Wente Vineyards Presents The Front Porch Music Festival

Livermore Valley, CA- Wente Vineyards is proud to present The Front Porch Music Festival. In it’s second year (formerly known as BottleRockit), Karl Wente welcomes indie music darlings The Mountain Goats and the Dodos to the stage. Karl will also perform with his own band, The Front Porch, earlier in the day and shares the bill with other well-known artists in the Americana/Bluegrass genre. This is the first show on The Mountain Goat’s seventeen-date national tour in support of their highly anticipated new record. Both the Dodos and The Front Porch have just released new records as well. The lineup of the bands performing this year include:

The Mountain Goats
The Dodos
Jerry Hannan Band
The Front Porch
Wolf Hamlin with the Front Porch Drifters
Crawdad Republic
Garage Band Academy

Karl Wente explains, “these shows actually all started on the front porch of my house.  Bands and artists that were rolling through the area would end up back at my place for dinner, hanging out and jamming with my band. It’s really just about bringing people together... good music, wine and friends.”

Just 45 miles east of San Francisco, the Livermore Valley makes the ultimate music festival destination, with its picturesque setting of rolling vineyards and hills. Wente states, “the Bay Area has some of the most original and interesting independent bands, and what better way to enjoy them than with a glass of wine and surrounded by the serene beauty of the Livermore Valley”.  In true festival form, the winery will have two different venues on property for the concurrent performances, one on the front lawn, where guests will be able to enjoy the afternoon with chairs and blankets, and another in the barrel room, with the sounds of two top local DJ’s.

Wente Vineyards has also been an avid proponent of the arts and has had a long history of supporting their community. The festival will feature local food vendors, as well as regionally based musicians. In addition, a percentage of the event’s profit will go toward the Wente Family Foundation for Arts Education, which provides support for arts education programs in the Livermore Valley and throughout the United States.

The event will be held Saturday September 1, 2012 at the Wente Vineyards Estate Tasting Room and Winery  (5565 Tesla Road - Livermore, CA 94550) from 3pm-9pm. Food, wine and beer will be available for purchase. Tickets for the outstanding lineup are only $20 and can be purchased at ticketweb.com or by calling the Wente Vineyards Box Office at 925-456-2424; tickets will be $30 at the door.

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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