Concannon Vineyard

Chuck is the guys to see when wine tasting at Concannon. He’ll give you years of history and background knowledge of their grapes and the wine industry that will give you a greater appreciation, not just for their wines but for the industry as a whole. Make sure this is your first stop and make sure you ask for Chuck when wine tasting in the Livermore Valley. In fact — come see him before going to Napa!

Beautiful property with a variety of very nice wines. Great place in the area, if you are interested in becoming a member of the perks are totally worth it!
Not necessarily five out of five when considering all types of wine but overall experience price value and quality it’s deafly a five out of five must check out if you are in Livermore!

We had the greatest experience at concannon a few weeks ago. We took some friends visiting from AZ to do a wine tasting tour in Livermore and this was the best stop by far! Since we were a party of 10 I had to make a reservation and we had Kathy as our private pourer and she was amazing! We learned so much about the history of the family and vineyards… And of course the delicious wines ;) thanks for a great time Concannon! See you again soon!

Ask for Travis. He’s the best at everything here. We had a fabulous time with great wine and food. Pleasant staff and clean beautiful grounds.

I have been going to this Vineyard for 4 years and the reason was their dog friendly patio named, «under dog.» This was one of the very few vineyards where we could come unplanned and not have to worry about buying food to bring with us as we could eat at their patio restaurant along with our dog. Most of the vineyards in Livermore are dog friendly and a lot of them even welcome them inside tasting room. Concannon was never one of them; dogs were confined to outdoor patio, nonetheless that was enough for us. I would have given them 3 stars based on my experience for the past 4 years (only 3 stars because their wines never appealed to us). However, they lost all those stars to what they did with us yesterday. As we have always done, we drove to Concannon with our dog. We were famished as we had not eaten anything since morning and were looking forward to ordering food in their patio restaurant. However, we were informed by the waitress that they don’t allow dogs on their patio. Well, that couldn’t be right, Right? So, I asked her politely if I could speak to the manager. The manager came out and informed me that they don’t allow dogs on patio. I told him that we have been coming here for years and that has never been a problem. He denied it initially, at which point I pulled out my phone ready to show him all my Unilocal check-​ins as well as pictures of my dog on their patio. By this point, this manager had realized that we knew he was lying. Now he changed his story and rudely informed me that they have changed their policy and don’t allow dogs. I asked him if he can make a one-​time exception because we are starving and our dog is very well behaved. Besides, I also mentioned about the California law that allows dogs on patios. However, he rudely dismissed all that. We left feeling sad as we knew we are not coming back here, a place we have enjoyed for years with our family and freinds.
Thanks to that rude manager and Concannon’s new «no-​dog on patio policy», we discovered Retzlaff Vineyards next door. Not only the owners there welcomed our dog, they offered her a treat, and we were treated to free S’mores.
BTW, Concannon, you should re-​think about renaming your patio restaurant. The first time we ate at your patio with our dog, we were told by one of your waitress that it is called «underdog» because the patio is dog friendly. Now that that is not the case, it is time to find a new name that does not confuse your patrons.

2.5−3 stars
Cellar door
14 reserve chard
Citrus: lemon, butter. Tropical: pineapple. Creamy. 3.0
14 reserve assamblage white
Grapefruit. Yellow apples. Stone fruits: peaches. Yellow pears. Creamy texture. Vibrant acidity. Finishes a little hot. 2.5
13 semillon reserve
Tropical fruits: pineapple, mango. Hint of honey. Honey wax. Good acidity. Creamy texture. 3.0
12 Zinfandel
Ripe red fruits: cassis, chamboard, strawberries, raspberries. Mellow acidity, creamy texture. Spicy creamy texture. 2.5
13 Malbec reserve.
Primary and youthful
Black fruits: plums, blackberries, forest floor. Good acidity. Good finish 3.0
12 reserve captain joe petite sirah
Blackberries, plums, Blueberry pie. Forest floor, good acidity. Rich texture. Firm tannins. 3.0
2008 petite sirah
Black fruits: plums. Pencil shavings. Wet dog. Aging rapidly, but the tannins is still massive. Good acidity. 2.0

We’ve been members of a few wineries, and Concannon is the most utilized of them all. The biggest plus is the vineyard’s location — it’s half an hour away from our home, and the beautiful vineyards is a great place to have a picnic with our family and friends. They have a lot of winery events throughout the year, and we always do our best to catch their First Friday exclusive member events as well as the Fall and Spring wine releases.
While not our most favorite wines (that honor goes to Esterlina, a small winery in Mendocino), their wines are solid and holds well, particularly their reserve Petite Sirah selection. Their Cabs are also good — side note: did you know that 88% of Napa Cabs came from Cabernet Sauvignon clones from Concannon?
The staff are friendly and accommodating, even when the bar gets busy (which is often as this is a popular stop for tours and hangout for locals). There is also the Underdog Wine Bar on premises, as well as a little shop for snacks and quick bites — grab a few items along with your wine and you’re all set for a perfect picnic on their lawn!
One last note: this winery is very kid-​friendly — lots of families on the weekend enjoying a relaxing picnic with their young ones! That’s a plus for us!

PLASTIC CUP… A PLASTIC CUP!!!
Yes, if that caught your attention, keep reading! But no kidding, after purchasing a bottle of wine to drink outside on the lawn area. They gave us new «glasses» to take outside. I was thinking, ok sweet! So you can imagine the look on my face when she opened a bag of clear plastic dixie cups to enjoy this FINE WINE.
I wasn’t very impressed with Concannon. The winery is very popular and tons of people were there, but the service left much to be desired. For example, the tasting room staff was very uninformative and somewhat rude. The older lady who helped us told us NOTHING about the history of the winery, the types of wine, and any other interesting facts. She even acknowledged that the pinot noir was dry due to the grapes being very bad from that year.
I actually appreciated that one piece of information and honesty she provided. Because the rest of the time, she didn’t say much besides what she was pouring in our glass. Once she finished pouring, she would turn her back and never tried to engage in any conversation or try to teach us anything. Most tasting room staff are super passionate and excited about wine, so this lady’s personality was drier then the pinot we had.
The tasting is $ 10 and unlike most wineries, you don’t get a discount or that amount applied to the purchase of a wine bottle. The hostess has a very rude response to us when we asked (most likely because 90% of people ask her and 90% of wineries OFTEN DO DISCOUNT THE TASTING FEE). She told us that the wine is extremely limited and they cannot do that. I hardly consider 450 cases produced «extremely limited»…
Anyways, back to the plastic cup (and something positive lol)…the lawn area is super spacious and has tons of trees so you won’t be sitting in the sun. You can sit out there, pack a picnic and enjoy this premium extremely limited wine in your plastic dixie cup that they provide you :)
Overall, I feel that Concannon often gets the SUNDAY FUNDAY crowd or people who simply like to be «classy» by turning up with wine. The crowd here was definitely younger. So with that being said, I feel that they have an attitude towards younger people who they assume only come to get hammered. In reality, some of us young people actually do want to learn about the wine and enjoy it. I didn’t feel much warmth from the staff here.
2 stars for the beautiful venue, –3 for the bad service and sub-​par wine. Its only about 30 – 40 minute drive from San Jose, but it’s an easy pass… you can get definitely find a better wine tasting experience!

Beautiful vineyard! There’s a lawn area with tables and chairs where you can sit and have a picnic. Plenty of shades so don’t worry! There’s also a bar outside where you can purchase your wine bottles.
Great place for bridal showers or a birthday weekend with your friends. A must here is the pitcher of sangria! Try the white wine sangria and you’ll fall in love. It’s like juice!
Lots of parking so don’t worry. Also it has great scenery for pictures! Very picturesque!

One of my favorite wineries in Livermore. There’s a big outdoor area to hang out, drink, eat and catch up with your friends. The tasting room is worth it. It’s only 20 dollars per person. I really their Chardonnay better than their reds. I usually drink reds overall too. They have an indoor dining area and patio with lounge chairs. You need to make a reservation. It’s a great place to hang out with friends, relax or go on a romantic date!

As we usually go wine wasting in Napa; this was our first time wine tasting in Livermore, and we loved Concannon! It’s pretty laid back, and I even saw a few baby strollers?!
Joey, our pourer was great, and very informative during our tasting.
My favorite was the Reserve Petite Sirah, Captain Joe’s. It’s not listed on the tasting menu, but they tend to bring it out as the last tasting. We were told that most people leave without knowing there was an extra tasting. So make sure you wait or ask someone ;)

Thought I would give them another try, but yet again another dissapointing experience. I walk into the tasting room, no greeting of hello, or welcome… Service at the wine tasting room was very rude and unattentive, never a smile from the wine pourer (new name). The hostess at the Restaurant was rude didn’t wanna seat us outside until we slid her a $ 20 bill. Said there was no seating outside, when it looked very empty to me. All customer service was horrible, except for our lunch server TRAVIS! Although there were no plates or serving utensils or napkins when we were served our appetizers, we did have to request them! Other than that, HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE service, NOT FRIENDLY, WELCOMING OR PLEASANTLY SERVED!!! SOOO RUDE! Never recommending this Winery to ANYONE I KNOW!!! NEVER GOING BACK!!! On to the next Winery, WENTE anyone???
Thanks for NOTHING CONCANNON!!!

Love this winery.
Don’t get me wrong. I like kids.
But…i Wish they could take the kids out of the club room. Really… why should I have to pay for membership and have six kids running around like rug rats… a little ittating. There needs to be a limit to this and allow this but put the kids in the outside picnic area where the adults have a choice to be around children. This doesnt happen in Napa/​sonoma. Let’s accomade both at the very least!

Seeing as I’m not a wine connoisseur, I can’t really talk about the whole wine-​tasting experience at Concannon Vineyards. However, I did take a small trip here to help a friend out with a proposal and the place is very beautiful. The inside of the visitor center area is very well-​done and the person in charge of us was friendly and very nice, even if it was all planned out. I did get to go into a private wine-​tasting room with a long table which felt very secluded and classy.
Right outside the center, there’s a nice grassy picnic area and also a house to the side just situated in the middle of the vineyard. It’s a nice house to take pictures of and check out (thankfully no one lives there anymore). Other than that, I didn’t really get the full tour experience, but with my little preview of the service and atmosphere of the place itself, I’m sure it would’ve been a great tour.
4 for classy wine drinking with pinkies up.

The wines are good and it is beautiful hete. However, the service leaves much to be desired. It is pretentious inside. We were told the tasting fee up front. Most wineries wait until you are done tasting and try to sell you wine to waive the fees (which they do not do here) or try to sign you up for the club. Midway through our first taste the lady came around and made us pay the fee up front (tacky). Then when we asked about events that were posted she kind of blew us off (hello! We are members at 6 other wineries). All she really cared about was getting us signed up on yne email list. (which she quickly signed her name to the paper… she must get paid on sign –ups). No personalized experience and the tasting room employees just want to get you in and out. Too corporate of a feel for me.

Wow.
Of course I am a huge cab fan .
However here if you don’t try the Cab, Syrah and Merlot.
Shame on you!
They are all great!
Belly up to the bar with Chuck as your sommelier .
He is great and making the history of the particular wine a memorable experience.

Concannon Vinegard is huge. the front portion is Underdog, a bar and eats place. lots of walking in back areas. parked in undesignated area. long walk to barrel tasting. «events» parking is closer. not sure what qualifies as an «event»
event: LVBTW (3÷21÷15)
barrel tastes:
–malbu varietal, 2013
mild sweet flavor
–petit syrah
borderline, average taste
vine notes:
–food stand staffed by 4 time world pizza champion Ken Bryant…
all pizzas hand tossed. passed. too hot for pizza…
–Concannon is a really nice place, but too much walking…

What a great start to our wine tasting weekend. Suzanne the supervisor working poured our flights for us. She has a great sense of humor and is very knowledgeable of the Livermore wine community. Thanks Suzanne for kicking off our wine day right!
Oh shoot and almost fogot Stevie! Thank you too!

«Ancient reptiles are kept green
Over brick walls they are seen
Savor sips of white and red
Don’t let them go to your head
Let a gift fulfill a dream»
This was the fourth of a dozen clues that my beloved wife handed me on a milestone birthday a few years ago. We had just purchased three toys in Pleasanton as a result of her third clue, and we were an hour into an all-​day treasure hunt on a glorious sun-​kissed late fall Saturday, one that makes you thank your stars you live in the Bay Area.
One look at the clue and I headed straight to Concannon! The dinosaur topiary behind the walls is so distinctive the clue could not have been for any other winery.
When we got there, the place was packed with folks who were there for a Toys for Tots campaign — you had to donate three toys to get a free flight of wine. That explains the third clue, I thought to myself, glancing sideways at my beautiful wife, who was glowing as her carefully planned day unfolded before us.
We sat in the tasting room, «savoring sips of white and red,» and shared a small appetizer, before opening clue number 5 and heading off for the next leg of our adventure.

$ 10 for tasting 11 a.m. to 4:30 p. m
Private Tour & Tasting (minimum of 8 max 20 per tour). $ 20.
I have now found my new favorite Chardonnay! Thank you Concannon.
Concannon Vineyard is beautiful and the perfect place for a Pic Nic, it has an outdoor patio as well as a vast grassy area to set up a blanket plus it’s also child friendly.
My Girlfriend and I really enjoyed our visit here as along with the Wine tastings they also have a mini flea market type set up with local good being sold — Handmade Jewelry, Honey and even some Brownies that are paired with each Wine. The staff are also very knowledgeable and friendly and chatted with us while we tasted (and got rather tipsy) on all of the tastings.
If you’re on a tour of Livermore’s Wineries this is definitely a must visit.