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Armed with fresh gold medals, Ohio wines head to Dayton WineFest
A few items of business before we get to Ohio wines: First, Uncorked will be on “research sabbatical” for the next week while we travel to Paso Robles, CA for a whirlwind tour of that up-and-coming wine region. Stay tuned for more great stuff after our grueling research!
Second, apologies for failing to post the wine tastings this week, but congratulations to Niki, who swept to victory in the first-ever Uncorked caption contest. Niki wins the top prize of — (drum roll, please) — our undying love and affection. And she didn’t even vote for herself!
Third, if you’ve not explored my other wine-blogging gig as editor of and contributor to Wine Sediments, now’s a good time, because the post that’s up on that site now is a reintroduction of sorts, and it includes links to “Greatest Hits” — the best posts of recent months by the international panel of bloggers who contribute to the site.
But, we move on. Take a peek at this, and consider the following good news:
Ohio Wine Festival returns to Second Street Market June 2-3
Ohio wines have snagged a few prestigious medals at some recent wine competitions — and that’s good news for those considering the Market District Ohio WineFest June 2-3 (next Friday night and all day Saturday) at the National City 2nd Street Public Market.
You remember Ohio wines, don’t you? They’re the wines some connoisseurs love to disrespect just because of their …
… place of birth (and I am not without sin over my lifetime, either, though I ain’t no Connie-Sewer). In fact, Ohio wines have made great strides in recent years, with more wineries opening and greater variety available. The whites have been tasty for a while and are still improving; the reds have made huge strides in quality, though a cool growing season can still produce unflattering wines.
And now comes hard evidence of the growth in quality. Ohio wines are getting noticed at wine competitions — and we’re not talking about the Ohio State Fair, but about real competitions that atract entries from all over, including California.
The 30th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition and Riesling Championship named a Ferrante 2005 American Riesling the winner of its “Best Semi-Dry Riesling� category, while Maize Valley won “Best Fruit Wine� for its non-vintage cherry wine. The riesling medal comes with an asterisk: The winning Ferrante wine was made from west-coast grapes from the Columbia Valley. But the competition received nearly 2,100 entries from 12 countries, 35 states and two Canadian provinces.
And the Geneva, Ohio-based Ferrante took some top honors at the 25th Riverside (CA) International Wine Competition, which drew 3,000 entries. The winery’s 2005 Grand River Valley Golden Bunches, a dry riesling, was chosen as the Sweepstakes Best White Wine, the only non-California wine to earn such a designation, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. And yes, it was made from Ohio-grown grapes.
Ferrante also won gold medals for 2004 Grand River Valley Vidal Blanc and 2004 Vidal Ice Wine. Breitenbach Wine Cellars in Dover took gold medals for Raspberry, Apricot and Pink Catawba wines.
All this had state agriculatural officials gushing.
“The fact that Ohio wines can travel to California and beat out West Coast wines in the viticultural epicenter of the nation shows just how far our Ohio wines have progressed in the last five years,� said Fred L. Dailey, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Ferrante and Breitenbach are among the dozen Ohio wineries headed to the local wine festival next weekend, although we don’t know whether they’re bringing their award-winners. A couple of other wineries that Dayton-area readers may be more familiar with — Valley Vineyards in Warren County and Kinkead Ridge down near Ripley — also will be here, as will The Winery at Versailles from Darke County.
If you’ve got a thing for Ohio wines — or heck, if you’ve got something against them, but are willing to learn — you’ll want to check out this event. Sadly, I’ll miss the darn thing because I’ll be out of town, but I want to hear what you thought, so post a comment on Uncorked and we’ll get them onto the site!
Here’s how to go. More details will be in Friday’s Dayton Daily News, in both the Life section in my Taste of Wine column and in the Go! section, if all goes as planned.
What: Market District Ohio WineFest, where a dozen Ohio wineries will pour samples
Where: National City 2nd Street Public Market at East Second and Webster streets, on the east edge of downtown Dayton
When: Friday June 2nd from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday June 3rd 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Why: Because Ohio wines are worth checking out, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised, that’s why.
Cost: $15 ($13 in advance) on Friday, 10 sampling tickets included ($5 for designated drivers and youths, no sampling tickets); free admission on Saturday with wine samples priced by the taste or bottle. Advance tickets available at National City Bank branch locations.
More enticements: Food will be provided by market district food merchants. Craft demonstrations by regional artisans. Live music. And you get to keep the glass.
More information: www.2ndstreetpublicmarket.com
Thanks and cheers!
Mark Fisher
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Comments
By Patricia Latimer
June 6, 2006 12:00 PM | Link to this
Mark: Congratulations on the breadth of your coverage. Paso robles has long been a great viticultural district becasue of the depth of its vineyard plantings, and the influence of climate, soil,varietals. It is what Ohio needs to do,and a good model. Ohio has 2,200 acres planted-a small vineyard anywhere in CA. Keep the stories rolling, and your camera clicking. Best Regards, Patricia author of Ohio Wine Country Excursions and California Wineries of Sonoma and Mendocino