We visited Livermore’s wine country this weekend. Our first stop, Wente. On a bronze plaque, beneath a palm tree, describes Wente as: “The country’s oldest continuously operated family-owned winery.”
We enjoyed the 2008 Reliz Creek Pinor Noir and the 2009 Counoise, a grape from the Rhone valley of France.
I enjoyed the smoky bouquet of the Pinot Noir. It tasted like I was drinking rich fruit with cigar tones – potent, tasty combo! The Counoise felt full on my mouth. Nice fruit tones. My favorite description from my hubby, it’s jammy in a good way.
Wente is a tourist destination and at times, it’s quite noisy inside the tasting room. Still, it’s wonderful to have this historic wine spot in our backyard. Fremont is only a 30 minute drive from Livermore. My hubby said we should keep living next to wine countries like Napa, Sonoma and Lodi.
On the same property, we stumbled on some lovely Italian wines from Tamas. In comparison to Wente, Tamas was very cozy, friendly and happy to educate us about their wines. I loved the 2009 Fiorente, which is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera. It’s a fantastic red wine and I can see myself enjoying a glass, with and without a meal.
We also stopped by a wine bar at Concannon Vineyards.
Livermore has been a wine destination for me after I saw “Blood into Wine.”
It’s a fantastic documentary about Maynard James Keenan, Tool’s frontman, making wine in a small silver mining town in Arizona. The documentary interview folks from Wente. Plus, they poured Wente wine at the film’s screening in the Castro last year.
I look forward to exploring more of Livermore’s wine country.
Facebook friends – check out my blog link to watch the “Blood into Wine” trailer.