Owen Roe
OCTOBER 2025
David O'Reilly founded Owen Roe with his wife Angelica in 1999, four years before we opened Portalis. They were all the rage. It was exciting times in the Washington wine industry, and the O'Reilly's were up-and-comers with mystique, great wines, great prices, a great story and very fun label design.
Then it seemed like they were gone. And they were, sort of. In 2019, David and Angelica sold Owen Roe to Vintage Wine Estates, a huge California wine conglomerate. (Anyone remember Buried Cane Cab? They owned that winery, too.) VWE moved Owen Roe to a national distributor with the hopes of expanding from what had primarily been a (loving) local market. With huge minimum purchase requirements and thousands of wines, they got lost in the book, and to be honest, they kind of disappeared. Covid hit. Lots changed in the wine industry. Then in 2024, Vintage Wine Estates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and David & Angelica O'Reilly purchased back "the winery, the house on the property, two vineyards, inventory, intellectual property, and associated brands." Credit: Northwest Wine Report
We are pleased that they've moved back to a local distributor, and they are on the shelves again with absolutely killer wines! The 2-bottle club includes Owen Roe's Sinister Hand (just in time for Halloween!) and the Ex Umbris Syrah. The 3-bottle club adds in the Yakima Red, an estate red blend.
Owen Roe Estates
Wapato, Yakima Valley, Washington
Owen Roe O'Neill was a seventeenth century Irish patriot and is the inspiration for the label. The man behind that label is David O'Reilly. O'Reilly, one of twelve children, spent his childhood in Belfast before moving to British Columbia with his family. In college, O'Reilly met Angelica and together they worked at wineries in California (growing cool-climate Pinot) in the late 80's, heading north to the Willamette and Yakima Valleys in the early 90's where David worked for Elk Cove Winery in Oregon and started the project: Sineann with Peter Rosback. O'Reilly left Elk Cove in 1998, founding Owen Roe with Angelica in 1999. The rest of the story is told above.
Currently, Owen Roe has its estate fruit and then supplements its production with grapes from 12 vineyard sites across Oregon's Willamette Valley and Washington's Yakima Valley (Debrul, Outlook, Olsen, Red Willow and Union Gap Vineyards).
2-BOTTLE CLUB
Photo credit: @dereeper_fauxtography
Owen Roe 2021 Sinister Hand • Columbia Valley, Washington • Reg $28.99 | Mixed Case $23.19
Here's the winery's story behind this macabre label: "Long ago, during the 17th century, the O'Neills and O'Reillys were two revolutionary Irish families. They formed a rowing competition to reserve rights to some highly regarded land. The two rowing teams agreed that the first to touch the land, after rowing across the lake, would become ruler of the land. O'Neill's boat was falling behind so a member of the crew grabbed his own sword, cut off his hand and threw it ashore, winning the title to rule the land. This land still remains in the family." The winery continues on to say that a dark story deserves a dark wine:
Blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault. Nose is phenomenal. Herbal, a little floral (violets), dark raspberries, dark plums. Super inviting. Super well-balanced. Great acidity. Black tea, touch of soy sauce on the spicy finish. Medium- to fuller-bodied. Absolutely delicious, fun wine. Acidity will make it last for years!! Would be beautiful with a steak with sautéed mushrooms. Would also be a lovely sipper to celebrate a special evening. Like Halloween??! Drink now to 5 years.
Owen Roe 2022 Ex Umbris • Columbia Valley, Washington • Reg $27.99 | Mixed Case $22.39
100% Syrah. Stewed plums, black raspberries, herbal notes on the nose. Flavors: blackberries, dark plums, blueberries. Fantastic acidity. Spicy notes on the finish. Pleasant tannins. Medium-bodied. Fantastic, well-made wine. Winery suggests pairing their Malbec with a grilled pork shoulder steak. This wine would be perfect as well. Drink now to 3 years. Estate Syrah pictured.
3-BOTTLE CLUB
Owen Roe 2021 Yakima Red • Yakima Valley, Washington • Reg $35.99 | WINE CLUB $31.99 | Mixed Case $25.59
This wine is traditionally a Right Bank Bordeaux blend (meaning Merlot is dominant), but 2021 was a hot summer, and they decided the additional acidity from the Cab would balance the fruit, creating a classic Left Bank blend: Cabernet Sauvignon 47%, Merlot 33%, Cabernet Franc 19%, Malbec 1%. 80% organically farmed estate fruit with the remainder from DuBrul and Red Willow Vineyards.
Black fruit, a little black plum on the nose with subtle notes of earth & tobacco. The oak is there (because it's complex and pretty smooth), but you don’t notice it. Flavors of blackberries, dark plums, and a lovely note of cassis. It’s a clean wine. Good acidity. Soft tannins. Beautiful, long finish. Elegant. Really well-made. Can handle a richer fall dish for dinner. Try braised beef short ribs with Brussels sprouts & mashed potatoes. Drink now to 5 years.
A Note from Jens:
Your wine club pick-up tasting is always the 2nd Saturday of the month. Hope you can join us for this homecoming celebration of 3 terrific Washington reds!
As well, you'll be able to taste the Portalis EXPLORES club wines. October theme is South Africa, featuring a Cab/Pinotage blend and a Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay/Viognier blend from A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines, an iconic producer from South Africa's Western Cape. Hope you can join.
Cheers,
Jens Strecker, Owner
Portalis Wine Shop
If you are here because you’re curious about our wine clubs: Here’s more general info & online sign-up. You can also peruse the last 12 months of both clubs to get a feel for the themes we pick and the wines we showcase: Portalis EXPLORES (our everyday wine club) & Portalis FLAGSHIP (our signature club).