Posts Tagged ‘Homegrown’
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012What are the best regions for growing wine in Ohio?
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012As part of our our “ask the Ohio Wine and More Blog” from folks this question comes from Josh Gordon with the Karcher Group.
Ohio is very diverse state in many respects from manufacturing to agriculture. Within the Agriculture portion wine grape production ranges dramatically.
At one point in time the Cincinnati region was the largest grape growing and wine producing area in the United States. The production was made up of primarily Native American Grape varieties with Catawba leading the way.
The Ohio River Valley AVA is the birthplace of American viticulture. Wine has been produced in Ohio since 1823 when Nicholas Longworth planted the first Alexander and Isabella grapes in the Ohio River Valley. In 1825, Longworth planted the first Catawba grapes in Ohio. Others soon planted Catawba in new vineyards throughout the state and by 1860, Catawba was the most important grape variety in Ohio. At this time, Ohio produced more wine than any other state in the country, and Cincinnati was the most important city in the national wine trade. Of the 570,000 gallons of wine that were produced each year in Ohio, 200,000 came from Brown county.
The area is mostly planted with hybrid grapes like Baco Noir, Marechal Foch, Seyval Blanc and Vidal. Of the Vitis vinifera found in the area Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Riesling are the most commonly found. Cabernet Franc is probably one of the most consistant hybrids planted in the Southern part of the state.
The Grand River Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in portions of the Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties of northeastern Ohio. The wine appellation includes all the land that is contained within the larger, multi-state Lake Erie AVA that is also within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the Grand River or 14 miles (22.5 km) of the shoreline of Lake Erie.Like the Mosel, Bordeaux and the Sonoma/Russian River Valley, the gently rolling landscape of the Grand River Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) benefits from a climate moderated by the thermal effects of a large body of water, in this case, Lake Erie to the north.
The Grand River Valley AVA produces wines from Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Riesling, Pinot noir and Cabernet Franc grapes. White wines such as Riesling do best in the North.
In recent years with the resurgance of wine it has been motivation for development of
new grape varities that can be planted and thrive in areas other than the two regions mentioned above. For instance at Maize Valley we plant a French American Variety called La Crescent which makes a light crisp tropical fruit forward wine which we are having success growing and selling as finished wine.
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012Wordless Wednesday 1/4/2012
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011Wine? “Real” Cork or “plastic” Corks what’s the diff??
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011As part of our “Wine questions series” from our web Host The Karcher Group (TKG) Jen asked “What’s the difference between cork and plastic wine bottle closures?”
Making or growing “real” cork takes a LONG time! The cork grows in oak forests in Portugal. The cork actually comes from the bark and cannot be stripped until they are twenty-five years old.
The trees can only be stripped once every nine years after the first stripping, and it takes to the third stripping to get to wine cork quality! Demand for cork is increasing, the prices are rising. This is where the synthetic or what many people call “plastic” cork comes in.
The synthetic cork appeared in 1993 and they cost about seven cents each while natural cork is 13 to 75 cents each. Natural cork seals better but can give way to “cork taint” or TCA. Synthetic corks are only being used on bottles that are to be consumed with five years or less.
TCA is trichloroanisole results from the interaction of of mold, chlorine and phenols in cork. These chemicals are found in all plants. TCA produces a dark and moldy smell with the flavor of cardboard. Wines that develop TCA are often called โcorkedโ wines. About 5% of all wines develop TCA, you just never know.

Chemical structure of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), the compound primarily responsible for cork taint
The screw cap is another option. The screw cap is fitted on to bottles and is quickly gaining popularity as it prevents TCA and air completely. Some people don’t like the caps because unscrewing the top takes away from the experience of drinking a bottle of wine. But they really seem to work. The machinery to use screw caps is pretty expensive for smaller wineries to implement also.
We use both kinds of corks at Maize Valley. On our dry reds and some of our dry whites we use real cork. Our fast sellers all get synthetic, our “Mad Cow” cork is highly sought after at events and in the winery.
Bottom line is if you don’t plan on keeping a wine long do not worry about synthetic corks.
If the appearance of cork when serving the wine is important it’s cool, just be aware you do stand a greater chance for that wine to be tainted. We will probably switch to screw caps as soon as we can justify the investment, that’s what I would buy no matter what the end use of the wine.
Remember you can always go back and get more wine but you can never go back and make more time!
Wordless Wednesday, Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011Wagon Rides, Pumpkins and so much more! :-)
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011This post is written by Bill Bakan, “Farmer Bill” the Fun TSAR at Maize Valley
Welcome to our pumpkin patch!! At Maize Valley we make a pretty decent claim at being Ohio’s most complete fall harvest destination. No we don’t have everything that everyone may have at other pumpkin patches or corn mazes but we have a pretty “complete mix”.
We are a diversified family farm that offers a monthly 5 course china plated, guided paired wine tasting dinner series called “Vintner Dinners” as well as wagon rides to the pumpkin patch for school groups and the general public.
Bridging the gap bewteen what could be seen as two completly seperate worlds is a whole host of other menu and activity options designed to take our guests through all the seasons and “Vintages” if you will, of their life.
Coming up is the fall harvest season, the end of a long year of work and joy. About 12 years ago I stepped into a corn field and killed the corn and thereby carving a design into the field in the shape of the Goodyear Blimp creating our first corn maze. There was no looking back but we did not stop there either.
Coming up this late summer and fall we have balloons lifting off, clam bakes, Pig races, coorporate group outings, car crushing metal dinasaours, a life flight helicopter landing, Motorcycle rally’s, car cruises, garlic festival and wine pours. The list is pretty extensive, It is just how we roll.
Farming about 700 acres and approx. 40-50 different crops helps to keep us “real” but at the same time keeps us flexible and diversified enough to not only survive but continue to grow over the past few years.
It hasn’t been easy, but nothing worth having ever is! ๐