Wente Vineyards Debuts The Front Porch Blog Celebrating Americana Music

Livermore Valley, CA – Just as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass takes down its stages celebrating 11 years of bringing great Americana music to an appreciative crowd, Wente Vineyards, the oldest continuously family owned and operated winery debuts its Front Porch blog, dedicated to showcasing local and world renowned musical talent, particularly Americana. The name Front Porch is inspired by the actual front porch on Fifth Generation winegrower Karl Wente's 19th century Victorian family home where he, his friends and guest musicians often gather to make and listen to music. It was on this front porch where the notion of presenting up and coming musical talent was originally conceived by Karl six years ago.

Since that debut, over 75 new artists have performed at the historic property including acts such as The Mountain Goats, The Dodos, Luce, the Ferocious Few, Jerry Hannan, the Stone Foxes, Loquat, and Karl Wente’s own band The Front Porch.  This year Wente’s band debuted their album Evermore at the annual Labor Day Front Porch Music Festival.

For avid fans of Americana, Bluegrass and acoustic music, The Front Porch blog highlights emerging as well as established artists in these genres. It is a thoughtfully-curated selection of artists, many of whom have performed at Wente Vineyards and some of whom are simply favorites of Karl Wente and members of The Front Porch. Original content such as interviews and exclusive tracks as well as existing footage, videos, photos, music and blog posts portray the events and people that embody the spirit of The Front Porch. The blog also provides real time updates and coverage of the musical festivals at Wente Vineyards and the "One the Road" section follows Karl as he crosses the nationa as winemaker, musician and music fan, meeting new friends along the way. "Stuff We Dig" is a place of discovery in music, wine or food that Karl and The Front Porch want to spotlight: new releases, tour dates, live songs, interesting commentary and fun anecdotes.

It is a propos that America’s oldest family owned and operated winery has dedicated itself for six years running to showcasing local independent and bugeoning musical talent, complementing a long running commitment by Wente Vineyards of sharing wine country hospitality with its world class concert series, Greg Norman designed golf course and fine dining Restaurant at Wente Vineyards.

About Wente Vineyards 
Founded in 1883, Wente Vineyards is the oldest continuously operated, family-owned winery in the country; owned and managed by the fourth and fifth generations of the Wente family. The winery draws from nearly 3,000 acres of Estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley, San Francisco Bay and Arroyo Seco, Monterey appellations to create an outstanding portfolio of fine wines. Wente Vineyards is distributed in all 50 states and in over 70 countries worldwide.  In 2010, Wente Vineyards was among the first wineries to receive the Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing designation, and one of the only wineries to certify every aspect of its business. In 2011, Wente Family Estates was named American Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast and a top 30 wine company by Wine Business Monthly. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Wente family bringing Chardonnay cuttings to California. Today, the Wente clone of Chardonnay is the most widely planted in California.

Located just east of San Francisco in the historic Livermore Valley, Wente Vineyards is recognized as one of California’s premier wine country destinations. The property features wine tasting, world-class concerts, award-winning fine dining and championship golf. For more information, visit www.wentevineyards.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Skye Morgan of Charles Communications Associates at press@charlescomm.com or (415) 701-9463.

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