Concannon Vineyard is the second-largest winery

Winery

A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...

 in the Livermore Valley

Livermore Valley

The Livermore Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Alameda County, California, surrounding the city of Livermore in the Tri-Valley region. Both the AVA and the city are named after Robert Livermore, a landowner whose holdings encompassed the valley. The groundwater basin underlying the...

 of California, producing around 30,000 cases annually. It is well known for its Petite Sirah and Concannon was the first winery to bottle this grape as a varietal

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

 wine in 1961. It also produces several other varieties of wine, including Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

. Concannon is owned by The Wine Group

The Wine Group

The Wine Group, known for its Franzia "wine in a box," is the United State's third-largest wine company, by volume, behind Constellation Brands and the E&J Gallo Winery. The company was founded in 1981 with a management buyout of the wine assets of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New York...

.

Concannon was founded in 1883 by James Concannon of Inishmore, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

. Its success in producing and selling sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

al or altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

 wine for the Roman Catholic Church helped it to survive national Prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

. Grape cuttings from this vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

 were introduced to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 between 1889 and 1904 for the improvement of its commercial viticulture

Viticulture

Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...

. As such, the vineyard has been designated a California Historical Landmark

California Historical Landmark

California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...

(#641).