In 1883, German immigrant Carl Wente bought 48 acres of land
in Livermore Valley in Monterey County, California and planted a mess of
grapevines. Fast forward to 2014, and Wente Vineyards is the oldest
continuously operated winery in North America, run by the fourth and fifth
generations of the Wente family.
Wente is a notablewinery in the history of American
winemaking. Through the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, thanks to the efforts of
Carl’s son, Ernest, the Wentes planted a number of different varieties of
Chardonnay. Through experimentation and crossbreeding with both domestic and
French vines, the Wente chardonnay grape clone emerged. Wente released their
first varietally labeled Chardonnay (along with Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc)
in 1936. Neighbors of the Wentes would take cuttings for planting on their own
lands. Today, 75-80% of California chardonnay is grown from one the “Wente
clones.”
Thanks to the good folks at Balzac, I had a chance to sample
two versions of the new vintage of the Wente chardonnay, as well as one of
their new releases of pinot noir. How did the “First Family of Chardonnay” do
this time around?
Wente 2012 “Morning
Fog” Livermore Valley Chardonnay – I was lucky enough to have a massage scheduled for a Saturday, and the SPinC was nice enough to put together a lunch
for when I got home. She’d put together this very tasty oriechette pasta with
chickpeas and Kalamata olives in a rich (but not buttery) sauce. I thought this
might be a good accompaniment, and we ended up with a great team decision. This
wine is everything you could hope for in a $15 chard. The wine’s got a nice
nose of apple blossoms and vanilla. The body is substantial without being overly
heavy, full of pears and vanilla. There’s creaminess without being too buttery,
oak without being too charcoalled, and just a pleasant overall flavor. With the
pasta, it was assertive enough not to lose its character along what could have
been a slightly challenging pairing. “Middle of the road” may be curse words in
some vocabularies, but for a California chardonnay, this sort of balance is a
sweet spot I’m happy to find. Recommended.
Wente 2012 “Riva Ranch”
Arroyo Seco Chardonnay – Now this is an interesting white. This Chardonnay
comes from a blend of two of the Wente clones -- Clone 2A and Clone 4, if
you’re keeping score at home. Clone 2A is the “classic” varietal, while Clone 4
is a more recent version that’s got some more fruit characteristics. Riva
Ranch, a property in the Arroyo Seco region, starts you off with a bright
bouquet of orange blossoms and toasted almonds, which led me to believe there
would be more oak on the palate than turned out to be. Instead, there’s a
cheek-puffing flavor of apricot and pineapple that leads to gentle buttery
flavors. The finish is long with caramel and a little bit of oak gradually
trailing off. It’s a forward chardonnay, but a good one. I put this alongside a
really nice seared scallop dish with wilted spinach and a light citrus cream
sauce. It held up nicely. I’d get this one again if I needed an assertive
white. This retails for around $22.
Wente 2010 "Riliz
Creek" Arroyo Seco Pinot Noir – In this case, what was good for the goose wasn’t
necessarily good for the gander. The Morning Fog impressed me by being middle
of the road – by holding a balance between the various elements of the flavor,
which is what you might want in a relatively inexpensive bottle. But for the
pinot noir, it’s as if they followed the same formula. All the elements are
there for a pinot noir – cherry and berry flavors, a medium body, light
tannins, and a little bit of smokiness. And these elements were in harmony for
the most part. The problem was that there was so much balance that the wine
became almost uninteresting. It wasn’t that it was bad, it’s just that nothing
really stood out about it. It’s clearly a quality wine, and it’s much better to
drink than most inexpensive pinots, but it’s fairly nondescript for the price
point. It’s a nonthreatening wine. People will like it. I liked it, too. I just
didn’t love it. Food pairing wise, we had it with a turkey meatloaf dish that
sounds pedestrian, but calls for those flavors. It was OK, and a bit overpriced
at $28.
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