by Kate Newton
A stalwart of the California wine industry that traces its family ownership back to 1883, Wente Vineyards offers a core portfolio as steadfast as the clan behind it—so much so that the winery didn’t make any additions to it for over a decade. That changed last December with the launch of the Mount Diablo Highlands Red Blend, and in April, Wente Vineyards unveiled yet another new release, this time a Pinot Noir named for Baily Hill on its Riva Ranch property in Monterey County’s cool-climate Arroyo Seco AVA.
Available nationwide with a $20 SRP, both wines debuted with the 2021 vintage and represent Wente Vineyards’ overarching goal to “grow with intention,” says head of winemaking Elizabeth Kester: “The whole team gets together from the marketing and sales and vineyard and winemaking sides and really looks at the opportunities we have [in our portfolio] and . . . where we have grapes that could be formed into this perfect product in that space,” she says. The niche filled by the Mount Diablo—which pays homage to the tallest peak in the Central Coast appellation and a major climatic influence on the Livermore Valley, home to the Wente Vineyards estate—had been a target for quite some time after the winery shifted toward producing more single-varietal wines over the past several decades, according to director of vineyard operations and fifth-generation grower Niki Wente. “I swear for the last seven years, every time I’ve gone out into the market, people have asked, ‘Oh, do you have a red blend for broad market?’” she says. “The more people were asking, we thought, ‘You know what, why don’t we have a beautiful red blend that can express the Central Coast and all of the vineyards that we have?’”
The inaugural 2021 vintage (which was “a breath of fresh air” after the challenges of 2020, Kester reflects) accomplishes just that through its Bordeaux-style blend of 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Petit Verdot, 16% Merlot, 11% Barbera, 11% Tempranillo, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Malbec from Wente Vineyards properties throughout the Central Coast; each lot was fermented separately in stainless steel with twice-daily pumpovers to maximize extraction, yielding an expression abundant in cherry and plum that the winemaking team wanted to be crowd-pleasing and approachable above all. Highlighting its bright fruit, high acidity, and food-pairing abilities, Kester notes that “we really want to make sure that we are coming from a perspective where we [can] develop something that’s consistent year over year,” adjusting both the composition of the blend and the sources for the grapes as needed in future vintages to ensure “you’re going to have the same profile and the same sort of fruit that shows through with the light, subtle oak [as well as] the acidity that is more prominent, I would say, than [that of] the competitors.”
Similarly built for pairing is the Baily Hill Pinot Noir, which blends fruit from the 5-acre vineyard atop Baily Hill with Pinot Noir from Wente Vineyards’ other Central Coast vineyards, primarily in Monterey. Kester describes it as “brighter, redder, and fresher, with slightly more acid and more of a delicate oak profile to boost the fruit,” than its darker, earthier Pinot counterparts in the Wente Vineyards portfolio, among them Riva Ranch and nth DEGREE. “It fills a price segment we weren’t in with Pinot Noir, and I think that was something we really wanted to be able to accomplish: How can we make Pinot that’s approachable and affordable and overdelivering for the quality in the bottle? And I really think we hit the nail over the head with it,” adds Niki. “It’s chasing more of that California style of Pinot Noir, which is very fruit-forward and fun.”
Both of the wines are packaged in the winery’s now-standard lightweight glass—a transition accomplished by the installation of a new bottling line in 2022 that was part of a major sustainability initiative. “Consumers from my perspective are all arms around lighter glass: Either they don’t notice that it’s lighter or they like the fact that it’s lighter. The other thing with Baily Hill is that it’s our first red wine in the Wente Vineyards label that has a screwcap . . . and I think that’s a cool differentiating factor,” says Niki.
Based on their reception, the wines are clearly resonating with consumers. “Baily Hill and the Mount Diablo Highlands have been received much better than we even anticipated. It’s one of those things where we’re like, ‘Oh shoot, are we going to go out of stock on year one?’ You don’t want to go out of stock because then you get replaced!” Niki says with a laugh. “We’re so excited about the potential of these wines, and now our main goal is to keep them in stock so we can continue to make sure that we have the product for all of these wonderful partners that are really enjoying the wines.”
