Tightrope Winery

What Tightrope Winery does

Tightrope Winery is a family-run estate winery founded in 2007 by Graham and Lyndsay O'Rourke on the Naramata Bench in Penticton, British Columbia. The winery produces approximately 15 wines from roughly 13 acres of estate vineyards distributed across three properties — Fleet Road, Thomas, and Marmot — using sustainable practices including drip irrigation and solar energy, and was the first Certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing BC.

The business operates a multi-channel revenue model anchored by direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales, a three-tier wine club subscription managed through the Qualo platform, on-site tasting room experiences at the Naramata Bench location, and wholesale distribution to restaurants and retail accounts across British Columbia with DTC shipping extended to all Canadian provinces. Named on-premise partners include Fairmont Pacific Rim and Miku Vancouver, and the company operates the Tailgate Wine Festival as a recurring experiential marketing event. Production capacity, award momentum (Decanter World Wine Awards, WineAlign, BC Lieutenant Governor's Awards), and sustainability positioning form the basis of its competitive identity.

Name

Tightrope Winery

Legal name

Tightrope Winery

Website

https://tightropewinery.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tightrope Winery is a family-run estate winery on British Columbia's Naramata Bench, producing approximately 15 wines from 13 acres across three vineyards and selling through DTC e-commerce, a wine club, tasting room, and BC wholesale distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Winery

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Grape Vineyards (111332), Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (445320)

SIC

Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine & Sparkling Wine Wineries & Brands (CRADAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wine Bars (THAFAEAF), Wine Shops (Off-Premise) (CRANAAAB), Premium, Rare & Collectible Alcohol Retail (Fine Wine/Spirits) (CRANAAAJ)

Keywords

• Estate wine production
• Wine club subscriptions
• Sustainable viticulture
• Tasting room experiences
• Wine retail distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Penticton

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Direct Wine Sales: Online wine shop sales through own e-commerce platform. Consumers purchase individual bottles or cases shipped directly to their door across Canada. Tasting room retail sales at the estate.
2. Wine Club Subscriptions: High Wire Wine Club with three package tiers (White, Red, Winemaker's Selection). Members receive 2 annual shipments of 12 bottles each in Spring and Fall. Provides recurring revenue with 10% discount on purchases for members. No membership fees but minimum 24-bottle commitment over two shipments.
3. Tasting Room Experiences: Paid tasting experiences including Portfolio Wine Tasting ($10/pp), Wine + Chocolate Tasting ($15/pp), and Estate Tasting & Tour ($35/pp). Walk-in and reservation tastings generate ancillary revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tightrope Winery is a small, family-run estate winery on the Naramata Bench in Penticton, BC, producing and selling hand-crafted, sustainably certified wines from approximately 13 acres of estate vineyards. The portfolio includes white, red, rosé, sparkling, and proprietary blend wines, sold through a direct-to-consumer online shop, an on-site tasting room, a three-tier wine club with twice-yearly shipments, and broad retail/restaurant distribution across British Columbia and select Canadian provinces.

Product overview

Tightrope Winery is a small, family-run, sustainable winery on the Naramata Bench producing hand-crafted wines with artistry and passion. The core product portfolio consists of 15 distinct estate wines including Rosé, Pinot Noir (including Rubis expression), Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, Viognier, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Vertigo, Barbera, and Equipoise. The winery supplements its wine sales with three wine club subscription tiers (High Wire White, Red, and Winemaker's Selection), each delivering 12 bottles twice yearly with member discounts and exclusive access. Tasting experiences include Portfolio Wine Tasting, Wine + Chocolate Tasting, and Estate Tasting & Tour. The winery also hosts annual events such as the Tailgate Wine Festival. All wines are produced from certified sustainable vineyards (Fleet Road, Thomas, and Marmot Vineyards) totaling approximately 13 acres under vine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rose 2025
• Pinot Noir 2023
• Perlwein Riesling 2025
• Riesling
• Pinot Gris
• Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
• Viognier Fleet Road Vineyard
• Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir Rubis
• Merlot
• Cabernet Franc
• Syrah
• Vertigo
• Barbera
• Equipoise
• High Wire White Wine Club
• High Wire Red Wine Club
• High Wire Winemaker's Selection Club
• Portfolio Wine Tasting
• Wine + Chocolate Tasting
• Estate Tasting & Tour
• Tailgate Wine Festival

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Vintage West Wine & SpiritscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTrade representative for Tightrope Winery handling distribution inquiries and media/brand asset requests. Contact: [email protected]
• Sustainable Winegrowing BC (SWBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTightrope Winery is the first Certified member of Sustainable Winegrowing BC. Co-founder Graham O'Rourke served as a founding Director of SWBC, helping develop the sustainability certification framework released in late 2020. Partnership involves ongoing certification, best practices sharing, and industry leadership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Burrowing Owl Estate Winery: Okanagan winery with a strong DTC and on-premise presence, similar premium positioning, and restaurant/hotel placement strategy (including Fairmont-affiliated properties) comparable to Tightrope's distribution profile.
• Road 13 Vineyards: Multi-generational family winery in the Okanagan producing award-winning wines across a similar varietal portfolio. Tightrope previously sold grapes to Road 13, and the two compete for similar DTC and on-premise customers in BC.
• Joie Farm: Naramata Bench boutique winery focused on aromatic white and Pinot Noir varietals, similar to Tightrope in scale and family-run ethos. Tightrope's founders previously sold grapes to Joie, indicating direct overlap in vineyards and varietal mix.
• Domaine de Chaberton: Langley-based BC family winery that previously bought Tightrope fruit. Operates a comparable DTC-and-on-premise model with estate vineyards and tasting room experiences.
• Ruby Blues Winery: Naramata Bench boutique winery where Lyndsay O'Rourke previously made wines. Comparable in scale, varietal mix (including award-winning Viognier), and DTC/family business model to Tightrope.

Broad incumbents

• Inniskillin: Pioneering Canadian winery (Niagara/Okanagan) with broad varietal range, national distribution, and DTC channels. Useful larger-scale benchmark for Tightrope's growth trajectory and Canadian retail/wholesale strategy.
• CedarCreek Estate Winery: Established Okanagan winery with similar focus on estate-grown, sustainably produced wines. CedarCreek's mature DTC, restaurant, and provincial distribution channels make it a benchmark peer for Tightrope's go-to-market.
• Quails' Gate Estate Winery: Larger West Kelowna family-owned Okanagan winery with broader varietal range, larger DTC/restaurant footprint, and broader national distribution — a step up in scale from Tightrope but in the same family-run, estate-quality category.
• Mission Hill Family Estate: Premier BC winery where Graham O'Rourke previously served as lead viticulturist. Mission Hill operates at much larger scale with national and international distribution, serving as both a heritage employer and aspirational comparable.
• Peller Estates: Major Canadian wine producer with broad retail, restaurant, and DTC reach across Canada. Relevant as a national-scale comparable to help size the long-term ceiling of Tightrope's distribution ambitions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TightropeWinery
• Facebookfacebook.com/TightropeWinery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tightrope-winery

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tightrope Winery