Kroger Aquatic Center opens
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Governor names ‘Ohio Quality Wine’ winners
I wasn’t able to attend this afternoon’s press conference in Columbus regarding the Ohio Quality Wine Award winners, a somewhat controversial topic we explored early last week. But here is a press release from the event, sent out this afternoon by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Note that Valley Vineyards in Warren County did very well in this round of judging, producing one of only four wines to receive the equivalent of “state’s best” designation.
Governor Names Ohio Quality Wine Award Winners
13 Ohio Wineries Receive Prestigious “Ohio Quality Wine” Designation; Four Wines Voted “Director’s Choice”
COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 24, 2008) - Governor Ted Strickland and Ohio Agriculture Director Robert Boggs today honored 13 wineries across the state as members of the “Ohio Quality Wine” program. As part of the program, four “Ohio Quality Wines” were chosen as Director’s Choice recipients. Recipients of both awards were selected by a panel of judges.
Thirty-five wines were showcased as “Ohio Quality Wine” award winners and were recognized by the governor and director during an event held at the Statehouse for retailers, distributors, restaurateurs and winery owners.
“Today’s Ohio wines are better than ever,” Strickland said. “Ohio vineyards and winemakers produce a wide array of fine wines to please every consumer’s palate. These wines include award-winning vinifera and hybrid table wines, exciting sparkling wines and rich ice wines.”
The 2008 “Ohio Quality Wine” award winners are:
— Breitenbach Wine Cellars, Tuscarawas County
— Debonne Vineyards, Lake County
— Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Ashtabula County
— Firelands Winery, Erie County
— Grand River Cellars, Lake County
— Henke Winery, Hamilton County
— Meranda-Nixon Winery, Brown County
— Old Firehouse Winery, Ashtabula County
— Quarry Hill Winery & Orchard, Erie County
— Raven’s Glenn Winery & Restaurant, Coshocton County
— Terra Cotta Vineyards, Muskingum County
— Valley Vineyards, Warren County
— Viking Vineyards & Winery, Portage County
“Ohio’s wine industry is now the fourth largest in the eastern United States and receives high marks nationally and internationally for excellence, but many Ohioans don’t know about the availability and quality of wines made right in their own backyards,” said Boggs, who also serves as chair of the Ohio Grape Industries Committee. “The Ohio Quality Wine Program will help make these products more available to consumers and will educate about the high quality of Ohio wines. Ohioans will be able to quickly identify an Ohio Quality Wine by simply looking for the quality seal on the bottle.”
The “Ohio Quality Wine” award designation, created in 2007 by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee (OGIC), is assigned to wines made from at least 90 percent Ohio-grown grapes. These wines must also achieve at least 15 of 20 points on a sensory evaluation and pass a chemical analysis before receiving the quality seal. European vinifera and American hybrid grapes may be used to make all wine styles, and Labrusca (native grapes) may be used to make fortified wines.
By focusing on wines made from Ohio grapes, the “Ohio Quality Wine” program will spur the expansion and renovation of Ohio’s vineyards to meet the needs of Ohio winemakers. The program provides four judgings per year to include all possible wine releases. Chemical analysis also sets this quality program apart from others by identifying flaws that can be missed when only sensory testing is used.
The “Ohio Quality Wines” were also evaluated by a panel of judges, on behalf of Director Boggs, for the highly coveted Director’s Choice Award. The 2008 award recipients are:
— White Wine: (Tie) 2006 Chardonnay, Grand River Cellars of Madison, Ohio; 2007 Valley Blush, Valley Vineyards of Morrow, Ohio
— Red Wine: 2006 Norton, Henke Winery of Cincinnati, Ohio
— Specialty Wine: Solara Cream Sherry, Breitenbach Wine Cellars of Dover, Ohio
The OGIC, created in 1982, provides marketing materials to wineries to identify their Quality Wines and to help consumers recognize these “grapes-to-glass” Ohio wines. To learn more about the “Ohio Quality Wine” program, visit www.tasteohiowines.com.Tweet
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‘Wine country’ fire? Well, yes and no …
What image comes to your mind when you hear — as we have back east many times in the last 36 hours — that ‘wine country’ is on fire?
Raging infernos engulfing vineyards? Historic wineries going up in flames? Yeah, me too.
But those TV news “teaser” headlines were a tad overblown, it turns out. I don’t mean to minimize the wildfires that are still raging in some parts of California, but the corner of Napa County where one of the fires began was apparently a pretty remote place, and the true Napa Valley wine country — where the bulk of the vineyards and wineries are — doesn’t appear to have been seriously threatened by this fire in the corner of the county.
The Napa Valley Register reports that the Napa fire is under control and suggests the fire crossed over into a neighboring county soon after it started. However, many fires in various parts of northern California still out of control as of this morning, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
One thing to keep in mind: counties in California are immense, compared to counties in say, Ohio. And even in Napa, the actual percentage of acres under vine is smaller than what we might think.
But that didn’t stop folks in the news industry (that would be my colleagues, yes) from leaping to conclusions and reaching for a slightly sensationalized headline.
Now, let’s hope for a break in the weather that will help firefighters make sure this doesn’t truly become a “wine country fire.”
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