Carolyn Wente’s lifelong leadership as a woman in a male-dominated industry, faith in her family business and level head during difficult times makes her a true wine industry legend.
Carolyn Wente’s early days running the family winery with her two brothers were clouded by death, taxes, an earthquake and fierce competition. But she was up to the challenge, something that she proved time and again over her 40-year career with the Livermore-based winery Carl H. Wente founded in 1883. Today, the Wente operation is the longest, continuously family-owned and operated winery in the United States.
In the early 1980s Carolyn was among the first women to take a leading ownership and management role at a major California winery. Today, she is the first woman recognized with an American Wine Legend Wine Star Award.
Carolyn was instrumental in reshaping the family business, which at the time was respected for viticultural and enological leadership but perceived as stodgy in the marketplace. Beginning at age 25, rising to the role of CEO, and now serving as 4th generation winegrower and board chairman, Carolyn took seriously the job of burnishing Wente Family Estates’ brand and preparing to turn it over in good health to the fifth generation.
In the 1980s and 1990s Carolyn lead several initiatives in direct-to-consumer marketing that hundreds of other wineries are following today. She began bringing more consumers to Livermore with a new culinary garden, a restaurant serving farm-to-table cuisine, a golf course designed by Greg Norman and outdoor
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
