{"id":541,"date":"2017-09-02T07:16:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T14:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lvwine.org\/blog\/?p=541"},"modified":"2017-09-02T07:16:38","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T14:16:38","slug":"livermore-valley-pioneer-chardonnay-cabernet-sauvignon-petite-sirah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lvwine.org\/blog\/livermore-valley-pioneer-chardonnay-cabernet-sauvignon-petite-sirah\/","title":{"rendered":"Livermore Valley: Pioneer of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon &#038; Petite Sirah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that Livermore Valley is one of the oldest wine regions in California? \u00a0To kick off California Wine Month, let&#8217;s take a look into the history of the valley and how some of your favorite varietals came to the United States. \u00a0Impress your friends with you knowledge at your next get together!<\/p>\n<p>Vineyard growth began in the region in 1882 when\u00a0Charles Wetmore, Secretary of the California\u00a0Viticultural Commission, opened his Cresta\u00a0Blanca Winery in Livermore. He\u00a0recognized the valley\u2019s terroir as\u00a0strikingly similar to the premier\u00a0vineyards of the Bordeaux region.\u00a0In 1889, Wetmore\u2019s Livermore Valley\u00a0dry white wine won the Grand Prix\u00a0at the International Paris Exposition,<br \/>\nbecoming the first California wine to win a competition\u00a0in France.<\/p>\n<p>Two other viticulture pioneers, Carl H. Wente and James Concannon,\u00a0also purchased prime acreage in Livermore Valley. Wente Vineyards and\u00a0Concannon Vineyard were established in 1883 and both have become\u00a0trailblazers in the California wine industry.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wente Vineyards is recognized as the pioneer of California\u00a0Chardonnay. With fruit from the 1936 vintage, Wente released\u00a0the nation\u2019s first bottling with the varietal name Chardonnay\u00a0printed on the label. Currently, Chardonnay is the number\u00a0one white wine grape in California with over 100,000 acres\u00a0planted\u2014the majority is either Wente Clone 4 or another of\u00a0the Wente Chardonnay Clones.<\/li>\n<li>Concannon Vineyard is recognized as the pioneer of California\u00a0Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. In 1961, Concannon\u00a0introduced America\u2019s first varietally labeled Petite Sirah.\u00a0Concannon Cabernet Clones 7, 8 and 11 helped California\u00a0Cabernet achieve international recognition and are the most\u00a0widely planted Cabernet clones in the state &#8211; 80 percent of\u00a0the 80,000 acres of Cabernet in California can be traced to a\u00a0Concannon clone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the last 30 years, there have been important changes in the\u00a0Livermore Valley that have added a new dimension to the history of\u00a0the region.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A modern read of the topography has shown a change in\u00a0the planting of vineyards\u2014growers are moving beyond\u00a0traditional sites on the valley floor and the rolling hills that\u00a0ring the valley.<\/li>\n<li>New irrigation technology has made it possible to\u00a0nurture vines in hillside locations that were previously\u00a0difficult to cultivate.<\/li>\n<li>Growers and winemakers have begun to work with new\u00a0grape varieties such as Tempranillo from Spain, Barbera\u00a0from Italy and Touriga from Portugal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Attracted to the rich winemaking tradition, unique geography,\u00a0soils and climate, new winemakers and vineyardists are working\u00a0alongside fifth generation winegrowers to create a Livermore Valley<br \/>\nwine renaissance. The region now has more than 50 wineries, varying\u00a0from limited release, 500-case labors of love to 400,000-case industry\u00a0leaders. The future of Livermore Valley is bright\u2014as promising as\u00a0it was when the first growers settled the region in the early days of\u00a0California\u2019s winemaking history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that Livermore Valley is one of the oldest wine regions in California? \u00a0To kick off California Wine Month, let&#8217;s take a look into the history of the valley and how some of your favorite varietals came to the United States. \u00a0Impress your friends with you knowledge at your next get together! Vineyard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Livermore Valley: Pioneer of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon &amp; Petite Sirah - Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lvwine.org\/blog\/livermore-valley-pioneer-chardonnay-cabernet-sauvignon-petite-sirah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Livermore Valley: Pioneer of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon &amp; Petite Sirah - Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did you know that Livermore Valley is one of the oldest wine regions in California? \u00a0To kick off California Wine Month, let&#8217;s take a look into the history of the valley and how some of your favorite varietals came to the United States. \u00a0Impress your friends with you knowledge at your next get together! 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