Fri 8/7 @ 1-10PM
Sat 8/8 @ 1-10PM
Vintage Ohio, the state’s premier celebration of the vine, stomps into Lake Farmpark this weekend.
For three days, we get to relish in the richness of our grape harvest, with a nod to the high-quality vintage of a past time. During the heydays of winemaking in Ohio, back in the mid 1800s, we were the premier, most prolific wine-producing state, and we’re still around number six in the U.S. Did you know that the first commercially successful winery in the U.S. was founded in Ohio in the mid 1830s by Nicholas Longworth?
Do you think Ohio doesn’t have any decent wines? Then you haven’t experienced the fine estate wines crafted at St. Joseph, where the Pinot Noirs compete against Oregon’s best. And you haven’t been to Markko Vineyards, where Arnie Esterer’s little experimental winery has earned him international acclaim. You also haven’t visited Vermilion Valley Vineyards where an Oberlin professor is using environmentally friendly methods to create beautiful Lemberger and other European viniferas.
While the best way to experience Ohio’s wine is at the wineries, the second best way to do it is to visit Vintage Ohio. The Ohio Wine Producer’s Association brings together sixteen of Ohio’s 200 wineries for one weekend every August. If you like dry reds, you find can find them; if you like sweet Rieslings, they have those as well. You’ll probably find the kind of wines you remember from Heineman’s on South Bass Island too — those native Catawba and Concord wines.
Donniella Winchell, executive director of the Ohio Wine Producer’s Association, admits not everyone likes to drink wine. Research shows that many women show up at Vintage Ohio with other women, which is why the event has added a beer pavilion to showcase what some of the wineries are doing in addition to making wine — they’re crafting great beer. Little Brew Two overlooks a pond, a beautiful spot to relax with a cold beer, but maybe, just maybe, the beer lovers will wander over to the winetasting tents and taste some wines.
What else is new? Pairings, the wine education center in Geneva, is offering “mini-palette tastings to tease the palettes, lasting 5-7 minutes each,” says Winchell. “We’re also giving people the opportunity to paint your own wine class at the wine festival. We thought it would be fun.”
You’ll notice more emphasis on music — Forecast and Miles Beyond continue as regulars, but they’ve added Carlos Jones to a second stage on Saturday night, and Andy’s Last Band is on the second stage on Friday.
Don’t forget the food to go with the wine. Big C’s Smoked Barbecue (ribs and pulled pork), Rados Food Service (steak, bourbon chicken & shrimp and burgers), and Schitzels & Giggles (bratwurst and potato pancakes) provide full meals, while Scott’s Fire & Ice creates wood-fired pizzas and Grandma’s Mini-Donuts provides donuts, smoothies and iced coffees.
Like to shop? You can buy bottles of your favorite wine to take home. But you can also shop for art, locally designed clothing, jewelry, gourmet food items and wine gadgets.
Vintage Ohio has become a place where people with eclectic tastes can come out to the country for a few hours, a day or the weekend. Music aficionados, artists-at-heart, foodies and shoppers can explore wine and all the other things they love, even beer.
Vintage Ohio seeks to prove that wineries in Ohio are worth your time and attention. With more than 50 wineries within an hour’s drive of Cleveland, you’ll want to get out and go to them. See the light show at Candlelight, try dandelion wine at Breitenbach, spend the night in a Tuscan villa at Gervasi or watch the vintner trim grapes at French Ridge in Killbuck before turning in for a night in one of their cabins.
Experience Ohio wines. Start at Vintage Ohio.
Cool Cleveland Contributor Claudia Taller’s most recent book is Ohio’s Canal Country Wineries. Find her at claudiajtaller.com.
Kirtland, OH 44094