James Concannon planted this Livermore vineyard in 1883 and later imported Petite Sirah cuttings that made the winery a foundational source for the variety in California. Concannon marked its 130th harvest in 2013 and still farms Livermore Valley fruit under the same family name.
Best for Petite Sirah, heritage vines, Livermore Valley history
Founded in 1883, Wente Vineyards describes itself as the oldest continuously operated, family-owned winery in the country, and is now led by fifth-generation members of the Wente family. The estate holds Certified Sustainable Vineyard and Winery status and offers cave tastings alongside its Livermore Valley wines.
Best for Chardonnay, cave tastings, estate history
Lanny and Fran Replogle founded Fenestra Winery in 1976, making it Livermore Valley's first boutique winery, then moved it in 1980 into the 1889 George True Winery building on Vallecitos Road. Winemaker Aaron Luna now works the century-old stone winery primarily with Livermore Valley grapes.
Best for Boutique blends, historic winery building
Jim and Ginger McGrail planted their Livermore vineyard in 1999 and opened its hillside tasting room in 2008, focusing the winery almost entirely on Cabernet Sauvignon. Their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was named best red wine at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and the 2012 vintage took gold there in 2016, both recorded on the winery's awards page.
Best for Cabernet Sauvignon, hillside tasting room views
Murrieta's Well crafts small-lot wines entirely from estate-grown grapes on a historic Livermore Valley property, matching each vineyard block's microclimate to a specific blend. Its tasting room pairs seated flights with a multi-course Terroir to Table dinner built around the same estate fruit.
Best for Estate blends, seated tastings, food pairing dinners
Olivina presses extra virgin olive oil from groves on the historic Olivina Ranch outside Livermore, a property with an olive-growing history reaching back to the 19th century. The company sells its oils directly rather than through a national grocery distributor.
Terry Carson and Nancy Frishberg bought a 182-acre ranch near Livermore in 2010 and began planting olive trees in 2013, now tending roughly 40 acres of maturing groves. Their extra virgin olive oil has won gold and silver medals at the New York International Olive Oil Competition, including a 2021 silver listed by the California Olive Oil Council.
Best for Extra virgin olive oil, small-batch pressing
Retzlaff Vineyards farms its South Livermore Avenue estate organically, one of the few Livermore Valley properties built around organic viticulture rather than conventional spraying. The family-run winery produces its wine on-site from grapes grown on that same land.
Steven Kent Mirassou, sixth generation of the Mirassou winemaking family, sources fruit from six named Livermore Valley vineyards, including Ghielmetti and Home Ranch Estate, for his Cabernet-focused label. A sister label, L'Autre Côte, is built specifically around the estate's Cabernet Franc.
Best for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, tasting salon