Pop Quiz: What do Blues Band Wolf Hamlin & The Front Drifters, Louis Mel Vineyards, and a highly rated Sauvignon Blanc have in common? The answer is Karl Wente, Fifth Generation Winegrower, Chief Winemaker, and Chief Operating Officer of Wente vineyards. That's his day job which he integrates his passion for wine with his passion for music. That's him rocking out on the far left. Let me see if I can tie all this together.

Karl recalls his first wine epiphany, which happened in their family's knotty pine cabin that his great-grandfather bought on Lake Tahoe in the 1940s. "During a summer break from high school at our cabin on Lake Tahoe, Mom handed me a glass of Wente’s 1991 Louis Mel Sauvignon Blanc and said, “Pop quiz: name that varietal.” I stuck my nose into it. It was so distinctly Sauvignon Blanc I could almost picture the aromas. I was so proud to get it right.”

When Karl returned to his hometown of Livermore in 2002, after earning multiple degrees at Stanford and UC Davis and after a year of bumming around Australia in a tent, he began working in the vineyards. Even though he comes from a family culture entirely immersed in wine and ranching, Karl remembers that he was never pressured into becoming part of the wine business. "I tried to keep an open mind and majored in Chemical Engineering at Stanford, thinking it would come in handy for being a winemaker. When I got to UC Davis, I fell in love with the whole wine culture: the people were so passionate. It became crystal clear that I needed to spend my life in the vineyard.”

Karl took an opportunity to move into historic Louis Mel’s small Victorian home with a large front porch in the middle of Mel’s Sauvignon Blanc’s famous vineyards. Louis was an important historical person for the Californian wine industry. Louis Mel used his wife’s connection with her childhood friend, Marquis de Lur-Saluces, at the famous Chateau d’Yquem in Bordeaux to procure (smuggle?) cuttings to plant his vineyards in Livermore in 1883. Ernest Wente, in the 1930s, bought his close friend Louis Mel’s house, winery, and vineyards with original pure Sauvignon Blanc vines from Ch. D’Yquem. That unique clone was named FPS 01 by US Davis and was the clone that became the basis of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc industry. To put it in context, Louis Mel’s vineyard is a big deal in the Sauvignon Blanc world.

Wente is a music fanatic. For him, life is all about the matchless harmony of wine, food, and music. His house is filled with a score of musical instruments: guitars, drums of all kinds, a violin, keyboards, and, most recently, a banjo. This discipline, this curiosity, this constant need to learn something new and to delve more deeply into the understanding of what makes things tick also drives him to new levels of winemaking. In renovating his home, Karl is hands-on. He creating a unique set of back steps off his porch repurposed from oak barrel staves and he refurbished wine oak panels for his kitchen table. The basement, where Louis Mel originally made wine, is now a practice studio for his music projects with his friends. However, the favorite place that his friends gathered to jam was his front porch which happened regularly every Tuesday evening. So it only seemed right to call the collection of ever-changing musicians The Front Porch Band. One of the talented musicians that jammed with Karl on his porch was the local mechanic, Wolf Hamlin, a bad-boy finalist in the 2012 season of American Idol. A version of the band became Wolf Hamlin and the Front Porch Drifters. They released an album and did some minor touring. Minor in that everyone in the band needed to keep their day jobs, including Karl Wente in running the oldest continually operated family winery in the United States. 

The Wente Vineyards has led the wine industry for a very long time, and each member of the five generations has added to the family’s diversity in wine. 80% of all Chardonnay produced in California uses the Wente Chardonnay clone, brought from Burgundy in 1912. The Wente Estates has become a wine lover’s must-see in California. In 1986, The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards opened as California’s third winery restaurant, which showcases produce from the estate’s organic garden. In 1998, The Course at Wente Vineyards, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Greg Norman, was opened, enhancing the wine country lifestyle of the Livermore Valley. Each generation has become more involved in the sustainability of their 3,000 acres of vines, such as owl houses and eagle perches to control rodents and the starlings from eating grapes, electric tractors, water conservation, lightweight bottles, and much more.

As part of Wente Vineyards’ ongoing support of new independent music, Karl Wente initiated an annual showcase of local Bay Area musical talent called The Front Porch presents Homegrown. Wente’s Concert series has attracted top entertainers and thousands of guests annually. The Wente family has long been an avid proponent of the pairing of music, food, and wine. If you hurry, you can catch on Saturday, Sep. 3, at noon Wolf Hamlin and the Front Porch Drifters featuring Karl Wente on rhythm guitar.

When Karl Wente was asked what style of Sauvignon Blanc he made, he said it was a Livermore style of Sauvignon Blanc. Although most of New Zealand’s vibrant Sauvignon Blanc trade is based on the clone that Louis Mel brought back from Chateau d’Yquem in Bordeaux, Wente's is not the racy style of New Zealand or the fleshy style of Bordeaux. Karl believes in authentic wine, a real wine that owes its attributes to the area they are grown in. Not doctored to taste like the next culture craze. Maybe all other Sauvignon Blancs should be more like Wente’s Sauvignon Blanc.

Our 2021 Louis Mel Sauvignon Blanc displays a youthful exuberance that gives this vintage a lot of appeals. It is as lively as it is polished with varietally-typical aromas of fresh honeydew melon, minerals, citrus, and a hint of grass. Modestly weighted and beautifully composed, the wine displays a rich and rounded elegance that highlights its juicy, fruit-driven flavors of sweet Meyer lemon and candied citrus. This wine finishes with well-placed acidity and a lengthy finish.

90% Sauvignon Blanc 8% Semillon 2% Gewürztraminer

Subtle floral and lavender and has a nice clean finish. Sunset International Wine Competition 93 pts

The fresh factor of this wine is apparent in the just-squeezed grapefruit scent and flavor. Powdered white flower petals are a treat as is its sleek, salty nature. Lemon drops and crisp pear highlight high-toned acidity. Tasting Panel Magazine 92 pts

Soft, smooth, and mellow, ripe and juicy fruit, clean, fresh, balanced, and long. Blue Lifestyle 91 pts

Wine & Spirits 90 pts

Wente Louis Mel Sauvignon Blanc 2021

There is nothing more refreshing than a well-made Sauvignon Blanc. When we tried this wine, we were expecting a good Sauvignon Blanc, but what we found was a great Sauvignon Blanc, well balanced and a joy to drink. Aromas of citrus leaning on the lime side. On the palate, it had some good weight, citrus, apple, and some mineral with a hint of spice. Great acidity kept the fruit dancing on the tongue. The finish was of a lime rind. You would never know there was 2% Gewürztraminer in the wine, but I believe it added a boatload of interest to the flavor profile that words don't do the wine justice. A great wine to end the summer and get ready for the fall. This is the best estate bottled Sauvignon Blanc you will find for under $10. Way under.

Regular Price: $12.99

*Sale price is on 12 or more bottles

$36 Mail in Rebate on 12 bottles

Final Cost after MIR is $7.00 a bottle

Wine is packed in a 12-bottle case

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Cheers!

John Hannum,

Fine & Rare Wine Specialist