Harvest Crush Tasting & Wine Tour in Ohio’s Wine Country.

September 19, 2024 MyOhioFun

Harvest season in Ohio’s wine country is the perfect time to plan a road trip to the area. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or not, the winding roads, fall foliage, covered bridges and the smell of ripening grapes that permeates the air during harvest season are reasons enough to gas up the car, grab a few friends and head to Ohio’s largest county.

This year, Grand River Cellars Winery & Restaurant and Debonne’ Vineyards have teamed up to offer a special Harvest Crush Tasting & Tour. This special tour is offered every Wednesday through October 16^th. The tour starts at 1pm and only a limited number of tickets are sold per tour. The tour includes a food and wine pairing in a wine cave, followed by more wine and juice sampling, as well as learning about creating wine in the Grand River Valley. During the tour you will sample 8 different wines and four pressed juice samples.

Stop #1

Your tour starts at Grand River Cellars.
5750 S. Madison Rd., Madison, OH
grandrivercellars.com

Don’t be late. Tour starts at 1pm.

Upon arriving and checking in, you will be escorted to “The Wine Cave”. There you will be treated to the wine and food pairing portion of the tour. During your pairing you will learn how certain wines pair well with certain foods and just by taking a few additional sips of wine, the flavors in the food you are pairing it with get enhanced. I learned there really is something to how you pair wine with food.

Our tour experience featured four small bites paired with four wines and two fresh pressed juices.

Before heading to your next stop, make sure you purchase a bottle or two of your favorite wines from the tasting. The winery opens at Noon if you would like to grab a bite to eat before your tour.

After enjoying time in the Wine Cave, we were off to Debonne’ Vineyards just a short drive away.

Stop #2

Debonne’ Vineyards
7840 Doty Rd, Madison, OH 44057
debonne.com

Once everyone arrived at the winery, Loretta and Justin, our hosts for the tour, invited us to join them in the tasting room. There we received a brief history of the winery and sampled a selection of wines. As each wine was poured we learned about the wine, the flavor distinctions and the type of grapes used. After sampling several wines, and fresh pressed juices, we were off to tour the Press House and Fermentation facility.

There one of the wine makers walked us through the process of wine making. From the moment the grapes are harvested to the bottling of the grapes. We learned how white wines were made, and how for red wines the grapes went through an additional process to extract all the stems and leaves. As we moved to the bottling area, we learned about the bottling process and the difference between corks and screw tops. But wait there was more. Our tour was treated to a special tasting of wine that was still in the fermenting process.

Before our tour was complete, we moved on to the Juice House and Cooling facility. The Juice House is where the juice from the harvested grapes is stored and is also sold to anyone who would like to purchase just the juice. Pull in your car/truck and they will fill your large container(s) with juice. During our tour we each were treated to a sample of the fresh grape juice stored in the Juice House.

Just as our tour was ending, the winery staff dropped off another pallet of harvested grapes to start their journey in the fermenting process. The smell of the fresh picked concord grapes was amazing!

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

The tour took approximately 2 hours total. I would add additional time to enjoy lunch before or after the tour at one of the wineries. Having the opportunity to sample different wines is a great way to find your new favorite wine. Space is limited for the tour.

TICKETS

Tickets for the tour are $40 per person.
To learn more about the tour and to purchase tickets CLICK HERE.

About the wineries:

Both wineries offer award-winning wines and dining. If you love the outdoors, both wineries have relaxing patios to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine. And, both wineries are open year-round. Throughout the year they hosts special events, live entertainment and seasonal wine and food menus.

My Ohio Fun Road Trip notes:

1. Make sure you purchase a bottle or two of Debonne’s fresh pressed seasonal grape juice. (We found out it can be frozen.) The cost for a gallon was little over $8.

2. Both wineries accept credit cards.

3. Allow time to visit a couple of the 19 covered bridges located around the county. The recently restored Harpersfield Bridge is a short drive from either winery and is a perfect place to enjoy a walk and views of the Grand River. Parking is available nearby at the park.

4. To really enjoy all the area has to offer, including Lake Erie views, seasonal fall stops and more, we suggest you stay overnight. For nearby accommodations and assistance visit the Ashtabula County Tourism Bureau’s website.