Orofino Strawbale Winery

The actual building of Orofino’s winery is part of its attraction. It’s Canada’s only strawbale winery. The ecofriendly design keeps the building cool in the summer and retains heat in the winter. It also keeps the barrel room constant.

The fabulous wine is still the main event at Orofino. We were lucky to arrive early in the season because we were able to taste five wines, poured for us by winemaker John Weber who kindly answered all our questions.

We started with a Gewürztraminer ($18) with a perfume nose and a crisp, acidic character. The Riesling ($18) was amazing. It was tart enough to be refreshing yet still had a smooth mouthfeel. A flexible drink, you could enjoy it in the summer with a creamy Caesar salad with grilled prawn skewers or warm up a winter night and accompany it with a spicy green Thai curry.

The Pinot Noir ($32) was another special, rewarding wine. It gets even better with some time in the bottle and you’ll kick yourself if you don’t stash some away. I love a big, meaty red and their Merlot/Cabernet ($34) hit the mark. Dark in the glass and full of spice and blackberry, it is their signature wine and a gold medal winner at the All Canadian Championships.

They also make a dessert wine, the Late Harvest Muscat ($25 for 375 ml). It’s easy to enjoy at 10.5 percent alcohol and it’s not too sweet.

We tried to return later in the summer and the shop was closed – sold out! They are scheduled to release their 2007 Canadian Oak Chardonnay and their 2007 Gamay on September 26, 2008. If they are anywhere near as tasty as what we tried in the spring, I’m sure they’ll sell out just as fast.

Details:

Orofino
(250) 499-0068
2152 Barcelo Road
Cawston, BC
The wineshop will reopen on Friday, September 26th. Tastings from 10am to 5pm daily throughout the fall wine festival.
www.orofinovineyards.com/

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