Concannon Vineyard Sold To Livermore Wineries

LIVERMORE, CA — Livermore’s storied Concannon Vineyard, a 230-acre estate winery and vineyard founded in 1883, was acquired from The Wine Group LLC by Lemmons Family Vineyards LLC and Darcie Kent Winery LLC, according to a news release. A deed filed in November shows that the two vineyards paid $17.9 million for the vineyard, the Bay Area News Group reported.

The Wine Group, which has owned the property since 2004, said it is pleased to sell the property to local winegrowers.

“The sale of Concannon supports The Wine Group’s continuous focus on aligning our portfolio to our long-term goals,” Wine Group CEO John Sutton said in a statement. “We’re honored to have played a role in Concannon’s rich history and are pleased to sell it to local winegrowers who will continue to build on the legacy of one of Livermore’s foundational wineries. We look forward to watching the brand’s continued success in the Livermore Valley Wine Community and beyond.”

Tom and Paige Lemmons, the owners of Lemmons Family Vineyards, said they plan to hone in on local wines and organic growing methods, and create a Livermore Valley Wine Country Center for tourists and small wineries.

“We will be phasing out the international bottling operations and concentrate on re-planting the vineyards to the historic grape varietals, such as Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, that made Livermore famous in the 1880s without losing sight of Concannon’s pioneering efforts with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah,” they said in a statement. “We will bring back organic farming techniques and hope to repurpose the 60,000 square foot bottling pavilion as the long-awaited Livermore Valley Wine Country Center to provide high quality maker space for small family wineries and the visitor-attracting amenities that were envisioned when the Agricultural Preserve was created in 1991 but are still missing.”

David and Darcie Kent, the owners of Darcie Kent Estate Winery, said they hope to continue Concannon’s best features. They also announced that their second winery, the Almost Famous Wine Company, will relocate to the former Wine Group headquarters, where it will produce ultra-premium sparkling wine. “We want to thank The Wine Group for their beautiful restoration of the historic redwood winery that will enable us to build on their success,” the Kents said in a statement.

“The Concannon hospitality team has been retained and it is our goal to ensure that what guests loved about the Concannon tasting room experience will be preserved under new ownership. We are also excited to announce that our second winery, Almost Famous Wine Company, will relocate to the former TWG headquarters building by mid-2025 and state-of-the-art equipment to produce and bottle ultra-premium sparkling wine will be installed. To better serve our neighbors, we hope to provide much needed custom crush and storage capacity to local winegrowers by next harvest.”

The team said they plan to meet with Livermore and Tri-Valley Conservancy staff to move forward with those plans.