In one of the latest Tipping Point podcast episodes, we spoke with Niki Wente, Director of Vineyard Operations at Wente Vineyards, who offered insights on succession planning, being a woman in a male-dominated industry, and helpful advice for emerging industry professionals.
First, a quick look at Wente Vineyards.
Wente Vineyards began in 1883, when C.H. Wente purchased 47 acres in Livermore, Calif., and is the oldest family-run and continuously operated vineyard in the country. The winery was among the first to actually label a chardonnay wine by its varietal, as pre-prohibition winemakers tended to copy the French style of labeling by region. Today, Wente owns over 3,000 acres of estate-grown vineyards producing 20 varieties. Seventy percent of all chardonnay in the U.S. comes from a Wente clone or the family.
About Niki Wente
As director of vineyard operations, Niki manages all farming and agricultural operations, including strategic planning for vineyard life cycles, extreme weather response, and the ebb and flow of target audience and marketplace trends. She also considers herself a “plant doctor,” keeping tabs on any viral or bacterial infections in the vines.
Lessons from Wente Succession Planning: First, Communication is Key
Because it’s common for family businesses to be sold or shut down after two generations, the Wente family stands out in the industry. Currently run and operated by the fourth and fifth Wente generations, the family instituted an annual family council meeting and adheres to set guidelines governing how family members enter the business and work with each other.
For example, younger generations are encouraged to work outside of the family business for three to five years before applying at the vineyard, so that they gain outside experience and perspectives to bring back to the business.
No family member is guaranteed a job. Every family member must apply and go through the same interview process as any outside candidate, starting at entry level and working their way up. Additionally, Niki says each family member has their “own swim lanes,” meaning that Wente family members are widely distributed throughout the company from HR to farming to CEO and everything in between.
Lessons from Wente Succession Planning: Second, Get Outside Help
The Wente family hired outside resources to help with job interviews and placement. This not only prevents personal preferences from affecting business decisions, it also gives job
candidates assurance that their voices will be heard. An outside firm takes the emotion out of the entire process.
“It’s good to go into a situation and know that we’re not always going to agree, and that it’s not about me,” she says. “Good to have pushback and not be in a room full of ‘yes’ people.”
Niki’s Advice for Emerging Pros: Speak Up, Get Involved, Ask for Help
Niki advises younger people getting into the industry, especially women, to speak up and remember that it’s not personal. It’s easy to feel shut down or too inexperienced to speak up and share ideas, but she finds it’s always more impressive to superiors when you’re courageous enough to voice an idea (and confident enough to gracefully accept it if the idea isn’t well-received).
Find a mentor. Reach out to people you admire inside or outside of the industry and ask to meet for coffee or to have a quick call. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, they’ll say ‘yes,’” says Niki.
Listen to the full podcast to hear more from Niki on the business of wine making, Wente’s cutting-edge sustainability practices, and her family’s experience with succession planning.
Wine & Wisdom Women’s Roundtable Event: Niki will speak more on succession planning at the upcoming Women’s Roundtable event in the new R Solutions Center in Livermore on February 15 - 16, 2023. For more information about the event or about Ratermann’s Women’s Roundtable events, fill out the form below.