Union Gap Vineyard
⏳ Drinking Window
2024 - 2029
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
roasted lamb chops, grilled ribeye steak, braised beef short ribs
✨ Technical Specifications
The Union Gap Vineyard Red Blend is a premier estate bottling from Owen Roe, sourced from their dramatically steep, south-facing estate vineyard in the Yakima Valley. Situated where the Yakima River cuts through the basalt ridges of the Rattlesnake Hills, this unique geological formation—the Union Gap—creates a natural wind funnel that moderates temperatures. The soil is a rugged mix of fractured basalt and cobblestones, forcing the vines to struggle and yield concentrated, mineral-driven fruit. This proprietary red blend typically marries the structure of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with the plushness of Merlot and a touch of Syrah, all aged in French oak barrels. The resulting wine is celebrated for its complex layers of dark fruit, savory herbs, distinctive stony minerality, and refined, age-worthy tannins.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1999 by David and Angelica O'Reilly, Owen Roe is named in honor of the 17th-century Irish patriot Owen Roe O'Neill. Operating across the Pacific Northwest, the winery bridges Washington’s Yakima Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley, celebrating cool-climate microclimates, diverse volcanic and windblown loess soils, and dry, high-sunlight ripening conditions. Following a brief period under corporate ownership, the O'Reilly family repurchased the estate in 2024 to reassert their founding independent vision. The viticultural and cellar philosophy prioritizes rigorous low-yield vineyard management, hand harvesting, small-lot fermentations, and judicious use of French oak barrel aging to preserve varietal clarity and site-specific typicity. Sourcing from benchmark terroirs such as Red Willow and DuBrul, Owen Roe produces critically acclaimed single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay alongside value-driven cuvées under their Sharecropper’s and Corvidae labels, delivering structured, cellar-worthy expressions marked by vibrant acidity and deep concentration.
🍇 Grapes
Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah