The Future Of O’rourke Family Estate
O’Rourke Family Estate is the latest project from visionary Dennis O’Rourke. It took what he began in 2009, with great success at O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars in Lake Country, and expands it in the most spectacular way possible. This new flagship winery combines a world class winery with accommodation and event space, all built into the side of a scenic mountainside overlooking Okanagan Lake.
O’Rourke has a long term connection with Predator Ridge Golf Course since its infancy. His company, Sureway Construction Group Ltd., constructed many of the stacked rock retaining walls at the resort when it was first being built as a residential development in the early days.
“Since the 1970’s, he has owned a large property in the Carr’s Landing area. Living there and seeing this project evolve, he had a role in Predator Ridge from that starting point in terms of the development and the construction,” said Pelletier, who was running the large sports marketing company IMG when he first met O’Rourke. “We hosted the Skins Game in 2000 at Predator Ridge and we organized Sergio Garcia to stay at his place, and Dennis has been a member at Predator Ridge pretty much since day one so he is really closely aligned with this project.”
To get to the story of O’Rourke Family Estate, you have to start at the beginning, with Peak Cellars, which is well-known for its seven-acre Goldie Road Vineyard overlooking Okanagan Lake.
A visit to Peak’s tasting room invites guests to sip award-winning wines from head winemaker Stephanie Stanley including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. While enjoying your tasting in their beautiful tasting room, you’ll notice the amazing view from the dining room and the patios. Here you can enjoy a delicious lunch or dinner with menus featuring everything from handcrafted pizza, baked in their outdoor Forno pizza oven, to mushroom gnocchi or luscious beef tenderloin. Thanks to the talents of award-winning chef de cuisine Scott Geiring, rest assured you’ll enjoy a wonderful meal in a relaxed environment. With full-time gardeners and two greenhouses on site, the entire bistro operation is truly farm to table with daily fresh ingredients.
If you’re looking for the perfect wedding spot, considering say your “I do’s” under the covered pergola built from 120-year-old timber. O’Rourke doesn’t do anything small, so you’ll notice a heli pad for public use. It’s popular and provides O’Rourke and his winery guests access to use an alternate mode of transportation. It’s a short flight over to the four-diamond luxury resort Sparkling Hills just north of Predator.
O’Rourke affectionately refers to Peak Cellars as his “beginner winery”. He claims he doesn’t know anything about wine. “I drink the stuff, but I love building things — this is nice but the other one is much better.”
The “other one” is O’Rourke Family Estate. A 12-minute drive away from Predator Ridge along Commonage Road.
Designed by a renowned San Francisco-based architect Howard Backen, O’Rourke Family Estate sits on 300 acres offering panoramic and sweeping views of the vineyards, surrounding orchards and Okanagan Lake.
The property features 110 acres of vines, 300 metres of winding tunnels and 12,000 square feet of caves that are the perfect temperature for storing and aging the wines. The estate-grown portfolio includes Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Rosé, Chardonnay, Gruner Veltliner and Pinot Noir.
Two years ago, the first crush of Pinot Noir grapes was done up at O’Rourke Family Estate, under the direction of head winemaker Nikki Callaway. Guests can gaze down on the crush pad from a viewing deck and get a better understanding of the process that goes into making these world-class wines, all of which are aged in French oak barrels. In addition to the winery’s award-winning Pinot Noir, O’Rourke is making a name in the sparkling wine business with close to 18,000 cases bottled last spring.
The driveway leading to the winery does little to reveal the surprise that awaits. Enter the gates, and arrive at the unexpected. The magnificence of O’Rourke Family Estate truly has to be seen to be believed. Natural elements including stone, soil, rock, glass, sand, mahogany and ebony are used in abundance. With its vast, modern buildings overlooking Okanagan Lake, O’Rourke Family Estate is much more than a winery. It offers options including an amphitheatre, indoor theatre, multiple decks, restaurant and underground caves.
Lake Country’s Scenic Sip Wine route, with eight wineries now has the addition of another world-class winery.
The opening date for O’Rourke Family Estate is something of a moving target as the winery is still under construction but wine is being made and stored, fundraising events have been held, and meeting space is in use upstairs.
O’Rourke sees his flagship winery as something he is building for future generations, and one that is constantly evolving.
“This thing is probably being built for 25 years from now — it’s not being built for today,” he said. “You can see why it’s hard to explain to anybody — it has to be seen. You’ll see a lot of difference in the next coming years.”
Uncorked Okanagan Wine Tours is excited to bring our guests this experience in the future! Stay tuned…
