PASSION

   

Lake Erie Wineries highlight the spirit of entrepreneurs and those passionate about wine. This weekend is all about wine at Vintage Ohio, the premier Ohio wine tasting event, where I'll be, books in tow. There are over 40 wineries in the Lake Erie Appellation and many of them (Debonne, Buccia, Emerine, Ferrante, Grand River Cellars, John Christ, Klingshirn, Old Firehouse, Old Mill, Paper Moon, St. Joseph, the Winery at Spring Hill, and Vermilion Valley) will be there.  Lake Erie is the prime growing region in the state, but wineries throughout the Buckeye State offer wines from Pinot Grigio to Pink Catawba.  If you’re going to Vintage Ohio, write me at claudia.taller@yahoo.com, and I’ll send you the discount code for discounted admission.

History and Prohibition

Several weeks ago, I was at the Westlake Historical Society at Clague Park Museum.  Westlake, originally known as Dover, was the second largest shipping point for grapes in the United States in the 1800s. Collamer, east of Cleveland, was first.  Wine-making went underground during Prohibition, and when it ended, restaurant owners bottled and labeled their own fortified wines made from local juice or brought in from California. Some of the wineries started mass-producing wine with new equipment, but the wines of Ohio, like all of the eastern United States, was mostly sweet and made from native lambrusca grapes, until wine makers began to experiment with hybrids. 

Local Wine, Local Book, Local Bookstore, Local Music

This Saturday, July 23, at Visible Voice Books in Tremont, experience an evening of living well locally.  From 7-9PM is a wine tasting/book signing, and music will be played on the courtyard from 8-10PM. I already said most of what you need to know in Cool Cleveland this week. But I didn't tell you the wines being served are by Laurello Vineyards, whose Italian-styled wines are robust and far from the sweet wines most people associate with Ohio wines. Laurello is located in the Grand River sub-appellation of wineries.  Cosmo Red, named after grandpa, is the one to try.  The winery has a pretty large grape growing and wine making operation going on, so it looks rustic from the outside, but inside you'll find the enveloping warmth of Tuscany.

Read a Review of the Book

Urban vineyard owner Mansfield Frazier wrote an eloquent review of my book, and I'm delighted. I hope others enjoy it as much, while drinking a glass of Lake Erie wine. Read it here.

Release Party -- June 23 at John Christ

I chose John Christ Winery for my release party because it's close to home and can accommodate 50-plus friends and family. John and Toda Christ of Macedonia planted 23 acres of grapes in Avon Lake in the 1930s and eventually built a Chalet winery. John Christ Winery became a bonded winery in 1946 and grew Horwittel Concord and Niagara. The Christ family no longer owns the winery, and most of the vineyards are gone, but the winery is committed to crafting good wines that are served in a pleasant setting. Summer evenings on the lawn are relaxing.  

Ohio's Lake Erie Wineries - June 20 Release Date

Ohio's Lake Erie Wineries will be released by Arcadia Publishing on June 20. The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns and cities across the country. This book celebrates the islands and shore line wineries of Lake Erie. The 1941 Sandusky Grape Festival parade is on the front cover, and right inside is a photograph of Lee Klingshirn as a young boy in the 1960s followed by his foreward about growing up on a wine farm. The book contains 200 photographs.

As you know, Ohio's Lake Erie wineries and vineyards are rooted in the traditions of European wine making. The wine industry flourished in the 1800s but industrialization and Prohibition destroyed much of the wine industry in Ohio. Today, Lake Erie wines are makng a comeback as grape growers and winemakers experiment with vinifera wines, which are being sold alongside native labrusca wines. This book is a tribute to wine country forefathers, the wineries of today with a long history of winemaking, and the brave entrepreneurs who are planting new vineyards today.

You can purchase a copies of Ohio's Lake Erie Wineries through the publisher's website or I can bring copies of the book to local wineries to sign and sell. Arcadia will also be contacting you to place the book in your gift shop.  In addition, I am available to do afternoon history talks. I am eager to share what I learned with wine lovers. If you are interested in a book signing or an author talk, please e-mail me at ctallerwrites@wowway.com.  

Mon Ami - Champagne Experts

Once a year, my girlfriends (including sister Beth and mother Dana) spend a weekend in Lakeside, Ohio's Chautauqua, for the Sharing Our Gifts Retreat.  We treat ourselves to the Saturday night seafood buffet at Mon Ami, where the food is fantastic.  Last time, I started with crab legs, mussels, and shrimp, and moved on to salad, salmon in lobster sauce, stuffed sole, grilled tuna, and buffalo blue cheese shrimp.  Then I had more crab legs followed by bananas foster and tiny baklava and cannoli.  The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was rich and deep and fruity but dry, a delectable wine that wore the label “American.”  On the way out I asked the manager which part was the original building, and it’s the building at the entrance, four stories, one above, and two cellars below, with the cellar just below the first floor used as a prison during the Civil War.  The winery was completed in 1870 and the first vines yielded grapes in 1872.  Unfortunately, most of the  wines are made from non-Lake Erie grapes.  The few vineyards on the property are Concord.