Business & Tech
A Century of Chardonnay in California
Karl Wente talks about his family's role in bringing Chardonnay to California and about winemaking today
2012 marks a century since brought Chardonnay to California. Monique Soltani heads to Wente Family Estates and finds out how the grape ended up in the Golden State. (Soltani reports weekly on the wine industry for Livermore Patch, where this article originally appeared on Dec. 28, in a series called "Wine Wednesdays.")
Chardonnay Stats:
- Almost one in three bottles of wine consumed in the U.S. is California Chardonnay (Impact Databank).
- Chardonnay was brought to California by Ernest Wente (son of Wente Family Estates founder Carl Wente) in 1912, when he took cuttings from the University of Montpellier viticultural nursery in France to Livermore.
- 75 percent of the Chardonnay planted in California today is derived from the Wente clone.
- There are two names/types for the Wente clone: "Wente" and "The Old Wente." The Old Wente refers to clones taken from vines before certification from UC Davis, while the certified vines are simply known as Wente.
- Chardonnay is California's most widely planted grape, with 95,271 acres reported in 2010. It's the most popular wine in the U.S. and has continued to be the leading varietal wine for the last decade, with sales increases every year (CA Wine Institute).
- Chardonnay plantings at Wente Vineyards in the Livermore Valley were some of the very few to have survived Prohibition.
- As the American palate changes and diversifies to a wider array of cuisines, many winemakers (including fifth-generation winemaker Karl Wente) are making un-oaked Chardonnay. There's been a clear shift away from the big, buttery Chardonnays of the 1990s and toward clean, crisp Chardonnays that pair well with food.