Ohio | VinoVerve

The Ohio River Valley AVA Meanders

By admin | February 11, 2013 - 2:04 pm |February 11, 2013 American, AVA, Elkton, Gretchen Neuman, Indiana, Indiana Uplands, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, VinoVerve, West Virginia

Comments Off

Map of the Ohio River Valley AVA

Just like the great river for which it is named, the Ohio River Valley AVA has changed its course. I alluded to this over the weekend when I mentioned the new Indiana Uplands AVA. But because I wanted to focus on Indiana Uplands and the also new Elkton AVAs, I didn’t get to the revisions the Ohio River Valley.

Today this has changed. As a reminder, this is the original version of the map:

Map of the revised Ohio River Valley AVA

And the new? Well, I assumed that the variation between the two maps would represent the original map minus the territory that would have crossed over into the new Indiana Uplands AVA. So, I am including both maps here so you can judge for yourself. I feel fairly satisfied that I guessed correctly.

Map of the Indiana Uplands AVA

Now, what the variations are and what they mean? That will be discussed on another day.

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

How To Drink Local Wine

By admin | October 10, 2011 - 1:41 pm |October 10, 2011 Gewurtztraminer, Gretchen Neuman, Illinois, Indiana, liquor store, Local Wine, local wine stores, local wines, Locapour, Lynfred, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Regional Wine Week, Virginia, wine, Wisconsin

1 Comment

My favorite way to discover local wine is through travel. As I drive to conferences or visiting relative, I like to stop by the local winery and taste what they are producing. I love talking to the wine makers and learning about their story. Their passion for wine is always infectious. Currently, I have a problem. Getting away has increasingly become difficult due to family responsibilities (i.e., reining in teens)

My solution? Well the first option is to comb my local wine shops (which may in fact be local grocery stores). Grocery stores? Well, being a foodie type, it makes for easier menu planning. I have found myself doing this on the road as well. In part, because I eat better on the road when I am picking fruit and veg instead of eating fast food, but also because in many states, grocery stores have wine (Yes, I know you don’t New York State – get over yourselves on that matter).

I have picked up great wines in Virginia, Indiana Illinois and Nebraska at grocers or their closely associated liquor stores.

Some standouts? Bloom, a small chain that I found while visiting my 104 year old grandmother and other relatives in Virginia Beach. They have a nice wine section that has got one of the nicest selections of local wines that I have ever seen.

My nationwide? Whole Foods is a great choice. With its dedication to fresh and local ingredients, it makes sense that they would feature local wine. Given their national reach? Local wines extend to regional options extending my non-travelling reach. Lately, I have found Firelands Gewurztraminer from Isle St. George, near Sandusky, OH and from Illinois, Prairie State Winery, Lynfred and Glunz Family all in my local WF.

Surprisingly, in Chicago, I have found that smaller, ethnic groceries are full of local options as well. Maybe this is because they are being supplied by alternative distributors. I am not going to argue the point so long as I can find new and original options. In my neighborhood, I am recommending Foremost liquors which vary from neighborhood to neighborhood as to their options.

I have also found increasing local options at my neighborhood Jewel where the wines of Indiana’s Oliver Winery and Michigan’s Tabor Hill have found themselves on the shelves.

These are very pleasant surprise for a local wine lover.

My new way to get local wine? If I can’t get to the wine? I am having it brought to me.

While not all smaller wineries can and do ship, we should take advantage of those that do. How to chose? I am using results for wine competitions. An imperfect system to be sure, but one that is making it easier for a lover of local wine to extend their selections.

What are your favorite regional American wines? Let us know and maybe I will be checking them out soon!

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor
October 10, 2011

Hitting the Road!

By admin | June 16, 2011 - 12:01 am |June 15, 2011 Gretchen Neuman, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Comments Off

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Yes, I have been absent for a while.. but the Win(e)ding Road is always on my mind. Particularly since next month is the Wine Bloggers Conference. This year I will NOT be heading west, but rather east and south. Heading to Virginia.

Because I will be travelling through more populated portions of the world, I am pleased that I won’t have to take the same route too and fro. That makes travel more boring, at least that is what we, Neuman’s think. According to the routing that I have established so far, I will be driving through eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky) and the District of Columbia.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be looking at each individual state to see what kind of wine and nerdy adventures that I can find.

In the meantime, here is the route as I have devised it thus far.

I wonder what route Marguerite is planning to take?

Firelands Wines

By GMN | October 28, 2009 - 9:53 am |October 28, 2009 Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Gewurtztraminer, Gretchen Neuman, home winemaking, ice wine, Kevin Neuman, local wines, Niagara Escarpment, Ohio, pinot grigio, pinot noir, Riesling, Road Trip!, Rory G, Vidal Blanc, Wineding Roads

Comments Off

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

So after all that discussion of the Ohio and the Firelands, did I finally get around to tasting any wine? Of course I did!

Firelands Tasting Room I began with the Pinot Grigio, currently the most popular wine according to the ladies in the tasting room. I could taste green apple and grass. It was a little less crisp than some of the pinot grigios than I have had in the past, but this is a good thing… Sometimes, those wines get too bitey and for some reason that makes the hinge of my jaw hurt. (I never said that logic was my strong suit).

Next up was the Riesling. This was advertised as tasting of apples but I thought it had more of a honeyed flavor that reminded me of pears. This is made in what I consider a more traditional style, in that it was semi-sweet. I love the new modern dry Rieslings as well, but there is something to be said for the full, fruity and floral tones of the traditional method.

I even sampled the Gewurztraminer which I had tasted with Henry Bishop, Rory and Kevin (albeit not the same vintage). It is still an excellent blend of tropical fruits and rose petals. The best of two different worlds.

Home Wine Making at Firelands Additionally, I tasted both the Pinot Noir (a wine that I have enjoyed from Great Lakes regions, i.e., Niagara Escarpment) and the Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet was herbal and lightly spicy and nicely dry. The Pinot Noir was smoke with anise and cherry.

Additional offerings under the Firelands label include:

Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Chardonnay
Barrel Select Chardonnay
Rose de St. George
Country Estate Red
Walleye White and
Ice Wine

Additional wines from the other Lonz, Inc. labels were available including the Mantey, Dover, Mon Ami and Lonz (from grapes produced on Middle Bass Island). I picked up a Mantey Cream Sherry for my father. He has always been a fan of Ohio sherries and am looking forward to tasting it with it in the near future (most likely Thanksgiving).

Additionally, the winery is a source for homewine makers and sells juice in the autumn (until it runs out).

Ohio and Connecticut Wine

By admin | October 23, 2009 - 12:01 am |October 22, 2009 Connecticut, Gretchen Neuman, local wines, Marguerite Barrett, Ohio, sparkling wine, Wineding Roads

Comments Off

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

via Wikipedia and the Cleveland Public Library

I know that I left the question somewhat vague, but readers of the blog would know that Marguerite has written extensively about Connecticut wines. So the question remains how are Ohio and Connecticut wines related.

The answer is in the name of the winery that I was visiting, Firelands.

The Firelands was a tract of land that was set aside for Connecticut residents of Danbury, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, and Ridgefield who in 1779 and 1781 were burned out of their homes by the British during the Revolutionary War. The heirs to those original settlers were able to move to these lands and were the first to plant vineyards in the region. Isle St. George was part of the original Firelands tracts. The winery still produces its grapes on Isle St. George and then ships back to the winery in Sandusky for fermentation.

One of the nice parts of the Firelands Winery was their self-guided tour. I have taken several of these, but this was the nicest. It began with a short video presentation and then a tour of the winery from a historical perspective and from off the floor so that you can watch the work in progress while not being in the winemakers way. The tour looks at the original winery as well as the history of winemaking in Northern Ohio, including information about how sparkling wines were produced locally.

This winery was originally owned by the Mantey Family and opened in 1880 and their original house serves as the base of the wineries tasting room. The winery is currently owned by Lonz, Inc. and is the largest winery in the State of Ohio. It produces wine under the Firelands, Mantey, Lonz, Mon Ami and Dover labels.

As to whether someone won answered the question? We will have to see as this article was posted before the deadline for the contest. Good luck to everyone!

A votre santé!

Isle St. George

By admin | October 21, 2009 - 12:01 am |October 19, 2009 Gretchen Neuman, Kevin Neuman, local wines, Marguerite Barrett, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Quebec, Road Trip!, Rory G, Stephen T Colbert Memorial Better Know an AVA, Wineding Roads

Comments Off

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Tuesday as it turns out, is a much better day for trying to find an open winery. At least it is in Ohio.

Tuesday morning, bright and early I pulled into the Firelands Winery parking (please note if using GPS to find this location, there is construction in the area and you will be rerouted).

I was excited to visit this winery as I had actually tasted the wine from here before. Back in 2007, when VinoVerve was young, Rory, Kevin and I had dinner at Salpicon in Chicago and drank wine and chatted with Henry Bishop. During that dinner, while eating great Mexican food, we drank wine from all over the world. This included wine from Missouri, Quebec and Ohio. This is one of the reasons that I have become so passionate about local wine. The Ohio wine was the 2005 Firelands Winery Gewurztraminer, Isle St. George, Sandusky, Ohio.

I have to admit that I was curious about the locations listed for the wine. Isle Saint George is on an island (duh) in Lake Erie but is the name of a community, not the name of the island, itself. It is located on North Bass Island and is part of the Put-in-Bay Township in Ottawa County, Ohio. The township consists of 7 of the 31 Lake Erie Islands (some of which are now just reefs) that are shared between the States of Michigan and Ohio and the Province of Ontario. Several of the Lake Erie Islands, including North Bass Island are known for producing wine grapes. In many cases these wineries declined after prohibition but have resurfaced since the 1980s.

Created by NormanEinstein, June 23, 2005. Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC-BY-SA)

In the case of Isle Saint George, the community was designated an AVA in 1982. By law, the AVA must be listed “St.” instead of “Saint” George (government often confuses me to the point of creating a headache). The weather in the area is milder than the surrounding mainlands as the waters of Lake Erie are the warmest of all the Great Lakes. As a result, vitis vinifera grape varietals are able to thrive. The island is famous for producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Riesling far more north than usual.

However, the Firelands Winery wines also list Sandusky, Ohio (home to Cedar Point) on their labels. This is because the grapes are grown in Isle St. George but are produced at the winery in Sandusky.

Confused yet? Wait until you hear about the rest of the history of the winery.

I will give you a hint: It has something to do with Marguerite’s VinoVerve posts! The first person to most fully explain the connection (correctly, obviously) will win a Locapour T-shirt. Entries must be received before Thursday, October 22th at midnight CDT (yes, we are on Daylight Time).

Firelands Winery
917 Bardshar Rd.
Sandusky, OH 44870
(419) 625-5474

Destination Sommelier

By admin | September 23, 2007 - 9:04 pm |September 23, 2007 American, Apple, Destination Sommelier, esoteric, Missouri, Ohio, Quebec, Restaurants, Sommelier, Swiss

Comments Off

Some of us choose a restaurant based on the wine list. Quality of food, of course, is a factor, as is the friendliness and efficiency of service, but, if you are like me, it is the wine program, or the Sommelier responsible for it, which matters most.

Henry Bishop is a name I had heard more than a year ago from a trusted member of the Chicago wholesale community. The name Henry Bishop surfaced again last week, when a new colleague of mine mentioned that she had dined at a mexican restaurant called Salpicon. She spoke highly of Henry Bishop, specifically a sense of humor and a penchant for the esoteric. I looked at the restaurant’s website, www.salpicon.com, which has the wines organized by country, and in some cases by producer. At that moment I had decided that I was going to eat there. I was not phased by the quixotic combination between a serious wine program and a mexican concept, and didn’t even look at the dinner menu.

I met Kevin and Maman for dinner at Salpicon last Thursday. We started with guacamole and chips, and three ‘Salpicon Margaritas’ (when in Rome…). It felt like a typical mexican restaurant experience. We asked if Henry was in, he was. Henry Bishop approached, introductions were made, common acquaintances referenced. We asked him to pair wines with our ‘tasting menu’ (always order the tasting menu). What happened next turned our typical mexican restaurant experience into a stimulating and thoroughly unique adventure into the [other] world of wine.

Henry Bishop’s Wine Pairings
1.Pere Ventura Brut Nature NV Cava, Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Spain
2.2005 Firelands Winery Gewurztraminer, Isle St. George, Sandusky, Ohio
3.1997 Villa Guntrum, Oppenheimer Schützenhütte, Kabinett Halbtrocken, Rheinhessen
4.2006 Dubaril Gamay Romand Rosé, Cave de La Côte-Uvavins, Morges, Switzerland
5.2005 Summers Winery Charbono, Villa Andriana Vineyard, Calistoga, Napa, California
6.2006 Emilio Bulfon Piculìt Neri, Valeriano, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
7.La Face Cachee de la Pomme, Neige, Apple Ice Wine, Quebec, Canada
8.Mount Pleasant Tawny Port, Augusta, Missouri

Each of the above wines delivered quality and balance and would have been acceptable under any circumstance. But what occurred that night was special, an adventure through six countries, two forgotten but important historical wine producing states, and french canadian apple orchards that employ cryoconcentration and cryoextraction to produce a unique and exotic ‘wine’. Henry had us in the palm of his hand. Each time he arrived at the table with a new wine meant a new surprise and new fork in the road of our conversation.

If you are like me, you choose a restaurant because of it’s wine list. And if you are like me, and enjoy to place yourself at the mercy of a talented and intuitive Sommelier, visit Salpicon and ask for Henry Bishop. Or, if you have a Sommelier that has earned your trust as Henry has mine, then please share your story and contact us at Destination Sommelier.

Category Archives: Ohio

The Ohio River Valley AVA Meanders

How To Drink Local Wine

Hitting the Road!

Firelands Wines

Ohio and Connecticut Wine

Isle St. George

Destination Sommelier

About VinoVerve