Winery’s roots run generations deep
Concannon Vineyard makes its name with Petite Sirah, 4 generations in the biz
The morning before his 81st birthday, Jim Concannon was at the winery ensuring the flag was still at half-staff. Showing respect for the recent Colorado shooting victims is a natural reflection of what Concannon describes as the winery’s three guiding principles: “Family. God. Country.”
When Concannon’s father, Joseph, first raised that flagpole in 1939, he brought in a band and a detachment of servicemen, and invited the whole town of Livermore. Joe raised the flag himself every day thereafter. And when he died, Jim took over.
Concannon Vineyard began in 1883, when Concannon’s grandfather, James, bought an old ranch in Livermore with the idea of making sacramental wines. Today, Concannon is owned by the Wine Group, one of the three largest wine producers by volume in the country. But the family still plays a vital role, with Concannon the living link between past and present, and his eldest son, John, running the day-to-day.
Jim Concannon became winemaker just shy of his 30th birthday and held that position for 15 years. He had been trained by Katherine Vadja, a Hungarian ballerina-turned-chemist who was Concannon’s winemaker from 1950 to 1960 — California’s first technically trained female winemaker.
It didn’t take long for Concannon to make his mark. In 1964, he introduced the nation’s first varietal Petite Sirah made from grapes harvested in 1961, the year John was born. It remains the winery’s flagship wine.
These were the days when Concannon would stay with the just pressed juice around the clock.
“We had this one (refrigerated) unit,” he says. “At 2 in the morning or 4 in the morning, I would get off my Army cot and hook it to another tank. Now you have technology, but before we were always fighting rising temperature.” In the earlier days, Concannon’s wine had been chilled down with 250-pound blocks of dry ice.
Concannon grew up in the home in which his grandfather had raised his family; it was also where he and his wife, Helen, would bring up their four kids. The home is still on the winery grounds, currently used by a company engineer.
As a boy, Concannon did chores around the winery, such as washing bottles and cleaning the tanks, and once experimented making his own wine in the attic — it bubbled over, dripping into his parents’ bedroom. He went off to St. Mary’s College to study accounting and then entered the military. In 1960 — the same year he took over as winemaker — he married Helen, who has since become the family archivist.
“We’re humble,” Concannon says. “But I don’t think there’s another winery that has all the historical documentation that we have.”
This summer, James Concannon was named to the Irish Hall of Fame, joining the likes of John F. Kennedy and John Huston. In true Irish fashion — proud, yet humble — Jim Concannon isn’t all that impressed. “We don’t belong with those highfalutin guys,” he says.
And the story continues. On one hot Livermore day, Concannon asked his young grandkids — the potential fifthgeneration vintners — why they were walking behind him. “We want to follow in your footsteps,” was the reply. Concannon surmised that they were really more interested in his cooling shadow than in the wine business. But he says those grandkids are showing promise.
The Wine Group: It’s taken a lot of grit and gamble to see Concannon Vineyard through prohibition, phylloxera, the Depression and more. So, in 2002, when the winery was purchased by the Wine Group, Jim Concannon breathed a sigh of relief.
With such rich history, selling out to a large company might sound like sacrilege. But, he says, the Wine Group, a privately held company known best for its Franzia box wine, is invested in preserving the winery’s heritage.
Conservancy: John Concannon, who grew up working at the winery before pursuing a career in the medical field, returned in 2008 to spearhead the winery’s new Conservancy line — five wines produced from Livermore winegrowers who have committed their vineyards to a land trust that forever forbids urban development.
Concannon is fond of borrowing a line from a wine writer who described Conservancy, which is sold in weighty bottles, this way: “It looks like a $50 wine, tastes like a $30 wine, and sells for $15.”
What’s new: The Darcie Kent Vineyards wine gallery, a modern tasting room with original paintings by Darcie Kent, wife of the Wine Group’s CEO, David Kent. The couple lives in Livermore, and many of her works — images of which grace her labels — are of the valley. Now open in the original winery, the tasting room is holding a grand opening Sept. 14-16.
The land: Concannon’s 240 acres of estate vineyards, which were certified organic last year, is a prime example of Livermore Valley’s notably rocky and gravelly soil. The valley’s hot days and cooler nights, thanks to some maritime influence, make it a region that can ripen many grapes, particularly Petite Sirah.
The first Petite Sirah: Using varietal Petite Sirah in the blend for 99-cent Burgundy in 1961 was a daring idea at the time, considering the grape’s intense reputation.
“It was so high in tannin, it would take the enamel off your teeth,” Concannon says.
In early days, the Petite Sirah was softened by four years of aging. Today, the Conservancy Pinot Noir sits in stainless steel for six months (to tame the “gremlin”— as John Concannon calls it), is seasoned for six months in American oak (the “spice rack”) and finished for six more months in the same French oak barrels that have been mellowing Concannon wines for more than 50 years.
“There is nothing petite about Petite Sirah,” John Concannon says. “It’s like a St. Bernard that wants to sit in your lap. It’s big.” Today’s Petite Sirahs are wellrounded wines kept consistent by winemaker Julian Halasz using “a recipe in the 90-plus percentile” of varietal fruit.
The mission: John Concannon’s mantra is “quality wine at a fair price,” a line he credits to his great-grandfather. By using the Wine Group’s expertise, he hopes to keep history alive into the next century. “That’s really what’s been hitting me,” he says. “Innovation with tradition.”
To taste: Heritage Petite Sirah, made only in exceptional years, is Concannon’s bid for the luxury market. In addition to Petite Sirah, the winery produces Conservancy varietals of Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. The Reserve wines made exclusively from estategrown fruit and available only at the winery include Assemblage, a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
A special twist: Last year, to celebrate Petite Sirah’s 50th anniversary as a varietal, the winery added a fifth Conservancy wine: Crimson and Clover, a 50 percent Petite Sirah blend. The first 15,000 cases sold out in months. “It’s our little rock star,” says John Concannon.
The visit: The original winery houses a wine library, a walkway of memorabilia and the Underdog Wine Bar, which offers small plates and one of the largest Enomatic wine-preservation systems in the Bay Area. You can also picnic on the winery’s expansive lawn. Wine tastings are $10 for five 1-ounce pours. Private tours ($20 per person) can be scheduled in advance by calling (925) 456-2505.
Worth a trip: The Livermore Shakespeare Festival produced “Hamlet” and “Merry Wives of Windsor” this summer in an 1895 Queen Anne Victorian on the winery’s grounds. For next year’s productions, go to liver moreshakes.org.
Vitals: Concannon Vineyard, 4590 Tesla Road, Livermore. (925) 4562505. concannonvine yard.com.