In the Midst of the Vermilion Valley

David Benzing and his partners at Vermilion Valley Vineyards opened their beautiful eco-friendly winery on Gore Orphanage Road several years ago.  The enviornmentally-friendly winery building is surrounded by vineyards. The winery seeks to educate its patrons on the different styles of wine--estate-bottled vinifera, labrusca, fruit--and has planted oer 5000 grape vines.  Music and food are offered on select weekends.  Also check their calendar for star gazing on scheduled evenings.  Meats and accompaniments are available to create your own picnic meal, including pick-it-yourself sweet corn, salad fixings, and blueberries and other fruits in season. Vermilion Valley Vineyards and Winery about two miles east of the village of Birmingham in northern Lorain County. It will be included on the September 8 wine tour.

It's Only a Paper Moon . . .

I'm putting off selecting the menu for lunch on the September 8 wine tour, want to think through how I want the experience to be for the guests, and I'm still waiting for RSVPs.  I've enjoyed the Panini sandwiches in the past, and one of the best things at the winery is the ability to see the winemaking operations from the dining area.  The winery makes a number of good wines, but we should focus on the dry Riesling.  Last summer, Adam Cawrse (winemaker) visited Canada to attend a conference focused entirely on Riesling. He wanted to gain knknowledge and techniques to make Riesling for Paper Moon.  Adam oversees Lake Erie Appellation grapes as they are hand sorted, crushed, lightly pressed, and juiced. Cold fermentation takes 3-4 weeks.  Smel and taste the fruit the comes through in the Reisling--do you taste peach, pear, melon, apple? It may be too late to get the special Silver Lining Riesling, but it's not too late to taste Paper Moon's newest release of this "Noble Grape" wine.  

The “Blitz” was a homemade tractor built in the early 1940s for use of the Klingshirn family, which began operating Klingshirn Winery in Avon Lake in 1935. The grapes originally produced wine for the family but large grape crops caused Albert R. Klingshirn to start selling his wine commercially. Lee Klingshirn, the third generation owner and operator of the winery, continues the family farm business today.  We'll meet Lee on September 8 during our wineries tour.

An Old Wine Truck and a Ferris Wheel . . . On Lake Erie

I haven't been back to Old Firehouse Winery since before I finished the book, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in their casks this weekend. I'll be there with fellow writer Gina Geither, whose book, Island of Tory, will be on sale with the wineries book.  I hope Gina tastes some of the Old Firehouse's wines with me.  It should make the Celtic Festival more fun. 

Firelands Postcard Society

When I researched my book I found postcards and wine labels, maps and pamphlets, old photos and advertising copy. Because the book is historical, any item that could be reproduced in a black-and-white TIFF or JPEG format at pre-ordained resolution settings was fair game.  The folks at the Firelands Postcard Society, which meets at the Sandusky Senior Center, know all about old stuff, and they'll be bringing their wine memorabilia with them to tomorrow night's meeting where I'll tell them all I know about the grape industry in Sandusky, especially around the turn of the century, when Sandusky was second in the nation in production.  The old-timers at the meeting will probably be able to tell me a thing or two about Dorn Winery, the Hommel family, and how Sweet Valley Wine Co. moved its offices from the islands to Sandusky.  

Kelley's Island Wine Company

KELLEY’S ISLAND, HERE IN CLEVELAND 

The story of Kirt and Robby Zettler starts with the history of wineries on Kelley’s Island. Vineyards were well established on Kelley’s Island by the 1840s. Datus Kelley planted Isabella grapes in Kelley’s Island limestone soil in 1842 and his son-in-law, Charles Carpenter, began operating the first commercial winery on the island in 1845. Kelley Island Wine Company was formed in 1865. Determined hikers can still find the impressive solid stone wall ruins of the building, built in 1878, with wine cellars and some equipment intact. The former vineyards around Kelley Island Wine Company are now covered in new growth trees. Kelley Island Wine Company, originally known as Island Number 6 and once one the largest producers of wine in the country, went out of business during Prohibition.

Island history and the prestige of the original winery operations motivated Kirt to seek naming rights to Kelley’s Island Wine Company when he and his family started growing grapes and making wine 30 years ago. “Kirt was studying agricultural engineering in Australia, and they started growing organic vegetables, which wasn’t a commercial success, so they started growing grapes,” Robby reports. Kelley’s Island Wine Company was reborn back in the early 1980s. The plaque behind the bar boasts that the winery makes “Pure Native Wines” from island grapes.

The winery has become a destination for vacationers because of the casual ambience of the modern “Australian Outback” building, outdoor seating, and fine chef-crafted food served in the evenings. The winery is a fun place where children can play and patrons can engage in volleyball and horseshoe. During the afternoons, pizza and cheese platters compliment the wine, but in the evening, the chef conjures up scallops and ribeye. The winery also bottles its own olive oil and has a full-service bar. The boats will start running in late March-early April, and the first big event is the Spring Wine Fling on April 22.

The Kelley's Island Wine Company shows off its wine at their new mainland home in the Cleveland area at Metropolitan Home Design, Lakewood’s newest lifestyle store specializing in global and local home design, food and wine. Author Claudia Taller will be there on February 10 from 7-9 PM to talk about how northern Ohio's wine industry started on the islands and sell copies of her book "Ohio's Lake Erie Wineries."

Get Ye to Markko Winery for the Yuletide Tasting

This weekend, December 3 and 4, Arnie and his family and friends will share their bounty and say thank you. The winery is open from 12-5 on Saturday and from 12-4 (I think) on Sunday. The e-blast said "It seems to be the little things we find in wine that add some extra pleasure."

I first met Arnie Esterer, winemaker and owner of Markko Vineyards in Conneaut, on our first Ohio wine country adventure.  Arnie, with partner Tim Hubbard, started experimenting with European varietals and French-American hybrids in the late 1960s after purchasing one hundred acres of land, as instructed by Dr. Konstantin Franc of New York’s Finger Lakes.  There are no pretences at Markko—it’s all about the wine.  The chardonnays and cabernets at the boutique winery are the best in Ohio because they’re handcrafted and estate bottled, and Arnie admits that they are expensive.  Arnie’s the guru of winemakers in the Lake Erie Appellation, and other vintners like Ken Tarsitano will admit they learned how to trellis vines and craft a decent wine from Esterer.  Arnie readily explains how the vines in our region must be kept three feet off the ground to prevent moisture that leads to rot.  The dark cellar of stainless steel for his Rieslings and oak barrels for the Chardonnays and Cabernets remind me that the grapes become wine all on their own, and it’s the winemaker’s job to create an excellent, drinkable wine from the results.  When we first stood at the counter in the tasting room and tasted dry wines with complimentary cheese, Markko became our favorite Ohio winery because Esterer wants to create the best wine possible from what the land offers, and he does.