Celebrating Quail's Gate's 30th Anniversary
Quail's Gate Estate Winery is a beautiful family-owned winery located in the heart of the Okanagan. They some of the most world-renowned wines, their Old Vines restaurant featuring some amazing dishes, and they have two incredible properties right on Okanagan Lake. Quail's Gate invited me to attend their 30th Anniversary Event and create content while staying overnight in one of their properties on the lake. The whole experience made me feel like I was on vacation, but I was still in the city I live in. It was incredible.
Arriving at "The Lakehouse"
At the bottom of the Quail's Gate property, right below the vineyard lays two beautiful houses, The Lakehouse and The Nest. Quail's Gate had "The Lakehouse" reserved for five content creators/bloggers in the community to stay at the house the night of the event. When I arrived at the beautiful property, we immediately had to drop our stuff and start taking pictures. The property features a long driveway to the house, panoramic views wherever you looked, and a long, beautiful dock going out to the lake. I decided in that very moment, I didn't want to leave. This property was every influencer/bloggers dream, as you can see in all the pictures. After the initial shock of the beauty set in, we all started to get ready for the event. We all got into our fancy holiday outfits, and then we were on our way.
The 30th Anniversary Event
Before the event actually started, there was a VIP reception for anyone who purchased VIP tickets to the event. The VIP reception consisted of tasting Quail's Gate's new wine, the Clone 220 Chenin Blanc made by their new wine maker Ross Baker. It was amazing to be able to meet the CEO and Proprietor of Quails Gate, Tony Stewart and the winemaker of some of my favourite wines ever made. There was also some of the staff going around the reception handing out some delicious bites of food (I also tried an oyster for the first time ever here, and I loved it!). After the reception, we made our way downstairs into the restaurant, which was transformed into a beautiful event space. There were stations of food that guests could get food from, and MY GOODNESS was the food amazing. Quail's Gate's restaurant "Old Vines" is a top 100 restaurant in Canada for a reason.
One of the best parts of the event was the entertainment. When I found at the Andrew Allen was performing at the event, I couldn't have been more excited, I never knew that he lives in Vernon, BC! He performed on an outdoor, heated dance floor, which was the most unique set up I've ever seen for an event! When the wine started flowing, the dance floor definitely began to fill up and their was happiness everywhere.
The Quail's Gate party was not the only thing that was lit (I apologize for my millennial/gen z references, it's who I am!!), the vineyard was as well, with lots of lights! The whole property was decked out in holiday decor and it was my first taste of Christmas this year. This event was way more extravagant than I was expecting, and I loved every second of it.
The Next Morning: Wine Tour
Waking up the next morning felt surreal, with views of the lake from the windows while I drank my coffee was so relaxing and just what I needed after the fun night we had of dancing. When the afternoon hit, Quail's Gate set up a wine tour for us around the property with best tour guide! We got to learn about some of the history behind how the winery became what it is today and the progression of some of their wines. I particularly loved tasting the 2011 Chardonnay vs. the 2017 Chardonnay and seeing the difference in taste of the 2011 because it had been aged a little while. This tour really got me into thinking long term and aging certain wines (wow I feel old saying that), but it's true!! I think it's so cool learning about how a big winery like Quail's Gate became what it is now and all the work and time it took to do so. I can appreciate that being an entrepreneur myself.
Overall, the Quail's Gate 30th Anniversary experience was incredible; it took me a while to adjust to real life after getting back home from "The Lakehouse." The event was so well done, so next time Quail's Gate hosts an event, you don't want to miss out on it. It was everything I hoped for and more.
If you want to learn more about how you can rent the Quail's Gate properties you can check them out here:
If you want to book a reservation to dine at their Old Vines (top 100 in Canada) restaurant check it out here:
"Old Vines Restaurant at Quail's Gate Estate Winery"
If you want to check out my personal favourite wines from the tastings I did, you can check them out here:
As you all know, I'm not a huge fan of Red Wine (but everyone says I'll grow into when I get older), so my picks are all white wines and dessert wines!
Stewart Family Reserve Chardonnay
This experience with Quail's Gate was gifted, but all opinions are always my own.
