David O’Reilly of Owen Roe Winery
The O’Reilly family settled in a remote part of British Columbia during the 1970s. The area was a quiet, peaceful contrast to the violent Time of Troubles in Belfast that prompted the family to pull up roots there and head for North America. David was 13 when they emigrated, and he likened the family’s new Canadian home to his grandparents’ rural lands in County Cavan, Ireland that he loved to visit. This love of bucolic settings stayed with him, playing a large part in his pursuing a career in viticulture and enology after graduating from Thomas Aquinas College in California. After working in several wineries in California and Oregon, David and his wife Angelica started Owen Roe Winery in 1999 in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Given David’s Irish roots, it’s no wonder that he named the winery after a 17th-century Irish patriot from whom he is descended. Irish ruins, history and lore are evident on many Owen Roe wine labels.
Owen Roe was a man of high principles, and there are several principles embodied by Owen Roe Winery. One is that wine is about place, in this case two places: the Willamette and Yakima Valley AVAs. All grapes for Owen Roe wines come from these two AVAs, and there has never been a tasting room outside the two valleys. A second principle is loyalty to and respect for growers, to the point that the winery created a special label called Grower’s Guild. Owen Roe Winery is also committed to the idea that wine is about story, and there are riveting stories behind many of the wines and labels. Finally, Owen Roe has always exhibited meticulous attention to detail, whether in grape growing, wine making or label design. The result is that the winery offers visitors authentic wine experiences, many entertaining stories, and a diverse array of excellent premium and everyday-drinking wines.
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