the deets

Rockin’ the Vineyard Lawn

2010-06-23T22:54:55-05:00

This weekend marks the launch of a grand spankin’ new summer concert series on the vineyard lawn. Each of these three special edition concerts features Karl Wente’s Front Porch Band, joined by one of your fave Bay Area percolating artists.

Tickets are $20, with kids 12 and under FREE! If you buy from the Wente Box Office directly, there’s no service fee: 925-456-2424. Use your saved service fee smackers to snap up dreamy noms and your fave Wente wines by the glass, as well as beer for a little palate cleanse. Sorry-- but no outside food or bev allowed in, but DO bring a blanket and your bff’s. See ya @ 7pm sharp.

Make sure you follow @Wentecc on twitter & like us on facebook for tasty giveaways, and all the latest news leading up to the Day of Discovery Festival happening over Labor Day weekend.

Wente Vineyards Blends Music and Wine at SXSW!

2010-03-17T18:32:59-05:00

Live Music and Wine Pairings, DWDM Wine Bus, ViewTopia: SXSW, BAMM, and More

We’re excited to be back at SXSW for our third year running, spotlighting six wines from vintage 3 of DWDM all across Austin today, March 17th through Sunday, March 21st.

Join us on our DWDM bus, at Whole Foods Market Gateway (and streaming into WFM Lincoln Park), Cork and Co., Jovita’s and Maria’s Taco Xpress for an amazing line up of live performances, wine pairings and special guests!

Wednesday March, 17

BAMM feed from the Convention Floor:
12-1pm: Princeton
1-2pm: Nneka
2-3pm: Suzanna Choffel/ Mix grab bag
3-4pm: Geographer
4-5pm: Birds and Batteries
5-6pm: Hour long recap

Thursday March, 18

Wente Vineyards Discover the Wine, Discover the Music Wine Bus

12:30- 2:45pm Whole Foods Market Gateway @ 9607 Research Boulevard
12:30-1:45 Glenn Yoder and Todd Thibaud
1:45-2:45 Ferocious Few

3-6:pm Cork & Co. @ 308 Congress Ave
3:15 Austin Hartley-Leonard
4:00 Family of the Year Password: tr33splease
4:45 Fierce Bad Rabbit
5:00 Erin Davis/Vince Wilburn-Miles Davis Properties Interview (Post Panel 40th Anniv Bitches Brew )
5:15 Ian Hopkinson

Friday March, 19

Wente Vineyards Discover the Wine, Discover the Music Wine Bus

Noon: Whole Foods Market Gateway @ 9607 Research Boulevard
12:00 Gemma Ray
1-2:00 The Orion Experience (hand-picked by Rachel Ray for her SXSW party!)
2-3:30 Susan Hyatt’s Rockstar Workout (w/simultaneous workout onscreen in Whole Foods Market Lincoln Park) and singing performance
DVD Link on Amazon: http://bit.ly/SHAmazon; http://www.stimulatortheband.com.

4-6:30pm RajiWorld + 1 Party/Sweet Relief Benefit @ Jovita’s, 1619 South 1st Avenue

4:00 Steve Poltz
4:30 Mumiy Troll (on Craig Ferg)
5:00 Bluebonnets (feat. Kathy Valentine & Special guest Clem Burke)
5:30 Victoria Williams + Special guests
6:00 Michael des Barres+ Special guests (incl. Jimmy Thrill Quill)

7-8pm SIN CITY SOCIAL CLUB 8th Annual AUSTIN JUBILEE! @ Maria’s Taco Xpress, 2529 S. Lamar w/DWDM’s Jesse Dayton + Mike Stinson

Saturday March 20 & Sunday March 21
Rockstar Weekend @ Jimmy Thrill Quill’s Ranch-Red Horse Studios
The most exclusive event during SXSWm. At a secret location just outside Austin’s city limits, a hand-picked group of artists, chefs, wellness experts & bon vivants gather to do what it is they do best. Interactive reality tv in real time! Performances from the studio, & interviews with the guests, including, Slim Jim Phantom, Steve Jones, Pam & Michael Des Barres,Mike Stinson, Susan Hyatt & special guests!

Direct from Karl’s Front Porch

2010-01-11T09:32:41-05:00

Karl’s Front Porch Band is making a special appearance at Thriving Ink in Pleasanton, CA this Thursday 1.14, along with Megan Slankard and Robert Harris

New wine/music pairings in honor of the evening’s performers.

Tickets $20 at the door. Advance tickets available online here
All proceeds to benefit a local family in need.

Pop-Up Pour Tonight @ Origami Vinyl

2009-12-14T00:33:42-05:00

Good Food, Good Wine, Good Music, Good People: Tonight we get to practice what we preach-- all that was missing at Aquarium Drunkard’s Decade in Review soiree tonight at Origami Vinyl in LA was the GOOD WINE. Problem solved! Join us for our first ever “Pop-Up Pour”! We will be pouring each of the six wines currently in DWDM. Is West Indian Girl really a Riesling? The Hold Steady a Cab Sav? We want to hear YOUR wine/music pairings, but you must be 21+, natch, to taste.

We Love Pablove!

2009-11-19T22:21:49-05:00

An incredible cause, an incredible line-up this Saturday at The Avalon in LA. We know each & every one of you will be with us in spirit on Sat, no matter where you are. The GOOD NEWS is we have a pair of tickets to gift the *first responder* in comments. All we ask is that you’re 21+. I will e-mail the winner with your ticket details. Good luck & see you Saturday!

Fargo Rock City!

2009-11-10T08:31:48-05:00

Ever wondered what would happen if The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn got to bust out his storytelling chops long-form? You might not have to wait too long. The Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Business blog reports that Craig & “Late Show With David Letterman” writer Tom Ruprecht bought the rights to Chuck Klosterman’s rockin’ coming-of-age memoir “Fargo Rock City”.

Sez Craig: “Seventeen or eighteen is the perfect age for characters in a movie like this, because it’s at that age that you have drivers licenses and a certain amount of independence, but you’re still young enough that you can totally make terrible decisions, and you’re still young enough that you can have a two-hour argument over whether Motley Crue would beat Guns ‘N Roses in a fight.”

No stranger to Letterman, check out this genius clip with Andy Kindler:

Rockstar Karaoke Benefit for The Painted Turtle Camp

2009-10-22T00:31:14-05:00

When our friends in Foreigner asked us to be part of this year’s Painted Turtle Benefit, we jumped at the chance! As Karl would say, “good food, good wine, good music, good people”.

We recruited DWDM’er Francis Ten to come pour with us

A bonus prize for me was getting to see old friend Kelly Hansen, & watching him kill it on Foreigner faves. Hot Blooded, indeed!

In addition to these pix, good pal Lina Lecaro documents all in her LA Weekly column & slideshow