Jim Concannon Receives Founders Award at PS I Love You's Annual Meeting

    SANTA ROSA, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Concannon, of Concannon
 Vineyard, was honored with a Founders Award by the members of PS I Love You
 (PSILY), the advocacy group for the Petite Sirah variety, at the group's
 Annual Meeting on August 8, 2007. The criteria for this award were quite
 rigorous:
     (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070813/AQM130)
 
     -- Growers must have been growing Petite Sirah from 1884, when it first
        arrived in the United States. The range for growers is from 1884 until
        1972.
     -- Producers must have been varietally labeling Petite Sirah between 1964
        and 1974, which is within the first 10 years of it being marketed as
        Petite Sirah.
     Within the PSILY group, Jim Concannon is broadly recognized as the
 father of Petite Sirah, since he was the first to varietally label it in
 1964 with a 1961 vintage. Jim's 2007 Founders Award is immediately
 following the 2007 California State Fair Lifetime Achievement Award which
 he, along with Jerry Lohr and Robert Gallo, received last month. Jim's
 outstanding achievement was recognized on the large jumbo TV in Times
 Square in late July, an honor that Jim found completely humbling, as he's
 so down to earth.
     According to Executive Director, Jo Diaz, "Our Founder's Awards are a
 very important way of honoring those passionate vintners, growers, and
 winemakers who have committed themselves to guaranteeing Petite Sirah's
 placement in California history, as a historical variety. Frankly, each
 member treats Petite as his or her 'Pet' project, as terrible as that pun
 may be. Jim's commitment to introducing the world to Petite Sirah is
 unsurpassed."
     According to Jim Concannon, "It's an honor to be so recognized on
 behalf of Petite Sirah. This recognition is very near and dear to me, as
 the first vintner to varietally label Petite Sirah." Jim continues, "Little
 did Denny Caldwell know, the Los Angeles retailer who suggested I label
 Petite Sirah and sell it as such, what the future would eventually hold.
 That was in 1964, and look where we are today."
     Media & Sample Contact: Jo Diaz
                        707-620-0788
          jo@diaz-communications.com
 
     High Resolution of Jim Concannon available upon request.
 
 

SOURCE Concannon Vineyard