Little Straw Vineyards in West Kelowna is under new ownership

Photo: Kalala Organic Estate Winery

(l to r) Peter, Timothy & Tina Slamka and the new owners Narinder & Karnail Sidhu, their sister Sattu Dhaliwal and daughter Kiran Sidhu

After a quarter of a century, the Slamka family are leaving the wine industry after the family-run business was purchased by another small winery.

Kalala Organic Estate Winery, a family-owned winery which has produced organic grapes and wines since 2006, announced it has acquired Little Straw.

Originally established as Slamka Cellars in 1996, Little Straw Vineyards have been producing award-winning wines out of their Ourtoland Road winery in West Kelowna for more than 25 years.

The family decided it was time to retire, and found a compatible buyer in Kalala Organic Estate Winery.

The vineyard was one of the first in what is now West Kelowna when their father purchased the land and planted their first vineyard in 1969.

“This place holds near and dear to our hearts, we have raised our children here and created an abundance of memories," the Slamka family said in a news release announcing the sale.

"We had been thinking of retiring from this business for a while and were just waiting for the right person to pass our years of hard work onto. Karnail and his family were a perfect fit for us as they share similar values, and they have a great vision to take the winery to the next stage.

"We thank all of our customers over the last several decades from the bottom of our hearts and look forward to seeing the evolution of Little Straw Vineyards under the new ownership. We wish you all the best.”

The new owners say they are ecstatic about their new venture, and can relate in so many ways.

"We are both immigrant families who started a winery in West Kelowna. We understand how hard it is to start a winery from scratch and how much effort, time and patience is required to run a successful winery in this Canadian wine region,"said Karnail Singh Sidhu, founder and viticulturist at Kalala Organic Estate Winery.

"When I was looking for a better location, I heard that the Slamka family was ready to retire and were privately looking for a new owner to leave their winery to. Since I am passionate about organic viticulture, our new location had to have a high potential to become a sustainable organic winery and Little Straw Vineyards showed great potential for the transition."

He says plans are already in place to transition to an organic vineyard over the next few years. They hope to officially launch the new winery in the spring of next year.

At that time, they will introduce their premium organic label, Dostana Wines. Dostana means friendship in the Hindi language.

The vineyard wine shop at Little Straw remains open daily.

They are currently building their new team and hiring for several different positions including an accounting assistant, marketing and events assistant and seasonal wine shop associates.

If you are interested in applying, then email your resume and cover letter to [email protected].