Quick Conversations in Wine Lyndsay O’Rourke Tightrope Winery

The Vancouver International Wine Festival is on and we’ve interviewed a few of the attendees. Good Wine Gal’s Barb Wild and I choose some of the women in attendance for this year’s festival and have presented them with a few quick-fire questions to get to know them better. Here’s our Q + A with Tightrope Winery’s Lyndsay O’Rourke. More on the Wine Festival here.

Proudest moment?

There are a lot of moments that we have to be proud of since we started in the wine industry, but I would say the results of the 2019 Judgement of BC stands out in my mind. I was very excited to have 3 of our wines make it into the judgement (Pinot Noir, Riesling and Syrah), but to have the Syrah come out as #1 of its category, was amazing. It showed how all of our hard work for the past 12 years has paid off and cemented Tightrope as one of top wineries in BC.

 

Favorite grape variety?

Pinot Noir

Favorite wine you make? Why?

Pinot Noir and Riesling. They are both so expressive of place and also of the vintage. I’m always excited to see what is going to be expressed by the grapes each vintage.

Favorite food? Meal?

My favourite meals are ones where a big group of friends get together and everyone contributes to the meal is some way. Meals always taste better with your friends to enjoy it with.

Yoga? Meditation? What keeps you going?

Trailing running with the dogs.

Blundstones or Blahniks?

Doc Martens.

What are you looking forward to this year?

I’m looking forward to building on the momentum that we started last year. And I’m always excited to see what mother nature will bring each year. Its what makes this winemaking so interesting and so challenging. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun if each year was predictable.

Organic, biodynamic, vegan, low alcohol wines. What are your thoughts on these?

I’m not convinced that organic/biodymaic is the way to go. I like to think in terms sustainability. There is a lot to learn from them, but I think there is a middle ground that is more sustainable. With organics you spray more often, which means you’re driving your tractor more which releases more carbon and causes more soil compaction. Also, most organic sprays are not targeted, so you are killing more things than the intended pest, including beneficial insects. I don’t have a problem with vegan wines. In fact all of our wines are vegan as we do very little finning, so don’t use animal products. I like the idea of lower alcohol wines. If your vines are in balance you don’t need to have over the top alcohols.

Advice for women in the industry

I’ve been very lucky in my career, in that people have been very accepting of me from the beginning. I would suggest to women in the industry to get your education and then back it up with experience. If you are able to, do vintages all over the world. There is a big wine world out there and so much to learn. That is one regret of mine that I did not make wine in more places.

Lyndsay O’Rourke

Lyndsay started her venture into the wine business when she, her husband Graham and young son left Whistler to move to the Okanagan in 2003, to study winemaking and grape growing.  This eventually led to them to New Zealand, where from 2005 to 2006 Lyndsay completed a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology from the renowned cool climate viticulture program at Lincoln University, where she graduated at the top her class.

In 2007 Lyndsay and her family settled on the Naramata Bench, where they developed their own ten acre vineyard. After doing a few vintages with local Okanagan Wineries such Tantalus, Cedar Creek and Laughing Stock Lyndsay took a full-time position at Ruby Blues Winery in 2009, where she was the head winemaker from 2011 to 2013. In that time, the winery won two Lieutenant Governor Wine Awards, for the 2011 and 2013 Viognier. In 2012, Graham and Lyndsay started their own label, Tightrope Winery, finally using grapes from their own vineyard. The Tightrope winery was built on their property in 2014 and since then the O’Rourkes have been focusing solely on making wines under the Tightrope label. Their wines are hand crafted, terroir driven, and have been well received in the wine world, winning many awards and accolades.

Tightrope Winery

Tightrope Winery is a small family run vineyard on the Naramata Bench, BC. The owners Graham and Lyndsay O’Rourke use their education and experience to grow and make small batches of high quality wine. All of the grapes that go into their wines are grown on the Naramata Bench.

The journey of brining grapes to the bottle is a tightrope walk of variables from vineyard management, to winemaking, to the weather and even balancing the cheque book. Please enjoy the final culmination of our balancing act!