Wente Vineyards Estate Winery & Tasting Room

Sadly, this is now closed to the public. I realized this recently when I posted a Wente review to the wrong location. THIS was the one I really wrote about. Sigh.It's absolutely stunning.  Love the design, it's immaculate, and delicious.Easy-peasy parking right off of Arroyo Road.  From the moment the gf and I walked thru the gate, we were wowed.  It's lovely, with lots of variety to sit and sip: Tables around a grass area, covered patio, standing in tasting room, cabanas, or outside in open grounds near casual grub.* Cabanas need advanced reservations.I like how if you want a glass of wine, you are so enticed to buy a bottle.  For example, if you want a glass of chardonnay, it will cost you $12.  Two, $24.  A bottle is $22.  And, if you can't drink it all, cork it and throw it safely into your trunk until you get home.#LoveWenteVineyards

So glad my friend and I decided to wine in East Bay instead of Napa. Relieving change in vibe, though there's a younger "customer base" and more of a crowd overall. We got there after lunch at the grill. Parking was easy because we arrived before the major afternoon rush when droves of people arrived in busses.Because I had my husky puppy, we weren't allowed to be in the tasting room, so we found a bench right outside. We knew it was going to be too crowded for comfort at the cluster of benches by the food truck. The bartender outside the tasting room seemed disgruntled and made us feel uncomfortable. Judging witch.Anywho, my friend had to enter the tasting room for each round of wine. I followed along on a menu she brought me. The selections weren't bad. I didn't want to buy a bottle of any of them, if that says anything. I was also annoyed at the awful cover band playing under the tent.Seems like a decent place to have private events or picnic with your family on the green. It's an accessible and reasonably priced winery. Beautiful weather that day. Our bench was a good place to people watch from. I'd still come here again to hang out with my friend since in her backyard, but that's pretty much it.

Great place to have the wine experience. Lots of open space to spend with friends and family on a nice warm day. Staff here are very friendly and helpful and the wine is actually pretty good without being too overpriced. In fact, the wine is very cheap compared to most other wineries. They have tastings as well as food on hand which is very important if you want to spend some time drinking and eating. I actually really like this place and will come again without a shadow of a doubt.

I came here for a company get together on a Saturday. This place is honestly pretty nice and great for people who aren't into the touristy places like Napa. It is a chill place if you want to also hit the golf course. I won't be able to critique the wine options they had but probably have to go with what my coworkers said of them. I don't drink, but I wanted to still be able to attend the event. With that said I will talk about that in a bit since people would wonder why anyone would go to a vineyard or go wine tasting if you aren't a drinker.Parking is spacious, its great! When we arrived, we were waiting for the host or the tour guide to start talking about Wente and how they began. At each stop the tour guide will pour you a glass of wine. There was about 4-5 wines we were able to taste and it sounds like a lot of my coworkers like the rose and the chardonnay. We got to tour the storage area where they store the wines, the "caves", and even the garden. The tour is about 45mins long and on a hot day, I kinda wished it went by faster. After we were done with the tour, we went to the restaurant for lunch. Lunch options weren't the most fabulous thing but more so just to not go hangry. The table had a round of chicken wings and artichoke dip. These were pretty good. For my main food, it was bbq chicken. The onion rings were very small and kept falling out of my burger. The chicken wasn't too dry but I wish it was more juicy. What blew my mind was the fries. They have really good French fries. I highly recommended getting those. Ok the down side. I wish they had options for people who don' t drink, whether you are DD or maybe you're pregnant. Aside from water, they should offer grape juice or other non-alcoholic beverages during the tour.On a hot day at the restaurant, sitting outside is nice but there's a lot of bugs. The bugs fly into your food and drinks. I did not really like that. So I don't recommend sitting outside during hot days or just don't sit outside at all. Overall it was a great experience and I would recommend this place for people that do enjoy wineries.

This review is for the wine tasting--but I've dined at their restaurant, and it was fantastic, too.Wente well was one of three stops on our Livermore Wine Trolley Tour (wineries vary each tour).Good wines, great hosts, and a nice location. Hosts were informative and friendly.

Really like the new Food service options at Wente now. Delicious menu - cheese board, charcuterie plate, fries- all kinds of things- and the prices, for what you got, were pretty reasonable. Generous servings for your 18 dollars (for the cheese plate, for example). Lots of food- easily enough for 4.When you enter the winery you may be met with a complimentary taste of Morning Fog. We were- and it was good.We went inside for a tasting, and though I've always loved the Nth degree wines- I found I liked the 2015 Charles Wetmore Cab best of all. We all liked it best. It was just delicious. Soft tanins. Wonderful nose. Just a superb wine. Tasty. We were lucky to be able to taste a little of the port. I had forgotten just how good Wente ports are. I bought several bottles a few years ago- but we quickly drank them, and I didn't restock. The port was full of chocolatey notes- rich, and fruity chocolate. Just wonderful if you like port wine.There are a lot of seating options- benches, tables, sofas, etc- all the ones in the shade were full when we were there, so we were a little sad. But it's a popular place and the weather was beautiful- I can't fault Wente for being popular. It's a nice place- so of course it's crowded sometimes.Parking is pretty generous and there's a nice handicapped lot right outside the entrance. Handicap access is also easy.The winemaker's studio is also at this site- and I have enjoyed tastings there as well.

My god daughter and I decided to check Wente out after eating breakfast in downtown Livermore and it was such a great experience due to Steve.I had called the day before and I was informed that the tasting room would be closed for a members event. Knowing that it would be crowded, Valentine's and Presidents' Day weekend, we decided to still give it a shot due to yelp reviews and recommendations. The grounds are beautiful with plenty of tables. There was also a food truck. With the tasting room closed, they still had a designated area for the public for tastings. As soon as we walked to the tasting area, we were instantly greeted by Steve. He was super friendly and personable while explaining the history and the different wines. Even though it was crowded, he even took the time to show us around the grounds and explain the different sections. They offer different wine memberships-all of which come with great perks. We signed up and plan to be back next weekend with our cousins.Great experience! Thank you Steve!

Love this winery and the amount of outside gorgeous seating space. Perfect for showers, birthday parties etc. I needed a few bottles of wine for holiday gifts. Kathleen guided us a bit and we decided to buy 2 cases (24 bottles) of wine - 2016 Charles Wetmore and 2014 Beyer Ranch Zinfandel.Though Kathleen was great in helping us pick out the wines. The two things that really threw me off:- There was absolutely no discount or incentive for buying 2 cases of wine. We wanted to have a glass of the wines we purchased and she actually charged us for it. I mean if someone is purchasing 24 bottles of wine - the least you could do is offer them a glass on the house!? - She would only open the bottle of Zinfandel for us to try, IF we promised to purchase the 2 cases right away. How are you supposed to decide on your purchase if you've never tried the wine before!?

You're not going to drive up to a faux Château lookIng like Chenonceau or Azay le Rideau at Wente. It's very approachable, casual laid back. www.BlackPack.info was playing mellow tunes outdoors where you can listen wine glass in hand under blue skies. There was a bear-like, bearded, kindly gentleman who gave us a complimentary glass of Chardonnay as we entered. We chatted, & he informed us of what the various locations offered. We headed straight toward the Wine Makers Studio building since they had an intriguing class called Black Glass Blind Wine Tasting. Unfortunately we were on a schedule and couldn't take the 60 minute class. Instead I opted for the Small Lot Flight for $20 to see how much has changed since when I drank Wente Brothers wine in the late 1970's. I was pleasantly surprised the game has been upped. I chose Nth Degree Chardonnay 2015. $70 is relatively expensive but I found it to be equal if not superior to the chardonnays I have drunk by Grgich in my opinion. To me Grgich is too oaky, rich, even waxy. Nth Degree was more subtle & refined. It was masculine wine vs a feminine wine. À Chacun son goût. Staff here is friendly, knowledgeable. The grounds could host informal parties, weddings, company parties. 4-Yelp stars

My absolute favorite vintner is Wente Vineyards. When a taste strikes your palette and an experience blazes its mark in positive ways and the wine continually lives up to that high expectation, there is no doubt you've found gold. And my friends, I have found gold.Nearly twenty years ago some friends and I visited Wente for some tastings. The customer service was warm, professional and welcoming. The wines were beautiful - refreshing and balanced. A few years later a group of about fifteen of us joined up for a birthday dinner in a semi-private room in their restaurant. Granted it was a costly endeavor at about $120/person, but we drank like thieves and ate like bandits.Since then I've religiously sought Wente wines. Costco regularly delivers one of the cabernet varieties when I'm not within a 200 mile radius of Livermore (including Boise, Idaho).If you'd like to experience a wonderful tasting room and take a tour, Wente is a wonderful choice. Their grounds are very lovely. They also host well-known musicians in concert for seated dinners or chair seating only. Wente also has a professional 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman. And if I recall correctly, they also have been a stop on the horseback winery trail ride in years past. Visit. Drink. Enjoy!