Appellation Okanagan Valley First vintage 1989 | Founded 1956 Parent company Privately Owned | |
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Location Westbank, British Columbia, Canada Key people Tony Stewart (CEO), Brad Bennett (Chairman) & Nikki Callaway(Winemaker) | ||
Quails’ Gate Winery is a Canadian Winery located on the shore of Okanagan Lake in Westbank, British Columbia. Situated in the heart of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Quails’ Gate produces over 50,000 cases of wine per year. The entire portfolio of Quails’ Gate wines are best known for their Family Reserve Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Quails' Gate's Wineshop and Old Vines Restaurant are open daily, year round to the public.
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History
Quails’ Gate was founded by the Stewarts, one of the Okanagan’s pioneer horticultural families. Richard John Stewart arrived in the Okanagan Valley from County Kildare, Ireland in 1908. He and his 2 brothers purchased several parcels of land and established nurseries. In 1956, his son Richard Stewart acquired the Allison Ranch on which the winery now sits and started planting vines along with fruit orchards. His son Ben, a banker by trade started working at Quails’ Gate in the 1980s. In 1989, the family abandoned the orchards and focused the properties on producing wine, relaunching the business as Quails’ Gate Estate Winery. In 1992, Richards' other son, Tony, left his career as a stockbroker to return to the family business. Tony now runs the business still privately held by the Stewart family.
Winemaker
Born in Calgary, Nikki Callaway started her career as a cellar hand working in Bordeaux and southern France, learning the European traditions and history of wine making. She completed a Diplôme National D’Oenologue at Université Bordeaux II in 2007 before heading to South Africa to work with Waterford Estate winery. Nikki returned to Canada in 2009 to become an Assistant Winemaker at a large scale operation in the Okanagan, however, she specialized by managing their small lots program. Her vision to work with a premium boutique style winery was actualized when she joined the Quails’ Gate team. The intimate nature, small batch processing and focus on quality at Quails’ Gate are a perfect fit to her style and passion as a winemaker. With a long-standing reputation of producing premium wines, the Quails’ Gate winemaking team will continue our quest for quality whilst collaborating on best practices and Nikki’s substantial exposure to internationally renowned wine regions and small lot operations.
Old Vines Restaurant
Known for "creativity and quality of food coming out of the kitchen," the Old Vines Restaurant is situated on the vineyardscape of Quails’ Gate Winery with a picturesque view of Okanagan Lake. Named one of Wine Spectator's "four best places to dine in the Okanagan."