We are pretty blessed at Wyandotte.  Our customers are wonderful people, and getting to spend a little time with them is one of the things that makes the business fun.

We are looking for ways to make our customer’s experience at Wyandotte even better.  Valerie and I are always coming up with things we think are good ideas, and the hard working folks at organizations like the Ohio Wine Producers and the Ohio Grape Industries are a big help. All that is great, but we are hoping that our customers can help us to understand more about what they want from the winery, and that we can use that information to help set goals for 2009 and beyond.

To that end we have setup a customer survey that we are hoping as many of our customers, and potential customers, will take a few minutes to complete. The Wyandotte Winery 2009 Customer Survey will not take too much time, and will help us to provide the products and services that our customer’s really want.

Just in case you missed the link above, click here to take the 2009 Wyandotte Winery Customer Survey.

In later blog entries I will review the results and share the plans that we put in place based on the results.

Thank you all for helping us out!  Happy New Year!

There is a lot going on in the wine world around the Riesling grape.  If you like Riesling wines, you know what I mean.  If you are not familiar with the grape, Riesling is a fruity and aromatic wine which may have aromas of green or other apples, grapefruit, peach, honey, rose blossom or cut green grass, and usually a crisp taste due to the high acidity.  You can get Riesling wines from dry to sweet, and even sparkling.  We are pretty proud of our Riesling at Wyandotte where we make it in a less sweet version that brings out the great character of the wine.

If you are intersted in learning more I just found a website that is kind of fun.  The Riesling Rules website has a book that you can order about Riesling, but also has lots of fun information.  Articles on serving Riesling, movies to see with Riesling, how to sound like a Riesling geek, etc.  Check it out sometime.

Oh, and my favorite Riesling geek saying?

“The TA on this baby is so high you can’t even feel the RS.”

You may not know that December 5th of this year marked the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition in the United States.  While it may sound obvious to say that prohibition had a huge influence on the Ohio wine industry, you may not know how big the effect really was.

Back in the early 1800’s a guy named Nicholas Longworth began to plant Catawba grapes near Cincinnati and the Ohio River.  What may surprise you is that by 1859 the southern Ohio region had become the leading wine producer in the country with more than 3,000 acres of grapes.

Between crop disease and the Civil War, wine production in Southern Ohio was virtually destroyed.  But in Northern Ohio, German immigrants were bringing their wine making traditions to the lake islands where the unique climate from the Great Lakes was perfect for grape growing.

Unfortunately, the next blow to Ohio wine making and grape growing came from prohibition, and it took many years for the industry to come back after prohibition was repealed. Today the wine industry in Ohio is again flourishing and growing.

It may also interest you to know that Westerville, one of the communities very close to Wyandotte and a major suburb of Columbus, has a large part in the history of prohibition.  An 1859 town ordinance forbade the sale of alcohol in Westerville. By the 1870s, a burgeoning conflict between pro- and anti-temperance forces boiled over into the so-called “Westerville Whiskey Wars.” Twice, in 1875 and 1879, businessman Henry Corbin opened a saloon in Westerville, and each time the townspeople blew up his establishment with gunpowder. Westerville’s reputation for temperance was so significant that in 1909 the Anti-saloon League moved its national headquarters from Washington, DC to Westerville. The League, at the forefront of the prohibition movement, gained its greatest triumph when prohibition was ratified in 1920. The League printed so many leaflets in support of temperance and prohibition—over 40 tons of mail per month—that Westerville, by now known as “The Dry Capital of the World,” was the smallest town in the nation to have a first class post office. The League’s Westerville headquarters was given to the Westerville Public Library in 1973 and now serves as a museum attached to the library.

Even today getting permission to serve liquor of any kind in Westerville takes a majority vote of the residents.

So, take a moment to clink your glasses together for the anniversary of no more prohibition!  Hopefully with a glass of Wyandotte Wine!

The cold weather has finally come to central Ohio, and we are winding down the year at Wyandotte.  That does not mean that things get any less busy.  As a matter of fact the last quarter of the year is very busy for us.

With the harvest comes the time to bring in the new juice and get fermentations started.  I spent a good portion of September and October hauling many gallons of juice back to the winery.  We have some apple cider that has finished fermenting and the apple wine should be ready sometime early next year.  We have a 2008 Chambourcin in the tank to supply our next release of “Our Heritage” wine.  The “Ice House” Gewurztraminer is close, and “Sweet William” will be available again soon. 

We have also been doing a lot of bottling, and I need to thank our friends that have volunteered to help us out.  In the last month Gene and Kerry have been there a couple of times to help, and earlier in the year Tim and Amy lent a hand.  Thank you very much!

On top of all that we had our Holiday Open House last weekend, we are hosting a bunch of Holiday parties at the winery, and the Capital City Wine Trail has an event three weekends in December.

Busy times, but worth all the hard work!  Come in and see us soon!

Robin Coolidge, Winemaker