Concannon Vineyards & Winery
2016 Cuda Ridge Wines Reserve Malbec – An Abundant Wine By Any Standard
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Malbec has always been one of my favorite varietals. While having had Cuda Ridge Wines regular Malbec which is excellent, more recently tasted a Cuda Ridge Wines Reserve Malbec. Purchased a few bottles of 2016 and my reaction was one of portentous joy how solid this exalted quality of this wine tasted!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine, when poured into the glass, possessed a dark royal purple coloring that was radiant. With a medium-heavy viscosity. On the nose, aromas of black fruits and earthiness wafted into the senses begging to be tasted. Once on the palate, this sublime wine bursts forth with blackberries, plum as the main fruits. Followed with exotic spices of anise, cloves and a touch of cinnamon. Finally, the finish provided with black pepper, hints of dark roasted coffee, smokiness and dry earthiness provide a long-lasting and enjoyable conclusion. A flashback to being smokey and rugged, yet this wine vacillating with a pedigree of silkiness and cragginess with its lovely tannins. A full and well-developed wine.
This is 100% Malbec coming from the White Cat Vineyard in Livermore. The wine is aged in Pennsylvanian American oak, with 50% being new and 50% neutral. The wine comes in at 14.7% alcohol and was sold at $60/bottle. It was aged in barrel for 30 months.
The current release is 2022 and sells for $60/bottle.
This wine most definitely will make my annual list of Best Wines tasted in 2026.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Dinner with this wine was a 24-hour marinated flank steak. The flank steak was tenderized and marinated 24 hours with the following only: Chaka sauce and Flatiron Barbeque Rub. It then was placed on the infrared ceramic burner at 1500 degrees for about 3 minutes a side. The steak was so tender, turning it over on the searing element, it started to fall apart! Accompanying the meal was a exquisite fresh salad with crumbled Blue cheese, bacon, green onions, halved cherry tomatoes and topped with Blue cheese dressing.
The Malbec with its fruit surrounded each bite of meat. A delicious and matched food /wine pairing.
The Winery
Photo from Cuda Ridge
In July, Cuda Ridge Wines was acquired by the Lemmon Family Vineyard and since August 1st, 2026 now resides with their own tasting room at Concannon Vineyard and Winery location in Livermore at 4590 Tesla Road. Larry Dino continues to make the wine at Concannon. For a complete story on the acquisition and their new beginnings see a previously published story with details at:
This will only bring new opportunities and creativity to the Cuda Ridge Wines portfolio with the vision that Tom Lemmons has for the vineyard and winery. More information is available here:
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
https://www.CudaRidgeWines.com
Concannon Vineyards & Winery – A Grand Vision for Growth by Tom Lemmons
Photo of Concannon Vineyard
On a recent visit to northern California, I was asked to visit Concannon Vineyards & Winery for several reasons. One of the reasons is that they recently acquired Cuda Ridge Wines and the other is that Harrison Miller, their DTC Marketing & eCommerce Manager, had requested that I stop by on my next visit.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The meeting was set up with Tom Lemmons, the CEO of Concannon Vineyards & Winery, Larry Dino, the winemaker of Cuda Ridge Wines, Kevin Baskin, VP of Lemmon Family Vineyards & Concannon Vineyard and Harrison Miller. After a brief introduction to Tom & Kevin, we embarked on a golf cart tour of the facility. Tom took over the facility in from The Wine Group.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Wine Group previously expanded and used Concannon site to do many things beyond Concannon production. For example, The Wine Group was bottling around 34,000 cases per day on two of their fully automated bottling lines. This allowed them to bottle 25 million cases a year. These lines are still “in place” but have been decommissioned for they are far beyond the current Concannon and Cuda Ridge production levels.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Currently they are expecting around 30,000+ cases to be produced in 2026. This includes a wide range of wines. The current varietals being produced are Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Sémillon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, Viognier, Zinfandel, Syrah Mourvèdre and Grenache Noir. There are so many additional creative blends, far too many to list, and would direct you to their website. Today the total acres under vine is 136 and the potential is around 232 total acres.
Along the drive around the property, various stops were made to where they have cleared the land for a new Olive Grove Lawn area opening in Spring of 2027. This will be a large area for wedding ceremonies and private parties. Adjacent and already built are office spaces for winemaking staff, lab area and a few private rooms that could accommodate weddings or small corporate events.
Tom’s vision is at times breathtaking as he has a myriad of ideas and wants them all implemented as soon as possible. He is a visionary not just for Concannon but for Livermore in general. His goals include specialty stores, a boutique hotel and even perhaps another wine brand on the property. With additional space Harrison mentioned ideas like aroma therapy and mindful movement yoga. Tom wants Concannon to be a focal point for the Livermore Wine community as well as growing their wine business. They have already implemented on site a Pedego Electric bike rental which one can easily meander via bike paths to other wineries and downtown restaurants.
Photo by Concannon Vineyard
One of the more interesting projects is the inside remodeling of the Victorian House founded by James Concannon in 1883 and is a California Historical Landmark #641. Leaving the exterior in its pristine condition, Tom has embarked on hiring wood working craftsmen to upgrade the interior. What I saw will leave you speechless with the intricate woodworking designs. Kevin and Tom have a few other “special ideas” they are also implementing but will let them divulge when appropriate.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
To increase production, the team is in discussions with regional and national wholesale distribution to broaden their status beyond a 100% DTC winery.
Back to the tour seeing their interior barrel room which is beautifully decorated in wood and can be rented for various events.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The amount of land both under vine and acres just recently replanted is astonishing as viewed in this picture.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
One of the more interesting rooms was viewing their state-of-the-art laboratory. Winemaker Brett Fikse has at his disposal just about all the tools needed for in-house information on the development of each batch of grapes and wine. This includes almost everything that is needed to be measured without any wet chemistry or manual titrating. Here is just some of the equipment:
- GC gas chromatography machine
- A spectrophotometer for wine color determination and measuring phenolic compounds
- An automatic alkalizer and density meter
- A Chemwell automated lab analyzer to run enzymatic tests for residual sugars, volatile acidity, malic acid, etc
- An Oenofoss for rapid analysis using infrared spectroscopy
- A turbidity meter to measure the wine’s clarity or cloudiness
Photo ©Michael Kelly
At the conclusion of the tour we settled back at the Historic Wine Library and tasted a few of the Concannon wines and Cuda Ridge Wines.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
We started out with the 2024 Chardonnay Reserve that frankly was spectacular and tasty. I have for years purchased a lot of Livermore Chardonnay and this is one of the best! Aromas and flavors of honey suckle blossoms, caramel and stone fruit blend together to provide a gentle buttery and brioche finish. This wine won Best of Class at the 2026 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and Vine Pair awarded it 93 points. This wine is listed at $45/bottle.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Following the Chardonnay was their 2025 Cabernet Franc Blanc in keeping Livermore Valley focused on Cabernet Franc. This wine provided the nose and refreshment of a light Cabernet Franc with the juices providing a peach dimension. Aged in stainless steel for three months and coming in at 13.5% for a great summer treat. Priced at $35/bottle and rated at 93 points by Wine Enthusiast.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
We then switched our attention to the red wine offerings starting off with the 2021 Concannon Cabernet Sauvignon (74%) and Cabernet Franc (26%) blend. When you can combine two strong wines and produce one of the smoothest wines you have discovered the recipe! Combining Cabernet Franc’s herbaceous quality and the fruit medley of Cabernet Sauvignon it was close to being heaven sent. Blueberries and blackberries swirled merrily on the palate with excitement. An excellent wine at $55/bottle. The current release is the 2022 vintage and is listed at $50/bottle.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Next up was an opportunity to compare two excellent Cabernet Sauvignon wines side by side. The first being a Cuda Ridge Wines Black Label with French & American oak treatment that was strong and with present and appropriate edgy tannins perfect for a juicy ribeye steak. This wine goes for $45. The second wine is called the Mother Vine named for their 1893 vine still located on the property. This is root stock of 7,8 and 11 and used in Chateau Margaux. An extremely silky-smooth Cabernet Sauvignon on the finish. $55/bottle
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Here is the picture of Mother Vine on the property that is planted on the estate.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
All these wines received my ratings as the Best Wines Tasted in 2026! It was amazing that these wines rated so highly at one sitting, which seldom happens. Only 2-3% of all the 1800-2000 wines I taste yearly make my annual Best Wines Tasted list.
The last wine tasted was the 2023 Captain Joe’s Petite Sirah made with 100% Petite Sirah estate grapes. Dark and brooding with black fruit and plum flavors. A “masculine wine” with strong tannins and a “feminine side” finish with baking spices and vanilla. The 2023 is the current vintage and aged 16 months in both American and French oak. The wine is listed at $50/bottle with 14% alcohol.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This concluded the tasting portion of the visit with Larry and Harrison.
It has been some time since I had tasted several of the Concannon wines and appreciated the opportunity to taste some of these exciting wines.
If you should be in Livermore Valley tasting, which there are many solid wineries, Concannon should be on your list to visit. Today with their existing facilities and tomorrow with Tom’s vision, this can only get better.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
Cuda Ridge Wines Acquired by Lemmon Family / Concannon – What does it mean?
Photo from Concannon Vineyards
Larry, Margie and daughter Megan with the purple Barracuda in front of the California Historical Landmark No.641 founded by James Concannon in 1883 on the Concannon Vineyard.
Cuda Ridge Wines was founded in 2007 by Larry and Margie Dino. They announced the move of Cuda Ridge Wines from Arroyo Road in Livermore moving August 1st to Concannon Vineyards and Winery at 4590 Tesla Road in Livermore and a few questions have been asked?
When entering Concannon Winery’s courtyard off to the right is Cuda Ridge Wines indoor tasting room. Photo from Larry Dino
First what will happen to Cuda Ridge Wines label. In a nutshell, nothing bad and only good will prevail. Cuda Ridge Wines will continue with their label and have a separate tasting room at Concannon. They also will have a designated area in the lawn pavilion, one side for Concannon wines and one for Cuda Ridge Wines.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Margie Dino has completed transforming a beautiful space at Concannon Winery to make a cozy, warm and friendly indoor tasting bar and room. Kevin Baskin, VP at Concannon, I know worked quickly and long hours in getting the room ready by August 1st.
Photo from Larry Dino
With Larry’s Cuda Ridge Wines being acquired by Lemmon Family/Concannon will he still be doing Bordeaux style wines? The simple answer is yes and even more wines are planned. Larry will continue to be the consulting winemaker for all his product portfolio as well as consult, if necessary, with Concannon’s winemaker Brett Fiske.
The benefits of being co-located with Concannon are immense:
- Concannon’s wine club members will now be able to taste Cuda Ridge Wines at the same location and vice-a-versa.
- Cuda Ridge Wines will be able to use Concannon’s state-of-the-art laboratory on site without sending it off to a lab.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
- Cuda Ridge Wines can leverage mobile bottling line production now and fully automated system down the road, increase barrel storage area, etc.
- Cuda Ridge Wines will also have access to many new winery machines such as a newly installed press that can handle up to 17 tons and cold storage of the juice automatically! This new press is not a typical bladder press but a wire mesh with the juice being captured and refrigerated immediately.
Photo from Larry Dino
- Cuda Ridge Wines will continue to be a small boutique and artisan winery producing wines of distinction and award-winning quality.
Photo from Larry Dino
- Cuda Ridge Wines will be able to leverage Concannon’s resources for marketing (Harrison Miller) and production personnel.
- Without going into a lot of detail in this story, but in a subsequent story, Concannon has a vision for what Concannon Winery will become and Cuda Ridge Wines will hop on the train with events, wedding venue, special events, etc.
- Concannon and Cuda Ridge Wines, as production grows, are in active discussion with distribution partners to increase their market presence.
If there was a picture of everything coming up roses, it would be a picture of Cuda Ridge Wines finding its new, creative and innovative home at Concannon Vineyards.
More on Concannon Vineyards vision and plans in an upcoming story.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly