Fifteen years after arriving on American soil, Concannon had become a well known and successful wine grower in Northern California. His reputation came to the attention of Porfirio Diaz, dictator of Mexico in the 1880's, who was convinced that viticulture would thrive in Mexico's climate and soil. Ever ready for a new opportunity, James brought his brother from Ireland to run the California vineyard in order to pursue the venture in Mexico. Concannon transported more than a million cuttings in boxcars over the next few years, but the enterprise came to an abrupt end with the Mexican revolution and the overthrow of Diaz.
James Concannon's sons entered their father's wine business in 1910, the year before he died. They replaced the original vines, which had been lost to phylloxera, increased the acreage, and planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Johannesburg Riesling, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. After surviving Prohibition and the Great Depression, direction of Concannon Vineyard passed to another generation, with grandson Joe overseeing the vineyards and grandson Jim heading up the winemaking. In 1964, Concannon released the industry's first varietal Petite Sirah, from the 1961 vintage, and that variety went on to garner numerous awards and become the brand's best known wine.
Joe passed away in 1978, and two years later, the Concannon family sold the estate. In 1992, after Concannon had passed through a number of corporate hands, Eric Wente of nearby Wente Vineyards assembled a group of eight investors to buy the property and restore its traditional Livermore Valley focus. Concannon Vineyard is a separate company from Wente Vineyards, running its own operations with distinct vineyards and winemaking facilities. Maintaining the historical link, Jim Concannon has continued marketing the wines with the new partners.
Winemaker and general manager Tom Lane signed on with the new team for his first harvest in 1992, and year by year has been recognized for crafting full-flavored, complex wines, winning awards along the way. Since Concannon long ago achieved recognition for its Petite Sirah, a move into Rhône varieties was a natural extension. Lane spent time in the Rhône region in France for research and inspiration in developing the Concannon Vineyard style for Syrah, Viognier and the other Rhône grapes and blends.
More than a century of history is tied together by the land itself, the vineyard. Concannon's operations are run from James Concannon's original home, steps from the winery. The property is located in the gravely soil at the southeast end of the Livermore Valley, east of the San Francisco Bay. As the only east-west valley in the region, it is fortunate to have warm, sunny days coupled with cool, breezy evenings, a climate known for producing grapes with a natural balance of sugar and acid. Concannon farms 200 acres of its own grapes, with contracts on another 150, and produces 85,000 cases of wine annually. With recent replantings now bearing fruit, the proportion of estate-grown grapes is steadily rising.
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Red Wine
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White Wine
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Sparkling Wine & Champagne
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Kosher
Wine which is produced and bottled under strict supervision and meets all standards to be certified Kosher.
Organic
Wine which is produced using organic practices and is free of all synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
Biodynamic
Biodynamic designation is regulated by Demeter, an international certification organization. Biodynamic agriculture is based on the view of a farm as a self-contained organism. Certified organic vineyards must meet Demeter"s additional criteria for a period of one year before earning the designation "biodynamic."
Sustainably Grown
Sustainable practices incorporate organic standards and may exceed them and include ecologically and socially sound business practices such as fair pay for farm workers and energy conservation.
Screw Cap
Wines sealed with a screw cap as opposed to a cork, which experts report protects and preserves wine more effectively than does a cork, while also eliminating the possibility of cork taint.
No Sulfites
All wines naturally contain some sulfites, however wines that contain less than 10 parts per million sulfites are not required to include "Contains Sulfites" on their labels.
Futures
Wines that are still in the barrel and have yet to be bottled. Futures offer the opportunity to invest in a wine before it arrives in our store.
Pre-arrivals
Like futures, pre-arrivals are wines that have not yet arrived on our shelves, however they may or may not be a new release. Pre-arrivals may already be bottled and en route to our store.
Wine Advocate
The Wine Advocate is a bimonthly wine publication featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. Initially titled The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate the first issue was published in 1978. Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 7,500 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50-100 point quality scale.
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces. Each issue also includes from 400 to more than 1,000 wine reviews, which consist of wine ratings and tasting notes.
International Wine Cellar
Since 1997, the 100% subscriber-supported IWC has also been available in French and Japanese editions.
Wine Enthusiast
Wine Enthusiast Magazine is a lifestyle magazine covering wine, food, spirits, travel and entertaining topics. It was founded in 1988 by Adam and Sybil Strum and reaches 686,000 readers. Its wine ratings, conducted by reviewers in major wine-producing areas of the world, are considered an influential gauge for consumers and professionals in the wine industry.
Wine & Spirits
Wine and Spirits is America's practical guide to the straightforward, enlightened enjoyment of fine wine and and premium spirits. We have for 18 years served customers and marketers alike with a lively mix of wine reviews, features, profiles, food and wine pairings, new product introductions, travel pieces, history, opinion and wine business news.
Burghound
Burghound.com was the first of its kind to offer specialized, and more importantly, exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region. The first Issue was released in January of 2001 and there are now subscribers in more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states. Allen Meadows spends over four months a year in Burgundy and visits more than 300 domaines during that time.
James Halliday
James is one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian wine, matching intelligent, honest reviews with unparalleled knowledge of, and passion for, the wine industry.
Mid Valley Wine
At Mid Valley Wine and Liquor we are dedicated to bringing you the best in wine, wine information, and customer service. We taste hundreds of wines a month and travel the world to find virtually undiscovered gems from small artisanal wineries to the best wines made by some of the world’s most famous and prestigious producers
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine
For thirty-five years, Connoisseurs’ Guide has been the authoritative voice of the California wine consumer. With readers in all fifty states and twenty foreign countries, the Guide is valued by wine lovers everywhere for its honesty and for it strong adherence to the principles of transparency, unbiased, hard-hitting opinions.
James Suckling
I rate wines using the 100-points scale. I have used this point system for close to 25 years. I still believe it is the simplest way to rate a wine, with its origins from grade school in the United States. A wine that I rate 90 points or more is outstanding (A), and worth buying. If I rate a wine 95 points or more (A+), it is a must buy.
View from the Cellar
View From the Cellar, an electronic wine newsletter published bi-monthly by John Gilman.
Wine Journal
Homepage for wine writer, Neal Martin's, "Diary of a Wine Writer".
Malt Advocate
Malt Advocate magazine is America's leading whisky magazine. It's the number one source for whisky information, education and entertainment for whisky enthusiasts.
The Rhone Report
Dedicated to the wines and grapes of the Rhone Valley
Wine Review Online
Wine Review Online was originally conceived by Publisher Robert Whitley as an all-encompassing platform for the many talented wine journalists he came across in his travels as wine columnist for the Creators Syndicate.
All sizes are 750mL unless otherwise noted.
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.
