Plant A Tree

It takes a real love of the land – and the family business – to keep an estate winery thriving for 140 years. We’ve been fortunate to benefit from the efforts of committed stewards of the property through five generations, all ensuring our Livermore Valley soils are as healthy today as they were in 1883.

The question we are always asking ourselves is, how can we keep this going for another 140 years? (No pressure!) Thankfully, our fifth-generation leadership team is always one step ahead, thinking of new ways to be as aggressive as possible on the sustainability front.

April is Earth Month, and we thought it would be a great time to share some of the incredible things we are doing in the vineyard, winery, and beyond. After all, you may not realize that by simply popping the cork on your favorite Wente Vineyards bottle, you are helping to make our world a little greener!

Drink a bottle, plant a tree!

This year, we have also partnered with Ecologi® to help further offset our carbon footprint by planting a tree for every Wente Vineyards bottle sold in April. We are expecting to plant 20,000 trees with this initiative, which you’ll be able to track on our Sustainability page starting April 1.

Greenhouse Gas? We don’t know her

In 2022, we completed a self-imposed third-party greenhouse gas audit which found that our CO2 emissions are even lower than we thought, coming in at under 25% (!) the average winery in the International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA), whose greenhouse gas emissions are already commendably low. The report was a resounding endorsement of the aggressive energy, water, and carbon saving measures we have taken in recent years.

Lighten up

In 2023, we will also complete a significant packaging refresh for our entire estate portfolio, transitioning to lighter, more carbon-neutral glass for all our bottles. Lighter glass means way less carbon – plus who wants those big heavy bottles anymore? Not us! Our Sustainable Vineyard and Winery certification will also take center stage on the front of every bottle so you can feel proud about your ethical choice every time you reach for a new bottle.

Happy people make better wines

Finally, sustainability measures don’t end in the vineyards and winery. We also equate sustainability with ethical employment practices and community well-being, which we work to continuously improve year over year. As of 2023, Wente Family Estates now offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave, wellness credits, and three months of therapy through Better Help – marking a significant investment in the well-being and mental health of our colleagues.

Here’s a toast to everything you do to help make these initiatives possible for our team, for our historic, 140-year old winery, and for our planet. We hope you remember these initiatives every time you pop open a bottle so you can feel good about every ethical sip. But if not, don’t worry. We’ll be planting those trees regardless.

Check out our dedicated Sustainability page for more information on our team’s ongoing practices – updated regularly with the most current improvements and initiatives.