"We recognized a couple of years ago that we could not run Cuda Ridge indefinitely and began exploring options to continue the winery's legacy," Larry Dino said in May. He was announcing that he and his wife Margie had sold the winery they founded 19 years earlier at 2400 Arroyo Road to Lemmons Family Vineyards, which also owns Concannon. One sale set off a chain of moves. By the time TASTE: The Livermore Valley Wine Experience begins on October 15, two wineries will have poured from that Arroyo Road room within a single year. Two older Livermore spaces will also have reopened under new owners.

Livermore wine country has a long list of new things to try this fall. Almost none of them needed a new building. They're in rooms and caves you may already have visited, with different wine in the glass.

The Arroyo Road Room, Twice in One Year

Here's how the moves played out in 2026:

1. May: Lemmons Family Vineyards, led by Tom and Paige Lemmons, announced it had bought Cuda Ridge Wines. Larry Dino stayed on to help with winemaking, working alongside Concannon winemaker Brett Fikse.
2. August 1: The announced date for the Cuda Ridge tasting room to move from Arroyo Road to the Concannon estate at 4590 Tesla Road. Cuda Ridge's booking page now lists the Concannon estate as its home.
3. Late September: Cellar 13 opened its first tasting room in the former Cuda Ridge space and celebrated by hosting the Livermore Valley Wine Wednesday event.

Cellar 13 has an unusually close tie to the room it moved into. Co-owner Darin Winton retired from a Tri-Valley water district, took enology classes, and assisted winemakers at 3 Steves Winery, Occasio Winery, and Cuda Ridge itself. He and his fiancée, co-owner Gail Henderson, have made wine since 2017. Before this room opened, they poured at Swirl on the Square downtown and at winemaker dinners. Henderson runs the business side. The two own Cellar 13 together, and Livermore Vine described it as minority- and woman-owned. Winton's mother is half-Cherokee, and the labels on his Bordeaux blends reflect that heritage.

The building looks different now. It has a renovated main room with contemporary decor and a refreshed, expansive patio. Cellar 13 offers just one tasting: two whites, two reds, and a bonus pour for $20. The winery's site says the fee is waived when you buy two bottles. It lists hours of noon to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Reservations are recommended but not required, and you can make one by calling 925-495-1494. The September Livermore Vine story said weekends only, so check the site before you go on a Thursday. Comedy shows and live music on the patio are planned for spring.

Following Cuda Ridge Up Tesla Road

At Concannon, Cuda Ridge didn't build a new room either. Its tasting room took over the former Concannon wine club space across the courtyard from the main tasting entrance. Longtime Cuda Ridge customers may see familiar decor from Arroyo Road, possibly including photos of Dino's 1970 Plum Crazy Purple Plymouth Barracuda, the car behind the winery's name.

The new location is open every day, but the hours are shorter than on Arroyo Road. It runs 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. A seated tasting costs $25 per person, and up to four members of the Cuda Cadre Club taste free. A seasonal Pavilion tasting runs Friday through Sunday, also $25, with food pairings available.

The rest of the Concannon estate has been reworked within its existing footprint, too. Tom and Paige Lemmons bought the property from The Wine Group in November 2024. Darcie and David Kent were part of the original ownership announcement. They had planned to leave on July 31 but left in March, and the Lemmons family now runs Concannon on its own. Here's what visitors will find:

• Event center: The Vineyard Ballroom, the Bubbles Lounge, and a Barrel Room with two 70-year-old upright French casks, plus an outdoor Olive Grove with an altar and a covered bar.
• The Late Pour Comedy Night: A monthly show in the Members' Estate Room, which used to house the Underdog Lounge before it closed in 2017. Livermore Vine reported that the shows have consistently sold out.
• Twilight Tunes: Thursday evenings with rotating musicians, wine, and food trucks.
• Pedego e-bikes: A locally owned rental shop behind the tasting room building. The tasting after your ride is booked separately.

Some plans are still on the calendar rather than open. Tastings in the historic Victorian are set for spring 2027. Lemmons described a possible Livermore Valley Wine Center, with a specialty sandwich shop and a butcher shop, and a target of starting to open in late 2027 or early 2028.

Shanti Moved Into the Former Steven Kent Space

Farther down Tesla Road, Shanti Winery followed the same approach. Ray and Dimple Sharma, who live in San Ramon, bought the 8-acre Home Ranch in Livermore in 2024 and renovated the former Steven Kent Winery space. They opened their second Shanti tasting room there in April. The address is 5443 Tesla Road.

Shanti started in Napa in 2012. The Sharmas later closed their Napa tasting room and moved toward Livermore after East Bay customers kept asking for something closer. Ray Sharma said they expect to begin making wine on site in about a year, using Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, and Sangiovese from the estate vineyard.

The tastings have three tiers. Peace is three whites, Harmony mixes whites and reds, and Joy is all reds. Dimple Sharma, who serves as assistant winemaker, said guests have no time limit once their reservation starts. Livermore teachers lead monthly yoga classes, the monthly comedy shows regularly sell out, and classical Indian music nights may be added. The reservation page lists hours of 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the last reservation at 4 p.m. You can book online or by calling 925-552-8000.

Wente Reopened Its Caves

Wente's news this fall is the oldest space on this list. The caves on its Tesla Road estate were dug by hand more than a century ago to keep wine cool before air conditioning existed. They closed to the public during the pandemic. In September, Wente began pairing cave tours with tastings of Cresta Blanca, a label it has revived.

The name has history here. Charles Wetmore founded Cresta Blanca on the property in 1882, and its 1884 dry white won the grand prize at the 1889 Paris Exposition. The Wente family bought the property in 1981. The tasting features three wines: the 2024 Cresta Blanca Chardonnay at $38, the 2025 Sauvignon Blanc at $35, and the Blanc de Blanc sparkling at $40. One corridor is becoming a museum of old machinery found around the vineyards, and the winery is still working out how some of those machines worked.

"There are 50 wineries in Livermore, all family-owned. So you can make a whole day just coming to Livermore." Brendan Finley, vice president of hospitality, Wente Family Vineyards

Wente's tasting room at 5565 Tesla Road is open noon to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and noon to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Cave tours require a reservation.

Where These Rooms Show Up During TASTE

TASTE runs Thursday, October 15, through Sunday, October 18. This is its fourth year, and 25 Livermore Valley wineries are pouring. Shanti and Cellar 13 are both taking part for the first time. Most of the program takes place in the same rebuilt spaces covered above. The table shows ticket status on the Livermore Valley Wine Community ticket page as of October 3. Any event still on sale could sell out before the weekend.

Two more events were sold out as of October 3: A Taste of Stories on Friday and Sips & Sourdough on Sunday morning.

Cellar 13 appears in three places during the weekend. On Thursday, it pairs its wines with food from Oasis Restaurant at Taste Our Terroir. On Friday, it pours a new Cabernet Sauvignon at McGrail. On Sunday, Winton teams up with Las Positas Vineyards winemaker Brett Amos to show how grapes from the same vineyard can become two very different white wines. At Shanti, the Sharmas will host their first grape stomp. Dimple Sharma described it as feet "turning grape-purple in a cut-off wine barrel," followed by wine with charcuterie and chocolate.

If you'd rather skip ticketed events, the regular tasting rooms work as a short self-guided loop. You could start at Cellar 13 on Arroyo Road, then head out Tesla Road to Wente for a cave tour. From there, continue to Concannon for Cuda Ridge's seated tasting and finish at Shanti before its 4 p.m. last reservation.

Every place on that route reused a space that was already there, and a few of those spaces have changed in ways a Tri-Valley homeowner may notice. Our team at Connections Real Estate Team follows these changes because local businesses are part of how we understand Livermore. If you'd like to talk about a property near the wine country end of town, Start the Conversation with us.