Concannon Vineyard Releases New Founders' Tier While Celebrating 50 Years of Concannon Cabernet Clones 7, 8 and 11

LIVERMORE, Calif., March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Concannon Vineyard, established in 1883 and America's oldest, ongoing winery under the same family label and stewardship, has released a new tier of wine while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Concannon Cabernet Sauvignon Clones 7, 8 and 11.

The Founders' Tier, which celebrates the visionary spirit and significant contributions of Concannon's founder and the generations that followed, includes a Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon, Monterey County Chardonnay and San Francisco Bay Petite Sirah.

The release comes 50 years after the introduction of Concannon Cabernet Clones 7, 8 and 11. The Concannon Clones resulted from the collaborative work in 1965 between third generation vintner Jim Concannon and UC Davis in preparing and selecting for heat treatment cuttings propagated from a single Cabernet Sauvignon vine that winery founder James Concannon had imported from Château Margaux in 1893.

Consistently producing high yields and superior quality fruit, the Concannon Clones have played a key role in helping California Cabernet achieve international recognition. Currently, an estimated 80% of California's 80,000 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon are planted to the Concannon clones. The vineyard block and Mother Vine from which the cuttings originated still exist and produce fruit for Concannon's Mother Vine Cabernet Sauvignon to this day.

"The Concannon Clones represent a truly amazing story of generations of family reaching across time who together ended up making an extraordinary contribution to the California and American wine industry," says fourth generation vintner John Concannon. "I'm honored and excited to introduce the Founders' Tier to celebrate the pioneering spirit and unconventional wisdom of the generations that came before me."

The Founders' Tier, which includes the 2013 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon, 2013 Monterey County Chardonnay and 2013 San Francisco Bay Petite Sirah, is available in on-premise venues nationwide starting this month as well as at Concannon Vineyard's tasting room, SRP $20.

For more information about Concannon Vineyard's legacy and Cabernet history, photos or samples, please contact Stephen Schmitz at [email protected].

About Concannon Vineyard

Located in the historic Livermore Valley, Concannon Vineyard is America's oldest, ongoing winery under the same family label and stewardship.  In 1883, James Concannon established the first successful winery founded by an Irish immigrant and established Concannon as a founding family of the California wine industry.  Concannon's four generations have made many pioneering contributions to the American wine industry, including the renowned Concannon Cabernet Clones 7, 8 and 11 and "America's First Petite Sirah," the first bottling of Petite Sirah as a varietal wine. For more information about Concannon Vineyard, please visit www.concannonvineyard.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150309/180529

SOURCE Concannon Vineyard

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