Lake Erie West Wineries

Our site seeing began in Valley City, on a quest to learn about honey wine. When we arrived at Jilbert’s Winery, we found them to be unfortunately closed. We continued on our way and ended up in Westlake, at Heartland Vineyards. The owner was busy pressing grapes, but his wife was available and promptly took us to the tasting room in which we sampled numerous wines and learned a wealth of information.

Heartland purchases juice, and sometimes grapes, from around the country and then makes a variety of wines from them. They only sell from their own store and two other small town stores in the area. They also are known for their beer and wine making supplies.

The first wine I sampled was called Catabara. It contained Italian Muscat (we learned this species is also used in asti spumante) and Barbera grapes. It seemed to have a floral scent of rose/geranium and was semi-dry. It apparently pairs well with seafood. The next sample was called Autumn Crest. It had a woody/dried aroma with a hint of tobacco, and tastes of blackberry and black currant with a spicy finish. Next I tried the apple wine which could only be described as very “appley.” It also had a crisp kind of smoothness. The Pink Catawba had a strawberry/pear aroma and taste, was semi-sweet, and had a tart finish. Finally I tried the Raspberry Melomel, which was very interesting. It had a very strong aroma and therefore I was not able to discern anything specific. It was very sweet with a bit of tang and had a smooth, caramelized, honey flavor.

After asking about the difference between meade and melomel, we were told that they made their meade by fermenting the honey and then sweetening it with honey rather than adding sugar. It takes two years for the whole process and they do not heat their honey which can cause it to go bad if it reaches 160 degrees. Their melomel was made by, once again, fermenting the honey and then adding fruits of their choice. They produced raspberry, blueberry, cherry and peach.

Throughout our hour and a half conversation, we learned several other interesting facts. We learned that grappa is made from the left over stems and grape skins, which are crushed again and served as an after dinner liquor and that Valipachello (unsure of spelling) goes through a malolactic fermentation in which the acids are balanced out, producing a smooth, buttery taste. We also learned that a 30 gallon wooden barrel costs $200, that California has three more growing months than we do in Ohio, that Ohio was the wine capital of the U.S. until the early 1900’s, followed by New York and then California, and that this was a bad year for Delaware and Buffalo grapes due to the rain and cold weather.

After buying a bottle of Autumn Crest and Catabara, we headed to Klingshirn in Avon Lake. The owner here was also very busy but was able to give us a short tour. He quickly explained how all of his harvesting and processing machinery worked and showed us his storage area. We then sampled several wines, White Riesling and Vidal Blanc, and he explained his method of making his Iced Delaware. Instead of leaving the grapes on the vine to freeze, they are picked and placed in a freezer and then made into wine. Because this is different from the traditional way of making it, they are not allowed to call it “ice wine.” Overall, their wine did not seem as full flavored as the previous place, although we did buy a bottle of Iced Delaware to try.

From Klingshirn, we went to John Christ, also in Avon Lake. The owner was an enjoyable server and we sampled the majority of their selection including Raspberry, Blackberry, Special Blend, Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, Gewurztraminer, and Pink Catawba. I was partial to the Pink Catawba and the Special Blend, which contained a mixture of Concord and Niagara grapes, (we purchased a bottle of each) but I did not dislike any of them.