Wente Vineyards and entwine Awarded Hot Prospects by M.Shanken's Impact Newsletter

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Dec 04, 2012, 05:41 ET

LIVERMORE VALLEY, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Wente Family Estates is proud to announce that both Wente Vineyards and entwine, a wine portfolio co-created by Wente Vineyards and Food Network, have been named "Hot Prospects" by the trade newsletter, Impact, based on both brands' accelerated sales growth in recent years. This was a first time ranking for both brands.

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Impact, which is published by M. Shanken Communications, assigns specific criteria for up-and-coming brands to achieve the designation of "Hot Prospect." A brand must have demonstrated sales between 50,000 cases and 250,000 cases in 2011, either as a new product, or as an existing brand that advanced by at least 15% over the previous year and also posted sales growth in 2009 and 2010.

Wente Vineyards' portfolio of wines, which include Vineyard Selection, Heritage Block, Small Lot and The Nth Degree labels, satisfy an array of price points in the marketplace from $14 to $65 retail per 750ml bottle. They ranked first on the list of Hot Prospects based on its volume base, posted gains of 6% in depletions over the previous year for 2009, 10% growth in 2010, and an impressive 19% in 2011, showing renewed vigor under the stewardship of 4^th and 5^th generation owners.

Wente Vineyards also partnered with Food Network to create the brand entwine, a California portfolio of food-friendly wines featuring Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon priced at $12.99 per 750ml. Introduced in the second half of 2011, entwine tallied depletions of 152,000 cases in its first five months in the market, ranking 9^th on the list of Hot Prospects by volume and making it one of the two most successful wine launches of 2011. Wente Vineyards' CEO and Fourth Generation Winegrower, Carolyn Wente, says she expects entwine to reach retail and direct sales of half a million cases within two years.

"Our goal with entwine was to bring together Wente Vineyards' extraordinary winemaking talent with Food Network's culinary expertise and loyal audience of food and wine lovers. We brought Food Network fans a line of balanced, food-friendly wines designed to complement their culinary explorations, and they responded," explains Wente. "entwine wines are already reaching a broader audience through our distribution network, and the future looks bright for this young brand."

"This is really such a wonderful acknowledgement and recognition for the five generations of my family who have remained committed to the wine business. We all love what we do- my two brothers Eric and Phil and my niece and nephew, Christine and Karl, are collectively building our company into a strong, relevant and quality driven winery in the 21^st century. We have built on the foundation laid by my great grandfather, Carl Wente, who came to this country as an immigrant in the late 19^th century and founded Wente Vineyards in 1883," said Wente.

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 100^th anniversary of the Wente family bringing Chardonnay cuttings to California. Today, the Wente clone of Chardonnay is the most widely planted in California.

About Food Network

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.45 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), is the manager and general partner.