US winemakers Lemmons Family Vineyards (LFV) and Darcie Kent Winery (DKW) have acquired local peer Concannon Vineyard from The Wine Group for an undisclosed sum.
The joint buyers and the acquired company, all family businesses, are based in Livermore, California.
LFV has acquired Concannon’s 230-acre estate vineyards and wine production assets while Almost Famous Wine Company (AFW) has acquired the Concannon brand and hospitality business.
AFW, founded in 2020, is fully owned by DKW but CEO David Kent told Just Drinks it was “a joint effort between the Lemmons and Kent families”.
AFW will relocate to the former headquarters of The Wine Group by mid-2025 and “state-of-the-art equipment to produce and bottle ultra-premium sparkling wine” will be installed.
Concannon Vineyard, which dates back to 1883, has been owned by The Wine Group, one of the largest wine suppliers in the US by annual revenue, since 2004.
Commenting on its disposal, John Sutton, CEO of The Wine Group, said: “The sale of Concannon supports The Wine Group’s continuous focus on aligning our portfolio to our long-term goals.”
Outlining future plans for Concannon, Tom and Paige Lemmons, owners of LFV said: “We will be phasing out the international bottling operations and concentrate on re-planting the vineyards to the historic grape varietals, such as Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, that made Livermore famous in the 1880s without losing sight of Concannon’s pioneering efforts with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah.
“We will bring back organic farming techniques and hope to repurpose the 60,000 square foot bottling pavilion as the long-awaited Livermore Valley Wine Country Center to provide high quality maker space for small family wineries and the visitor-attracting amenities that were envisioned when the Agricultural Preserve was created in 1991 but are still missing.”
Post-deal David and Darcie Kent, owners of DKW, will head up winery operations at Concannon.
David Kent told Just Drinks DKW will operate all three wineries and focus on AFW's “growing brand portfolio” as well as its own.
He added: “Together, we will employ the Concannon assets to grow annual case production across all brands from its current 30,000 nine litre case level to 100,000 nine litre cases.”
In a joint statement, David and Darcie Kent said: “We want to thank The Wine Group for their beautiful restoration of the historic redwood winery that will enable us to build on their success. The Concannon hospitality team has been retained and it is our goal to ensure that what guests loved about the Concannon tasting room experience will be preserved under new ownership.”
