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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2007 > September > 12 > Entry
Harmony Hill takes a different approach to wine and fun
Harmony Hill’s Bill Skvarla on the entertainment patio of his winery
The following piece is scheduled to be published Friday in the Life section of the Dayton Daily News, but because you Uncorked readers are special, you get a “sneak peek” …
BETHEL, Oh. — A certain playfulness permeates Harmony Hill Vineyards in Bethel, about 30 miles east of Cincinnati. That’s apparent by the directional sign on the winery’s grounds that shows one arrow pointing west: “Napa — 2,390 miles” — and one pointing east: “Bethel, 2 miles.”
“It’s not so much about the wine as it is the experience,” says Bill Skvarla, who co-owns Harmony Hill with his wife Patti. “We just want people to enjoy the country.”
Wellllll, sometimes it is about the wine. After all, Harmony Hill produces several bottlings from grapes grown around the winery, including a tasty, off-dry Vidal Blanc called Concerto ($9.95). They sell the bottles from the tasting room, and on weekends, folks bring picnic baskets (Harmony Hill doesn’t serve food) to enjoy with the local wines while listening to live entertainment.
The winery is open on weekends — 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays — through the end of September, then closes down for harvest. It reopens briefly for a barrel sampling the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
One of the attractions is the newly opened “Cellar On The Hill,” Harmony Hill’s wine cave. It consists of four 30,000 pound pre-constructed concrete archways joined together to make the roof of the cave, placed by crane into an existing dry-pond bed and covered with earth. The wine barrels resting in the cave are gravity-fed through underground lines which connect the cave to the winery above.
It’s a pretty ambitious undertaking for a couple of nurses: Patti is a full-time nurse-anesthetist, Bill is an emergency room nurse, now working part time. The couple met when they were teenagers and have been married 28 years. They operated an organically certified medicinal herb farm on the property before planting vineyards.
Now, rather than medicinal herbs, the acres are filled with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, riesling, chardonnay, syval blanc, traminette and chambourcin.
“We’re still trying to find what grows best here,” Skvarla said. “We’ve trashed a lot of vines.”
The killer frost last spring damaged some of his vines, so the forced replanting will continue, with cab franc and chambourcin replacing the more delicate cabernet sauvignon, he said.
Skvarla’s playful side came out when he invited customers to “name that wine” — a blackberry dessert wine that Harmony Hill fermented this summer. He got more than 150 entries, such as Blackberry Boogie, Black Magic Woman and Heavenly Harmony. The Skvarlas ended up choosing “Berry Suite” as the winner.
For more information on Harmony Hill, go to www.hhwines.com or call (513) 734-3548.
Photos by Mark Fisher/Dayton Daily News
Comments
By Denise
September 12, 2007 7:35 PM | Link to this
We live around the corner from Harmony Hill and have had the best time visiting this summer. Bill and Patti (and the entire staff) are very engaging, the atmosphere and music delightful and we always run into someone we know. The wine is very good and well worth the trip, regardless of where you are from.By steve
September 12, 2007 5:22 PM | Link to this
Patti and Bill are perfect hosts ensuring that all feel welcome and have a great shared event. Highly recommended, high time!By Nancy Eubanks
September 12, 2007 3:21 PM | Link to this
Harmony Hill is a great place to go. It is beautiful and they have thought of everything to enhance your visit. P.S. You forgot to mention that they have donkeys!By Michelle
September 12, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this
Mark: I’m starting to wonder how we didn’t run into each other at Kinkead Ridge and Harmony Hill. I was just there as well: http://tinyurl.com/yom8v8