[ Log On ]

Climate

There are 2 vineyards at present . Both are about 5 miles from Lake Erie to the north and northeast and 3 miles from Sandusky Bay to the northwest on limestone ridges 200 feet above Lake Erie. The unque climactic factors of the western basin of Lake Erie and especially Sandusky Bay afford a growing season of greater than 200 days. The cool lake water delays bud break in April when there is risk of frost. The warm fall lake allows us to ripen the grapes often to mid-November. The accumulated Heat Degree Days of 2900(similar to southern France and northern Italy, which influenced my decision to plant Rhone and Italian varieties) is warm but not too warm that the ripening has to be aborted because of falling acidity and high ph. The result is long hang times with excellent ripeness, good alcohol and good acidity. The amount and pattern of precipitation is similar to the great wine regions such as Bordeaux-- a total of 32 inches of rain a year and only 2 inches in each of the harvest months of September and October. The long, sunny and dry autumns concentrate flavor in the grapes.

Soils

The route 4 vineyard is a 15 acre vineyard on a sand ridge on deep sandy loam soil over limestone bedrock. The Mason Road vineyard is also a 15 acre vineyard on a limestone ridge 3 miles west. The soil here is shallow(2-3 ft) clay over fissured limestone. This limestone is a soft chalky limestone. The chalky limestone rock and pebbles are throughout the vineyard making the vineyard difficult to work but the vines thrive in these rocky, limestone soils. Both these vineyards, due to the sand and limestone, are very well-drained. The vine roots easily penetrate the fissured limestone bedrock and give consistency of hydration.

Varieties

The first varieties planted in 2002 were riesling, gewurztraminer, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, tempranillo, grenache, sangiovese, syrah, merlot, cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and touriga nacional. I also planted an experimental plot of nebbiolo, barbera, mourvedre, malbec, viognier and semillon. Several of these varieties did very well so I extended plantings of nebbiolo, barbera, brunello clone of sangiovese, mourvedre, petit verdot, touriga and viognier in the Mason Road vineyard. I've yet to find a variety that doesn't make a decent wine in these climate and soils, however, the warm climate reds such as nebbiolo, and warm climate whites such as viognier seem to do the best. Riesling makes a good wine because the dew and fog off the lake in late September, that burns off in the sunny fall afternoons, encourages noble rot that doesn't develop into sour rot and gives a rich honey flavor to the riesling. And with the winter cold in Ohio we can make a riesling icewine.