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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2008 > January > 20 > Entry
Life after tobacco: the Meranda-Nixon Winery
Transitioning away from tobacco as a cash crop can be a wrenching experience, as many farm families across southern Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and other states can attest.
Seth Meranda found an alternative to tobacco for his great-grandfather’s farm, which is located north of Ripley in southern Ohio, near the banks of the Ohio River.
He planted wine grapes and launched the Meranda-Nixon Winery (his wife Tina brought the “Nixon” half of the name).
This very young enterprise somehow escaped my attention when I was driving through the back roads of Brown County last year, but its wines have started showing up on the shelves of Dayton-area wine shops, and yesterday (1-19-08), Seth and Tina poured four of their wines at the Arrow Wine & Spirits regular Saturday tasting.
There were some pleasant surprises in the lineup, starting with Meranda-Nixon’s Catawba ($8.99), made from grapes Seth brings in from the Lake Erie growing region in northern Ohio (he’ll have his own estate-grown Catawba a couple of years down the road). It was simply the best version of this wine I’ve tasted from Ohio. This pink wine is not cloyingly sweet, nor overtly foxy, but is instead a clean, refreshing sipper. Meranda credits some advice and guidance from Nick Ferrante of Ferrante Vineyards, who suggested early picking to preserve acidity and hold down the foxiness quotient. The advice worked like a charm.
Who knew Catawba could produce wine like this? (Answer: I should have known, but didn’t.)
Meranda-Nixon’s estate-grown Traminette ($12.99), a fruity white wine with zesty acidity, also impressed, as did the red wine made from DeChaunac grapes and labeled Red Oak Creek ($9.99).
The winery is still a work in progress, with new vineyards coming on line within the next few years. Located not far from the high-achieving Kinkead Ridge winery, which we profiled last August, Meranda-Nixon will be one Ohio winery to keep an eye on.
Because the world could probably use a few less cigarettes — and a few more bottles of wine.
Mark Fisher
Comments
By tbill
January 22, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
How about Moyer’s winery? In Manchester in Adams county, they’ve been there a LONG time!By Niki Foor
January 21, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
I think we visited the Meranda-Nixon tasting room while Seth was still building it. We went down to Ripley last spring to visit Kinkead Ridge and Seth stopped into the winery while we were talking with Nancy. He told us about the tasting room he was building and gave us directions. His dogs (blue tick hounds?) were the reception committee as neither Seth nor Tina were around, but it was a really gorgeous building; very impressive! Haven’t tried his wines yet, but look forward to that as well.By James
January 20, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this
Their Traminette is exquisite and value priced! They have a well done and informative website as well: meranda-nixonwinery.comBy jcanelli
January 20, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this
Mark you asked for a posting about the wine tasting dinner at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar that featured Penfolds wines Friday night. Frankly it was a disappointment. The Koonunga Hill Chardonnay from South Australia was a great match with the tuna tartar on a fingerling potato chip was excellent. The Chardonnay is a nicely balanced wine with hints of oak and fruit flavors. The Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvedre was okay; it did nothing to enhance the Baby Arugula Salad with pulled duck and smoked bacon dressing. My room mate for life wasn’t impressed at all with the salad. The St. Henri Shiraz lacked the depth of flavor that I would expect from one of Penfolds’ more prominent wines. The pepper crusted New York strip steak served with it was a complete failure. It didn’t have a lot of flavor frankly. The potatoes served with it were excellent. The 2002 Grange Shiraz served with the lamb chops was outstanding and the wine rep claims it still has more years to open up. However the lamb chops failed to match the wine. The cherry sauce on them was a little too sweet and the chops just didn’t taste like lamb. The Tawny port served with the dessert was flavorful, with a nutty finish. But the dessert was simply too rich for several folks at our table. The servers were great, cheerful and attentive. But overall for $240 including tax and tip, Flemings just didn’t preform to the high standards it sets for itself.By Nancy
January 20, 2008 2:12 PM | Link to this
There are two other wineries that were mentored by Kinkead Ridge coming up to speed: La Vigna in Higginsport; and Renascent Vineyards in Georgetown; www.lavignawines.com and www.renascentvineyards.comBy jcanelli
January 20, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
Bought a bottle of their Traminette and enjoyed it every much. Their Catawba is a very big surprise because it is a well balanced wine with a sweet taste. It’s definitely not your average Ohio Catawba.By Mark
January 20, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this
Ed: I have NOT checked out the winery you mention, so thanks for the tip!By Ed
January 20, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
Mark. There is also a winery called Lakeside Vineyards which has started up in Felicity, not far from Meranda-Nixon and the other wineries. Have you checked them out yet?