A while back, I enrolled in a day-long wine course taking place at Little Straw Vineyards. When I arrived, I was most impressed with where it was located. I've driven past this location many times but was unaware it was up here. Located in West Kelowna on Mount Boucherie, Little Straw Vineyards is a part of the Westside wine trail. Its location on the side of the mountain gives it lovely views of rolling vineyards, including those of its neighbours.
Little Straw is a family estate winery still run by the Slamka family, which started planting vines here in the early 1970s. Initially, they were an orchard but transitioned to grape vines for better harvests. For the next two decades, they matured their vines and perfected their grape growing by being a producer for other wineries. When you walk up to the winery, you will pass a ‘48 Chevy initially used by the Slamka family to deliver their grapes. Eventually, Peter Slamka started making homemade wine for friends and family, which was the first step into winemaking. This inspired Peter to take his wife on a lengthy vacation, visiting some of their winemaking family in Austria and visiting wineries in Australia. This is where the match got lit for Little Straw Vineyards.
Upon returning, Peter poured himself into this little family business. In 1996 Peter opened Slamka Cellars, which later became Little Straw Vineyards. Purchasing land adjacent to their property allowed them to expand the varieties they grow.
Did you know that Auxerrois has been a flagship white for LIttle Straw, with what is believed to be the oldest vines in the Okanagan Valley, planted by Joe in the early 1970s?
More recently, Peter has stepped back from being the winemaker but can still be found in the wine shop/tasting room pouring wine for the winery guests - sometimes side-by-side with his nieces when they are working.
Little Straw Vineyards remains a family-owned and operated winery, continuing the Slamka family's legacy of producing exceptional wines. A visit to Little Straw Vineyards promises a delightful experience for wine lovers and anyone seeking to explore the unique flavours of the Westside Wine Trail in Kelowna.
🍷I eagerly wanted to do a tasting at Little Straw Vineyards, but I didn't check what tasting experiences were available. For the record, they offer
Standard Wine Tasting: $10/ person
Sit-Down Wine Tasting: $20/ person
Wine Flights & Bites: $32/ person
Private Vineyard Tour & Tasting (with the owner): $60/ person
Private Vineyard Tour & Tasting (with Senior Tasting Associate): $30/ person
Going in, I experienced their Standard wine tasting. However, I will note that my wine host was their Senior Wine Sales Executive, Keith. I will note that I got the tasting (with the Senior Tasting Associate), just not the private vineyard tour, as outlined in the last option. Now Keith was a wealth of information and history of Little Straw Vineyards and super engaging. One surprising factoid that Keith mentioned that I was unaware of is that Kalala Organic Estate Winery is a sister winery. Keith also shared with us that Little Straw has some of the oldest vines in BC. This part of the conversation led me to a sad and sobering question - how badly did this past winter's late and long frost impact their vines?
Well, that's a bit of a complex question to answer. The winter of 2022 was also a bad one that significantly impacted the overall yield of BC grapes. This past winter of 2023 just further exacerbated the situation. Due to the compounded impact, fewer wineries may be in operation by the end of 2024. Not until April, when the vines reawaken and the ever-important bud break, will the extent of the damage be fully realized. BC wineries need your support now more than ever. Go and do a tasting at a winery. Go to the winery and purchase wine from them. You don't need to walk out with a case of wine. Even one or two will help that winery survive. Remember that many wineries waive their tasting fee when you purchase a bottle.
During this conversation, Keith poured a lovely sparkling - their 2021 Auxerrois Viognier Frizzante. The full blend is Pinot Auxerrois, Viognier and Chenin Blanc. For this, they used grapes from their 50+ year-old Pinot Auxerrois vines. I found this wine very light and fresh. Flavours of stone fruit were primary, and I was surprised that as it warmed up in my hands, a lime element started to take center stage.
Keith has many great, educational wine stories that he entertainingly shares as we taste and are in between wines. A lot of their whites come from their vineyards in West Kelowna and some in Peachland, and their reds come from their vineyards in Osoyoos
Next is their 2021 Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand Sauv Blanc inspires this style. Crisp and dry. This one had a deceptively sweet aroma - think of super-ripe fruit-like sweetness. But then you taste it, and its dryness is in the complete opposite direction. The palate is dry; the fruit present is green under-ripe versions dancing alongside some lemongrass notes. The acidity is what adds the crisp to the Crisp and Dry. Keith suggests pairing this with shellfish, and I agree.
Up next is their 2021 Pinot Gris from a certified organic vineyard in Peachland—a silver medal finisher at a competition in the US. There is the expected lemon/lime you get within BC Pinot Gris. Amidst the floral flavour notes, I picked up a lovely subtle sweetness that reminded me of Sweetarts. What captured my attention was that a just-as-subtle savoury note juxtaposed this subtle sweetness - for the life of me, I could not put my finger on what it was similar to. The acidity gave this wine a fresh quality that easily makes it suitable for a patio on a hot summer day.
Now we move on to the Reds, and the first up is the 2020 Marechal Foch. But before Keith gets to pouring this wine, he shares that about five wineries in the valley produce a Marechal Foch. This is another competition winner. In appearance and aroma, it looks and presents like a full-bodied red. But when you taste it…..🤯 it's got the profile of a light red!!! This helped it win that competition because it was entered in the light red wine category. It showed a delicateness like a Pinot Noir. It does see a touch of oak to mellow out everything. Its balance is exceptional because, with such light wine flavour characteristics, it masked the high alcohol pushing it into the background with the rest of the chorus. This is light enough to enjoy on a sunny day - but be careful when standing up if you polish off the bottle in one sitting.
During the tasting of this Foch, Keith shared that for the most part, the wines at Little Straw are perfect now. Cellaring can be done but will not garner any significant noticeable growth. Another fun little factoid shared by Keith is where the name Little Straw came from. In the past six months, he has had only one person correctly answer this question. In Czechoslovakian, Slamka means Straw.
The final wine of our tasting is the 2018 Cuvée Reserve. Now, you may be wondering why Cuvée? In the wine world, this is simply a term that references a blend. In this instance, it's a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. For me, the taste of this is lovely. Flavours of cherries, wet tea leaves, and pepper all add to the elegant complexity of this lovely Cuvée.
At this point, I'm starting to decide what is coming home with me. Then, Keith says he has an icewine add-on to this tasting. Did I begin shopping, or did I immediately agree to the add-on? If you have to ask then you don't know me too well and how easily twistable my rubber arm is when it comes to more wine.
Keith then breaks out a 50ml bottle of their 2013 Single Vineyard Blush Icewine (a blend of Limburger and Auxerrois). This Icewine is not syrupy sweet. Its sweetness is balanced expertly well with its natural acidity. As part of this tasting, they also offer some Belgian chocolate to taste together as a food & wine pairing. Its sweetness was more similar to nectar. The viscosity of this Icewine is also deceptive. Instead of having that thicker viscosity similar to Icewine, this has the mouthfeel of juice. I enjoyed this wine and automatically added it to my shopping list.
I appreciate that their wines are ready to drink now. This winery is so quaint that it almost feels like you are in the French countryside. I have to give tremendous kudos to Keith. He is entertaining and informative and reads his audience well to deliver a tasting experience that matches your expectations. The stories he told and little factoids delivered were so educational that you don't realize you are learning. I was most impressed with the balance in their wines. I will surely be back to check out their restaurant, which has a cute little patio that looks out onto the rolling vineyards. I think I've found a winery that will be a staple for my spring/summer wine consumption.
Cheers 🥂
-BC Wine Nerd
Website: Little Straw Estate Vineyard
Address: 2815 Ourtoland Rd (West Kelowna)
Phone #: (250) 769-0404
Instagram: @littlestrawvineyards
Tasting Fee: Really…. you've forgotten already? I already covered this at the start of this article. Go back up and look for 🍷.