Until I get it updated, for a list of current Ohio wineries, see the Wikipedia article List of wineries in Ohio. A priority in the near future will be to get an accurate list of currently open wineries into the web site.
The advice in Preamble: the personal nature of wine is still apt, even if over ten years old.
Here's some more advice. The last few years have been busy ones in the Ohio wine business. Some wineries, including some mentioned prominently below, have closed, and many new ones have opened. Some wineries have changed ownership. If this involved a name change, it's fairly transparent, but some wineries have changed owners one or more times without a name change. A new owner might successfully keep things the way they were, they may try, but not be successful, or they may try to change things in various ways. Some new owners have proved to be surprisingly good at handling their new businesses, but some have not. Please be aware that the opinions below were snapshots in time.
It's always prudent to call ahead to make sure the winery is open, especially if you're traveling long distances. At least in our neck of the woods, a fair number of Ohio wineries have some products in grocery stores. Buying a bottle that way can be a good, inexpensive way to find out if a winery trip might be justified, but everything's better if you actually visit the winery.
One other thing that's changed is the quality/price of Ohio wines. Vinifera wines, wines made from Ohio-grown European grape varieties, are much more common than they were ten years ago. The quality is often high, but Ohio wine prices have also risen. There are few $5 bottles of wine now, and prices well over $10 are common. Indeed, California and import wines are often cheaper than Ohio wines. Producing a quality bottle of wine in a small winery is an expensive proposition. The price may be higher, but the quality will be also, in our experience.
The info below is somewhat out-of-date.
We just got our passports from the Ohio Wine Producers Association and we've planned our first tour trip. If all goes well, this weekend, we'll visit Terra Cotta in New Concord and Rainbow Hills in Newcomerstown. If time permits, we may also visit Shawnee Springs in Coshocton, Georgetown in Cambridge and/or Breitenbach in Dover. We'll report our "findings" once we've returned.
It's been a long time since I updated this page; a lot has happened. Three events have especially attracted the attention of Catherine and me: the closing of Lonz, the opening of Terra Cotta in New Concord and this fall's scheduled opening of Kinkead Ridge in Ripley. I'm pulling together other stuff, including an update of addresses and phone numbers (lots of changed area codes in Ohio) and web sites and perhaps some additional personal comments that we wish to share with you about Ohio's wineries. The page may look a little ragged until I get it all together. Thanks to all those who have written to us.
Preamble: the personal nature of wine
Sad endings: The Passing of Lonz
Great starts: Terra Cotta (New Concord)
Great promise: Kinkead Ridge (Ripley)
On-line wineries we know about
The addresses of the wineries we know about in Ohio.
The Ohio Wine Producers Association
The Lake Erie Quality Wine Alliance (LEQWA)
Both Brian and Catherine (in the last two years, Brian's tastes have shifted back to dry red wines, although he still appreciates some sweet wines) are predominantly sweet wine fanciers. Our comments reflect this. Don't be led too much by what we say, because wine preferences are very personal. If you have more conventional tastes, you may want to try different wines at these wineries; virtually all Ohio wineries also have dry wines.
We've noticed winery variation from season to season can change winners to losers, and vice-versa. The Sauternes, for instance, seem to be a bit less tasty lately (early summer 1997) in the wineries that make them. A particular problem that we've noticed: if the winery you visit lets you taste from an oxidized bottle, you may not get a good idea of what the real wine is like. We've occasionally bought a bottle or two of a wine we weren't particularly thrilled with (out of politeness) and then got it home and it was terrific. Oxidation was the most likely culprit. This problem will be more common at the small, infrequently visited wineries. When you buy a bottle of wine, once you open it, the clock starts. It will only be good for a very few days. An inexpensive vacuum system helps prolong the period for a non-sparkling wine, but it's only fair to judge a freshly opened bottle of wine.
Also note that we've been to most, but not all of the state's wineries. Not being mentioned here is no sign that the winery is not worth a visit. We've found that all of the wineries we've visited were worth the trip for some reason or another. Take that attitude and you may find yourself a new hobby: winery hopping!
If you live in the Northeast, you probably heard of what happened at Lonz Winery last summer. For those who have not, on July 1, 2000, a terrace collapsed at Lonz Winery, on Middle Bass Island, killing a 29-year-old man and injuring 77. Lonz was scheduled to permanently close at the end of the 2000 season, so the tragedy was especially sad; if it had happened a few months later, such an accident would likely have harmed no one.
Catherine and I were frequent visitors to Lonz - we were planning to go there on July 3 when we heard of the accident. Catherine's parents knew we were winehopping on July 1, but they didn't know where (we were in the Geneva area). My mom called from Missouri - we took her to Lonz when she visited a few years ago - she wanted to make sure we weren't there - we easily could have been. We've been on the terrace that collapsed and we believe that we've also been in the cellar that it collapsed into. The ability to picture what happened there caused us to think at great length of how quickly life's fortunes can change. To those who knew Mark Reighard, and to those who were injured in the accident - even a year later, we remember your losses and hope that you are overcoming them.
We always enjoyed our visits to Lonz, and to judge by the boisterous nature of the parties there, the thousands of people who have visited Lonz did too. Even before the accident, when we heard that Lonz was to close, we were saddened - the accident added such a horrible twist to the story. Such a fun place should not have had such an end.
Portage Hills, in our back yard (the Akron area), is now closed. I don't know what the status of the property is at this time (2/11/2002). We'll miss them.
Last fall, an excellent winery, Terra Cotta, opened near New Concord. We visited on a cold, gray and rainy day in late fall as part of a mini-tour of the wineries of southeast Ohio. A cabin on a hill with a fantastic view (we can imagine how beautiful it will be this spring) came into sight. We parked and went in. Several folks were working on crafts at the tables; we each ordered a glass of wine based on a tasting and were both greatly impressed. I think that this winery is starting out in excellent fashion and would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in Ohio wines.
I've received several e-mails from the people who are working to open Kinkead Ridge in Ripley in the fall of 2001. I generally don't pay too much attention to wineries that haven't yet opened - some never do - but after visiting their web site at www.kinkeadridge.com, I feel like they may well be a standout from their first day. They are documenting what they're doing, and it appears that they are attacking the task of establishing a winery with great energy and professionalism. We hope to visit this fall and wish them all the luck they might need to fulfill the promise of Kinkead Ridge.
Resveritrol is found in a number of foods, mulberries, peanuts and especially grapes and has been reported to have anti-cancer properties by a joint team of researchers from the University of Illinois, Chicago and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. It works via multiple mechanisms in the test tube. Skin tests on mice also showed positive effects. It's a common constituent of the human diet according to the researchers and merits further investigation. (Adapted from an article in Chemical and Engineering News, January 13, 1997, p. 20).
So enjoy your grape wine. It's good for you, in moderation, of course.
This section is pretty out-of-date (as of 4/18/2001), but I'll be upgrading soon. B.
Chalet Debonné Vineyards
Firelands Winery
Georgetown
Vineyards *NEW*
Lonz Winery
Kinkead Ridge Vineyard &
Winery (fall 2001)
Klingshirn Winery
Markko Vineyard
Mon Ami Historic Winery and Restaurant
Old Firehouse Winery
Portage Hills
Winery (closed 9/2001)
Viking
Vineyards *NEW*
We'll have some more recent adventures soon (4/18/2001). B.
We had a busy year with respect to Ohio wines. We participated in both the Ohio Wine Producers Association Passport and Tastemaster's programs. In the Passport program, you visit a number of wineries to earn prizes. We visited all the wineries in the program; 29 all over the state. The prize for visiting 27 or more of the 29 was entry into a drawing for one of 12 bed and breakfast nights at various places in the state. Catherine and I were both entered; we figured we had about a one-in-three chance of winning one, based on past years' number of participants in the drawing. Well, we did win; we have a free night at Otto Court Bed and Breakfast in Geneva-on-the-Lake. This is right by Old Firehouse Winery. We also are entitled to VIP treatment at the wineries in that area. We'll see what that means.
The Tastemasters' program is a course in wine appreciation. By passing the mail-in test (which we did), we're entitled to conduct tastings of Ohio wines on behalf of the OWPA. There are small stipends involved, but we're doing it for the fun of it. We haven't done one yet, but will probably help out at Vintage Ohio this year if they need us. I suspect that they might.
Breitenbach is Catherine's favorite Ohio winery and Brian's second favorite. Their Frost Fire wine, a very tasty sweet wine based on the Niagara grape, is Catherine's favorite Ohio wine and Brian's second favorite. Breitenbach has a large number of fruit and berry wines, in addition to their selection of both dry and sweet grape wines. A must-see Ohio winery.
Cantwell's is Brian's favorite Ohio winery and Catherine's second favorite. Their Labrusca wine is Brian's favorite Ohio wine. If you visit Cantwell's, you'll be close to many of the other fine wineries in Northeast Ohio, so take advantage of it!
We're just beginning to explore the wines of Dänkorona. Their Aurora Cream White and Aurora Cream Red wines are fine, Brian likes the red almost as much as his favorite Cantwell's Labrusca. They also have a wine they call Vid-Dare that is interesting.
One of Brian's favorites, their Chambourcin is excellent; they also have a tasty sweet Cherry wine. DLB also sells items for the home vintner and home brewer, including varieties of grape juice in season.
Another of Brian's favorites, they have an excellent Haute Sauterne and an overall fine wine selection. We understand that they take pains to minimize sulfite usage; Brian has a moderate sensitivity to sulfites and consequently can't drink some wines which are overloaded with this preservative.
Lonz wines, while "cheap", are very tasty. And there's nothing like a trip to Middle Bass Island to buy a tasting tray or three and decide what our latest favorites are. Lonz wines are widely available in supermarkets, at least in Northeast Ohio.
A southwestern Ohio winery (Cincinnati area), we were first introduced to their fine wines at the first Vintage Ohio Wine Festival. A couple of trips to Cincinnati have increased our appreciation of this excellent winery.
A bit hard to get to, not only is it off the mainland, but you have to walk quite a distance, rent a bike, or pay a special taxi to take you there. Then again, it's one of the reasons to go to South Bass Island. It's a nice winery, with spacious seating. Snacks as well as wines by the glass or bottle are available. You can take a pay tour including a glass of wine, as well as a pay walk-through tour of the world's largest known geode (yes, quite a few people can fit in it at one time). A nice trip, if you're in the Sandusky, Ohio area. Heineman has some wines that are new to us this season (1997) that are quite tasty. If you haven't been there lately, you might want to plan a visit.
Even harder to get to than Heineman's, depending on where you're coming from, you may have to take two ferry boat trips to get to Middle Bass Island. But Lonz is a fantastic old winery, a carryover from the days when Ohio was a winemaking giant for the American market. Lonz wines are, well, they are quite inexpensive, but tasty, and when the winery is open, it's quite a nice place to have a few glasses.
At Portage Hills Winery, in spring and summer, you can go out back with a glass or a bottle of fine wine and sit at a picnic table, looking into the vineyard and the pretty surrounding countryside.
Behind the Old Firehouse is a fantastic view of Lake Erie. Geneva-on-the-Lake attracts a sizeable number of tourists to the waterfront in high season we've heard (we've not been there then), so you may have to park and walk some distance, but it'll be worth it. Grab yourself some wine and head outside!
Willow Hill is a fairly new winery near Columbus. They seem to want to specialize in unusual and obscure hybrid grape wines, but they are choosing wisely; the wines are very good. This winery has a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside from its hilltop vantage. A very pleasant combination of great wine and great scenery.
Besides being one of the most respected wineries in the state, The Winery at Wolf Creek has one of the prettiest views anywhere. Take a bottle of one of their top notch wines out onto the deck or into the grass and you can look down into the vineyard and beyond to picturesque trees and a beautiful lake. An ethereal experience!
Uh, this wine is beyond my ability to characterize. It didn't taste at all as I expected. In my memory, it's similar to another unusual wine, Breitenbach's Rhubarb, though I might change my mind in side-by-side testing. It's sweet, no special sassafras notes I remember, but it ranks as one of my favorites. I bought six bottles and have been hoarding them closely; they are very hard to come by. Next time I pop the cork on one, I'll pay more attention and give it a more analytical review.
Valley isn't the only Ohio winery that does a honey wine or mead, but they do it best. Catherine thinks that there is a lot of variation in the several bottles we've had. I've found them all to be quite tasty, but she's favored some over others. Give it a few tries if you get the chance and see what you think.
Another hard wine to characterize. It's sweet, with no particular rhubarb taste that I can remember. I do remember liking it. Again, I'll open a bottle soon and do a decent review.
Updating in progress (4/18/2001). Always call ahead if a trip in vain would be annoying. B.
These are up-to-date to our knowledge. Wineries vary in what they provide their customers; call them for details of winery policies.
An official source for winery information for those wineries who belong to the Ohio Wine Producers Association (most, but not all do) can be found at http://www.ohiowines.org. This site often includes maps, and has other information beside.
An asterisk beside the name means we've been to the winery at least once.
Last address update: 3/30/2001
Anderson Orchards & Winery * 12680 Milnor Road Pickerington, OH 43147 (614) 837-5487 Anthony M. Greco 6266 Hamilton-Lebanon Road Route 63 Middletown, OH 45044 (513)539-8768 This winery might not be open - call first. Biscotti Family Winery 186 Park Avenue Conneaut, OH 44030 (440)593-6766 Restaurant/winery - call ahead for hours. Breitenbach Wine Cellars * R.R. No. 1, State Route 39 Dover, Ohio 44622 (330)343-3603 http://www.breitenbachwines.com Buccia Vineyards * 518 Gore Road Conneaut, Ohio 44030 (440)593-5976 http://www.lakeeriewinery.com/buccia.html Chalet Debonné Vineyards * 7743 Doty Road Madison, Ohio 44057 (440)466-3485 http://www.rinestock.com/debonne/index.html Claire's Grand River Vineyard * 5750 South Madison Road Madison, Ohio 44057 (440)298-9838 Cicero's Victoria Vineyard 1650 Youngstown Road Warren, OH 44484 (330)369-3770 Coffee Cake Winery Hopedale, OH (740)937-2572 Scheduled to open in 2001. Colonial Vineyards 6222 North State Route 48 Lebanon, OH 45036 (513)932-3842 This winery might not be open - call first. Dänkorona Winery and Lounge * 155 Treat Road Aurora, Ohio 44202 (330)562-9245 deVilleneuve Winery Wooster, OH (330)264-4824 Scheduled to open in 2001. Dover Vineyards * 24945 Detroit Road Westlake, Ohio 44145 (440)871-0700 http://www.jwdover.com Limited hours - see website or call. Ferranté Winery & Ristorante * 5585 State Route 307 Geneva, Ohio 44041 (440)466-VINO Firelands Winery * 917 Bardshar Road Sandusky, Ohio 44870 (419)625-5474 1-800-548-WINE http://www.firelandswinery.com Flint Ridge Hopewell, OH (740)787-2116 or (740)787-2103 Scheduled to open in 2001. Georgetown Vineyards * 62920 Georgetown Road Cambridge, Ohio 43725 ph: (740) 435-3222 fax: (740) 439-5995 http://www.georgetownvineyards.com e-mail: info@georgetownvineyards.com Grande Wine Cellars Garfield Heights, OH (216)441-4439 Scheduled to open in 2001. Harpersfield Vineyard * 6387 Route 307 West Geneva, Ohio 44041 (440)466-4739 Heineman Winery * Corner of Catawba & Thompson Put-In-Bay, Ohio 43456 (South Bass Island) (419)285-2811 Henke Wine * 701 E. Epworth Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45232 (513) 541-3177 Johlin Century Winery * 3935 Corduroy Road Oregon, Ohio 43616 (419)693-6288 John Christ Winery * 32421 Walker Road Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 (440)746-2537 Kelley's Island Wine Company * Box 747, Woodford Road Kelley's Island, Ohio 43438 (419)626-4224 Kinkead Ridge Vineyard 4288 Kinkead Ridge Road Ripley, Ohio 45167 (937)392-1178 http://www.kinkeadridge.com Scheduled to open Fall, 2001, visit their website for details. Klingshirn Winery, Inc. * 33050 Webber Road Avon Lake, Ohio 44012 (440)933-6666 http://www.lakeeriewine.com/kingshr.html kwinclee@erienet.net The Lakehouse Inn Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH (440)466-8668 Scheduled to open in 2001. Laleure Vineyards Parkman, OH (440)548-5120 Scheduled to open in 2001. Lion Hill Wines * 229 Bayview Avenue Put-In-Bay, OH 43456 (South Bass Island) (419)285-5463 Maple Ridge Vineyards Madison, OH (440)298-3290 Scheduled to open in 2001. Markko Vineyard * R.D. 2, South Ridge Road Conneaut, Ohio 44030 (440)593-3197 (440)599-7022 fax ? http://www.markko.com/markko/ e-mail: markko@suite224.net McIntosh Winery 2033 Bethel-New Hope Road Bethel, OH 45106 (937)379-1159 This winery might not be open - call first. Meier's Wine Cellars, Inc. * 6955 Plainfield Pike Silverton, Ohio 45236 (513)891-2900 1-800-364-2941 Mon Ami Historic Winery and Restaurant * 3845 Wine Cellar Road Port Clinton, Ohio 43452 (419)797-4445 1-800-777-4266 http://www.firelandswinery.com/monami Moyer Vineyards, Winery and Restaurant * U.S. Highway 52 Manchester, Ohio 45144 (937)549-2957 Old Firehouse Winery * 5499 Lake Road, Box 310 Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio 44041 (440)466-5560 1-800-UNCORK-1 ? http://www.ncweb.com/biz/firehouse e-mail: firehouse@ncweb.com Old Mill Winery * 403 S. Broadway Geneva, Ohio 44041 (440)466-5560 Painter Fork Vineyard Bethel, OH (513)876-4144 Scheduled to open in 2002. Pleasant Valley Winery * 11659 Pleasant Road Mt. Vernon, OH 43050 (740)397-7529 Portage Hills Vineyards * 1420 Martin Road WineBrew@aol.com Suffield, Ohio 44260 73513.3174@compuserve.com (330)628-2668 DLVC80A@prodigy.com 1-800-418-6493 portage@ix.netcom.com http://www.portagehills.com/portage/ Quarry Ridge Winery 58 Front Street Berea, OH 44017 (440)986-2255 Although the OWPA says they have been and are open, we've never seen any evidence of it when we dropped by. The building has a "For Lease" sign on it. Rainbow Hills Vineyards * 26349 T.R. 251 Newcomerstown, Ohio 43832 (740)545-9305 Ravenhurst Champagne Cellars 34477 Shertzer Road Mount Victory, OH 43340 (937)354-5151 http://www.ravenhurstchampagne.com/ (site wasn't live when I looked) Limited hours - call ahead. Rolling Hills Winery 768-69 South Parish Road Conneaut, OH 44030 (440)599-8833 This winery might not be open - call first. St. Joseph Vineyards * 6060 Madison Road Thompson, OH 44086 (440)298-3709 http://www.stjosephvineyard.com Limited hours - call or see website. Shamrock Vineyard * 111 County Road 25, Rengert Road Waldo, Ohio 43356 (740)726-2883 Shawnee Springs Winery * 20093 C.R. 6 Coshocton, OH 43812 (740)623-0744 Slate Run Vineyard * 1900 Winchester-Southern Road Canal Winchester, OH 43110 (614) 834-8577 Stoney Ridge Winery Bryan, OH (419)636-3500 Scheduled to open in 2001. Tappan Lake Winery Cadix, OH (330)493-0301 Scheduled to open in 2001. Tarsitano Winery Conneaut, OH (440)224-2444 Scheduled to open in 2001. Terra Cotta Vineyards * 2285 Rix Mills Road New Concord, OH 43762 (740)872-3791 Troutman Vineyards Wooster, OH (330)263-4345 Scheduled to open in 2001. Valley Vineyards Winery * 2276 E. US 22 & 3 Morrow, Ohio 45152 (513)899-2485 Viking Vineyards * 268 Old Forge Road Kent, Ohio (330)678-2080 http://www.focusites.com/vikingvineyards/ Vinoklet Winery 11069 Colerain Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45252 (513)385-9309 http://www.vinokletwinery.com/ (site not live when I looked) Virant Family Winery * 1250 Stoltz Road Geneva, OH 44041 (440)466-1314 Willow Hill Vineyards * 5460 Loudon St. Johnstown, Ohio 43031 (740)587-4622 William Graystone Winery * The Brewery District 544 South Front Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614)228-2332 The Winery at Wolf Creek * 2637 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road Norton, Ohio 44203 (330)666-9285 Wyandotte Wine Cellar, Inc. * 4640 Wyandotte Drive Columbus, Ohio 43230 (614)476-3624
Scheduled for updating (4/18/2001). B.
Most of these wineries are members of the Ohio Wine Producers Association. Their phone number is (800)227-6972 (Ohio only) or (216)466-6972 (outside Ohio). They can provide you information/tickets for this years' Vintage Ohio Wine Festival, which will be held at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland, Ohio (on U.S. 6, east of Cleveland) on August 6 & 7, 1999 (so we hear). Previous years' festivals have been excellent, with a wide variety of entertainment and exotic foods along with most of the state's wineries in attendance. Ask if they will send you a copy of the excellent travel and entertainment guide Ohio's Grapevine. This publication provides a lot of useful information for winery hoppers, including maps, necessary if you're going to try to find some of the hard-to-find wineries like Shamrock, Markko or Rainbow Hills.
A parallel festival is being held in the Columbus, Ohio area, called Vintage Columbus on June 18-20, 1999. Catherine and I plan to attend; we have high hopes for it.
Much of the information in this page has been derived from personal experience. Addresses and phone numbers were taken from various issues of Ohio's Grapevine, Roger L. Gentile's excellent but dated book Discovering Ohio Wines and individual winery pamphlets and flyers. For a good counterpoint to our observations, try to get a copy of Discovering Ohio Wines; we bought ours at Lonz Winery; you may also be able to find it at Meier's in Cincinnati, DLB in the Cleveland area or Firelands Winery in the Sandusky area.
A new book (© 1995) called Wineries of the Great Lakes, by Joe Borrello looks to have quite a bit of good basic information on not only Ohio wineries, but the wineries of Indiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, as well as Ontario. We picked up a copy at Klingshirn in Avon Lake. Look for it.
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CATBAR - Ohio Wines Page / Brian & Catherine Rock / Jan 02 2008
