Welcome
My Journey began on the shoulders of a giant within the California winemaking community - my father, Nils Venge. Like many in his generation of wine producers, he cut his teeth in Napa Valley in the ‘70s and ‘80s as the region was establishing notoriety and nobility amongst the world’s great wine producing regions. His establishment as a force in the production of world class wines occurred at Groth Winery, with the production of the 1985 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, scoring a perfect 100 points from wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr.—the first ever awarded to a California producer. He started his own winery in 1988, Saddleback Cellars, where as a young man, I grew up with the winery as the backdrop for what would become my life’s work.
Today, I carry the Venge heritage forward, building on the experience and guidance instilled in me by my father, while embracing an era of experimental and technological advancement in winemaking. Never before have the standards been as high as they are today. Greatness is no longer the byproduct of mastery of one’s craft, it is the expectation.
At Venge Vineyards, we believe the vineyard provides the foundation for achieving greatness in winemaking. In essence, site determines the winemaker’s destiny. As such, we strive to find and farm only the best vineyard sources at perfectly balanced yields, pushing the bounds of our expectations surrounding viticultural management and varietal composition. In the cellar, minimalist intervention carries our vineyard selection and management forward with balanced macerations, clarification without filtration, and aging in a combination of new and used barrels to gently support the natural tannins we find in each fruit source.
These efforts aid in the achievement of growing complex, rich sources of fruit and producing wines that are characteristically distinct. Together, when grown, produced and blended, our wines sing the song of greatness.
Kirk P. Venge
Proprietor & Winemaker
My Journey began on the shoulders of a giant within the California winemaking community - my father, Nils Venge. Like many in his generation of wine producers, he cut his teeth in Napa Valley in the ‘70s and ‘80s as the region was establishing notoriety and nobility amongst the world’s great wine producing regions. His establishment as a force in the production of world class wines occurred at Groth Winery, with the production of the 1985 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, scoring a perfect 100 points from wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr.—the first ever awarded to a California producer. He started his own winery in 1988, Saddleback Cellars, where as a young man, I grew up with the winery as the backdrop for what would become my life’s work.
Today, I carry the Venge heritage forward, building on the experience and guidance instilled in me by my father, while embracing an era of experimental and technological advancement in winemaking. Never before have the standards been as high as they are today. Greatness is no longer the byproduct of mastery of one’s craft, it is the expectation.
At Venge Vineyards, we believe the vineyard provides the foundation for achieving greatness in winemaking. In essence, site determines the winemaker’s destiny. As such, we strive to find and farm only the best vineyard sources at perfectly balanced yields, pushing the bounds of our expectations surrounding viticultural management and varietal composition. In the cellar, minimalist intervention carries our vineyard selection and management forward with balanced macerations, clarification without filtration, and aging in a combination of new and used barrels to gently support the natural tannins we find in each fruit source.
These efforts aid in the achievement of growing complex, rich sources of fruit and producing wines that are characteristically distinct. Together, when grown, produced and blended, our wines sing the song of greatness.