Make Time

The holidays oftentimes mean spending quality time with friends and family. There are moments filled with laughter, making memories, delicious food, and, of course, great wine. To help host during the holidays, we have specially curated wonderful recipes paired with your favorite Wente Vineyards wines, a Spotify playlist to help set the tone, as well as hosting tips and traditions from the Wente family. Cheers to making time for new memories!

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Holiday Hosting Tips

With Carolyn Wente

As Chairman and former CEO, Carolyn is now heading the effort to meet the family’s goals for Wente Family Estates: growing the business, strengthening its brand promise, and developing a high-performing organization. An essential part of this effort is to secure an efficient transition, where the fifth and future generations take over a healthy and profitable business with seasoned, trained, and passionate leaders – both family and non-family members.

1.) Plan Ahead

Envision what you want the end result of your holiday party to be – it should always have you enjoying yourself and conversing with guests. There are so many things that you can do ahead of time like decorating, setting the table, chilling wine, making appetizers, etc. Make Time in your planning to celebrate you enjoying your guests.

2.) Decorating Traditions

When you decide to start decorating, enjoy putting them up, remember when and why you got them and reminisce on why they are special to your tradition. Do this early in the season so that you have time to really enjoy your handiwork. When I first lived on my own (early career and started decorating my home, I picked a theme and basic color that I built on through the years. Red berry garlands and wreaths are the foundation of my decorations, which I have added to with pinecones from the Sierra Nevada mountains.

3.) Don’t Cook Everything Yourself

I love to cook and pride myself on putting delicious food on the table with our wines. During the holidays, though, it can be less stressful if you have a few signature dishes that are favorites to cook which you can supplement with prepared dishes from a local restaurant. If guests offer to bring something, take them up on it! They would not offer if they did not want to help.

4.) Offer Different Styles of Wine

The opportunity to explore one or more variety with your meal provides not only a chance to experiment but also for some fascinating conversation. Remember, great wine and food help to make a great dining experience with friends and family.

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Holiday Recipes

Chicken Thighs with Shallots and Creamy Spinach

Heather Barnes is an Austin, TX-based food photographer and creator of the blog, Mrs. Barnes, that focuses on simple entertaining at home and romantic recipes. Heather believes that dinner is the most celebrated meal of the day. She aims to recapture the simplicity of connecting with family and friends and slowing down. She’s a romantic at heart, always garnishing her dishes with flowers and love.

View Recipe

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