BIG NEWS: Concannon Named First Preferred Wine of Army West Point Athletics | LEARN MORE
Concannon’s estate vineyards now span more than 235 acres across Livermore Valley, surrounding our historic winery. One of the defining characteristics of our land is its remarkably uniform soil made up of small gravel, which provides excellent drainage and helps vines produce fruit with depth and concentration.
Today our team farms a diverse range of varietals across the estate, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Sémillon, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, Viognier, Zinfandel, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Grenache Noir.
In spring 2026, we will plant nearly 50 acres with four distinct Cabernet Franc clones and the Musqué clone of Sauvignon Blanc.
1893 Concannon Margaux Mother Vine Vineyard
Acres Planted: .59
Varieties Grown: Cabernet Sauvignon
Our historic, 131-year-old, Concannon Margaux, Mother Vine Vineyard is one of the most treasured Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in California and the only vineyard of its kind in America. This vineyard is home to extremely rare Concannon Margaux heritage clones propagated from extraordinary Cabernet that James Concannon imported from Bordeaux’s First Growth, Château Margaux in 1893. These vines produce the rare and beautiful fruit for our award-winning and extremely limited-production, Concannon Reserve, Mother Vine, Cabernet Sauvignon. Read more about this historic vineyard here.
Block 7 Vineyard
Acres Planted: 15
Last Replanted: 2016
Varieties Grown: Clone 7 Cabernet Sauvignon
This significant site stands as the original Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, where, between 1970 and 1974, Jim Concannon planted the first Concannon Clone 7 vines, followed by Clone 8 and Clone 11 from UC Davis. The deep, gravelly soils of the Concannon Clone 7 Vineyard foster low to moderate vigor, compelling the vines to yield rich, concentrated fruit. With rapid water drainage in this soil, deep root growth is encouraged, enabling the vines to access water and nutrients from the fertile subsoils below. The evening breeze from the San Francisco Bay further enhances the unique environmental conditions of this vineyard.
Heritage Vineyard
Acres Planted: 3
Last Replanted: 2003
Varieties Grown: Petite Sirah
The Heritage Vineyard has been planted to Petite Sirah since 1884 when James Concannon first imported it from the Montpellier Nursery in France. This vineyard sits on a well-drained, alluvial plain with deposits of gravel and rock helping to produce, year-after-year, outstanding Petite Sirah grapes with singular concentration and distinctive sense of place. Planted in 4’ x 8’ rows of head-trained vines, this vineyard is exposed to consistently sunny climate. Warm days followed by the cooling maritime influences of the Pacific Ocean cultivate flavor, complexity and beautifully-balanced acidity, a hallmark of our Heritage Petite Sirah wines.
Arroyo Mocho Creek Vineyard
Acres Planted: 46
Last Replanted: 1995 and 2003
Varieties Grown: Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Viognier, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah
Planted along the southern bank of the Arroyo Mocho Creek, this vineyard site has well-drained gravelly silt loam derived from river sediments. Here, the vines are naturally stressed from the gravelly loam that encourages deep root growth resulting in complex flavor development in the fruit. The vineyard’s north-south orientation allows the vines to savor hours of warm sunshine during the long growing season as well as the cooling evening breezes from the San Francisco Bay.
Big Rock Creek Vineyard
Acres Planted: 10
Last Replanted: 1995 and 2017
Varieties Grown: Syrah, Chardonnay
Just north of the Arroyo Mocho Creek, this vineyard boasts two blocks with an east-west orientation. At this site, the vines are VSP trellised (Vertical Shoot Position) to ensure uniform sun exposure, promoting even ripening. The vineyard derives its name from the substantial rocks deposited by this ancient tributary. The terroir in this area is distinctive, featuring elevated water-retaining gravel and clay soil, making it particularly well-suited for cultivating Chardonnay and Syrah.
Mother Vine Vineyard
The 1893 Concannon Margaux Mother Vine Vineyard is one of the most treasured Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in California and the only vineyard of its kind in America. This vineyard is home to extremely rare, Concannon Margaux heritage clones propagated from extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignon that James Concannon imported from Bordeaux’s First Growth, Château Margaux.
In 1965, and from one of these remarkable vines, the “Concannon Mother Vine,” Jim Concannon and UC Davis developed the renowned Concannon Cabernet Clones 7, 8, 11. The Concannon Clones soon became the industry standard and played an invaluable, distinctive role in helping California and Napa Valley Cabernet achieve international recognition.
After the 1976 Judgment of Paris, the Concannon Clones quickly became an essential asset to the enormous expansion of Cabernet plantings that ensued from the 1970s to the present. Today, an estimated 80% of California’s 90,000 acres of Cabernet are planted to the Concannon Clones.
“The Concannon Cabernet vine chosen for heat treatment was selected by Dr. Harold Olmo and Mr. Curt Alley, both renowned for their visionary work in clonal selection. I think we owe them a great debt since many of their selections still stand up well to the best clones from around the world, with the Concannon Clones being an outstanding example. In this day and age, there’s an explosion of clones, but the solid clones that built the Cabernet industry in California are the Concannon Clones.”
-Deborah A. Golino, PhD, Director, Foundation Plant Services, UC Davis