Slightly Askew Winery: Elkin’s Playful, Pet-Named Wine List

Slightly Askew Winery describes itself plainly: “not your typical winery, we’re a ‘slightly’ different Yadkin Valley winery.” The tasting room in downtown Elkin, North Carolina blends wine made from local juices with juices sourced from some of the best wine regions in the world, and the personality of the place shows up right there on the wine list — several bottlings are named after the winery’s own dogs. “Penny for your Thoughts,” a stainless Chardonnay, takes its name from a dog named Penny, and “Blackjack ‘BJ’,” a blackberry Merlot, honors a past field champion dog that has been a family favorite since the wine’s earliest vintage.

The winery is also a stop on the Elkin Vine Line, a hop-on-hop-off wine tour that passes by on Saturdays and Sundays — a sign of how central Slightly Askew is to the Elkin tasting-room scene.

The Wines of Slightly Askew Winery

The lineup splits cleanly between dry and sweet drinkers. Dry-side pours include Jumpin’ Jazzmine (a Riesling with apricot and tropical fruit notes), Camp Creek Clear and Penny for your Thoughts (both stainless Chardonnays), Stump Farm (Petit Manseng), Mountaineer Pride (Cabernet Franc), Roaring River Red (Merlot), Cordeaux “Big Red” (a Petit Verdot, Tannat, and Merlot blend), and Mystic Vision (an Argentina Malbec, Bonarda, Syrah, and Merlot blend). On the fruit-wine side, look for flavors like raspberry white zinfandel, green apple Gewürztraminer, cranberry Chianti, and peach Chardonnay, alongside the winery’s playfully named blackberry, blueberry, and tropical-fruit blends. Beyond the tasting room, Slightly Askew’s wines are also carried at a handful of local retailers and restaurants around Elkin and Mount Airy.

What stands out about this list is how personal it is. Rather than naming wines after the grape blend alone, Slightly Askew names many of them after the winery’s own dogs, local landmarks like Camp Creek and Stump Farm, and inside jokes that only make sense once the tasting room staff tells you the story. It is the kind of wine list that rewards asking questions — nearly every bottle has a short story behind the name, and the staff are happy to share it if you ask while you taste.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 913 North Bridge Street, Elkin, NC 28621
Tasting Room: Thursday – Saturday, 1pm – 6pm; Sunday, 1pm – 5pm

Tasting Flights — a walk-in sampling of the dry and fruit wine lineup, poured in the downtown Elkin tasting room.
Retail Shop — gifts, snacks, cheese, t-shirts, and other souvenirs alongside the wine list.
Elkin Vine Line Stop — the winery sits directly on this weekend hop-on-hop-off wine tour route, so the tasting room can get lively on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: this is a smaller, more casual tasting room than some of the estate wineries nearby, so it works well as a quick, fun stop rather than a full sit-down experience. Because it is directly on the Elkin Vine Line route, weekend afternoons can be busy with walk-up traffic from that tour, so we plan around that if a quieter visit matters to your group. Budget about an hour here — enough time to taste through the list and pick up a bottle or two. If your group likes a wine list with a sense of humor rather than a formal tasting menu, this is one of the more memorable stops on a Yadkin Valley route, and it tends to be a favorite with bachelorette and birthday groups looking for something a little different from the bigger estate wineries.

Where Slightly Askew Fits in Your Tour Route

Slightly Askew sits right in downtown Elkin, alongside Elkin Creek Vineyards, Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery, and Adagio Vineyards & Winery — all within a few minutes’ drive. That makes Elkin one of the most walkable, tightly clustered stretches of the Yadkin Valley for a group that wants to taste at several small wineries without spending the whole day in the car.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time, though Elkin’s cluster of small tasting rooms can move a little faster than the larger estate wineries. Most Yadkin Valley tasting rooms open by noon, and Slightly Askew’s 1pm opening pairs well as a second or third stop after starting elsewhere in Elkin.

Wine Tour Transportation to Slightly Askew Winery

Ashe County Livery provides private, chauffeured wine tour transportation to Slightly Askew Winery from Ashe County, Boone, Blowing Rock, West Jefferson and across NC’s High Country. Our Slightly Askew Winery trip-planning page covers drive times, tasting-room hours, group sizes and pricing.

Travel in a luxury SUV, sedan, or Sprinter van with a professional chauffeur — everyone in your group gets to taste, nobody has to drive. We only charge from pickup to your last drop-off, and every tour includes a complimentary cooler with ice and water. Plan your Slightly Askew Winery tour or call (336) 484-1350.

Nearby wineries we also serve: Elkin Creek Vineyards · Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery · Adagio Vineyards & Winery — or browse all 54 Yadkin Valley wineries we provide transportation to.

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Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

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