Ohio Wine Explorers

Saturday, October 21st, 2023

Hello friends, new and old! Welcome to our new site! After a couple of years of having a blast, trapsing around Ohio (and sometimes, beyond), learning about wine, finding cool wineries, and sometimes even petting a pregnant donkey, we thought it would be fun to share our adventures! Follow along as we try to hit our goal of visiting every winery in Ohio!

As we get going, we will be figuring out format, what we want to share, and how we do it. We are all pretty new to doing a blog, so if you have any feedback, feel free to share!

This Saturday, a subset of the OWEs, Mike & Sara and Scott & Jen, ventured out a bit south of Twinsburg, starting out in Canal Fulton, Ohio at a very cool little place called the Dragonfly Winery.

Info: Dragon Winery, located at the same address as the Dragonfly Tea Room
215 West Market St., Canal Fulton, Oh 44614

Dragonfly, which happens to be winery #52 for us, has a great combination of sweets and drys, or semi-drys. I tend towards dry wines, but Sarah is the queen of sweet wines. Not only did they have a great slate of wines, but, to Sarah’s delight, wine slushies AND slushie floats!

The wines I tried at Dragonfly were:
1. Sunday Dinner Merlot – A+ from me on this, and that is saying a LOT. I typically don’t care for Merlots, as they are a bit sharp for my taste. This one was so smooth, so full of flavor that I ended up taking one home!

2. 1814 Cabernet Sauvignon – A-, but it takes a LOT to move me with a Cab Sav. It’s one of my go-tos for taste, and this one, while an excellent drinker, was not enough for me to take one home. I would gladly come back to Dragonfly and drink a bottle, though.

3. Encore Blackberry – A+ again! This was a subtle sweet wine with an excellent full blackberry flavor, without being so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. This was the other bottle I brough home.

4. River’s Edge Pinot Nior – B, similar to the Cab Sav, Pinot’s are a go to for me, so it takes a LOT to get an A from me. And just like the Cab, I would happily come back and enjoy a bottle of this.

Next stop on our day, #54 on Sara’s list, was the Cheery Rd. Winery, the entrance for this, Sara will tell you, is not on Cheery Rd. Located at 1133 27th St. NW, Massillon, OH 44647

This is a lovely winery with an equally lovely collection of wines. I tried a flight of mostly their dry wines, including:

1. Jewell Cab Sav – solid B. Again, a great wine I would gladly drink again, but not quite reaching the “take a bottle home” mark.
2. OH Sweet Concord/Niagara blend – A, not overly sweet, and Sara and Mike walked out with a bottle.
3. Black Cheery (semi-sweet) – A, I really liked this as it had great cheery flavor without being like kool-aid.
4. 3 Bridges Zinfindel, Cab Sav, Syrah blend – B+, and a great blend. This could be an all day drinker, but my current inventory is packed with blends, so I did not bring one home. I would definitely drink this one again, as there was just a hint of Syrah, enough to add a peak to the flavor without the pucker I usually find with a straight Syrah.
5. Trailhead Red, off-dry blend – A, I am a sucker for blends, and this unlisted combo was even more delicious than the 3 Bridges.

Along with the OH wine, they have a, you guessed it, IO wine. I did not try it, but Sara, Mike, and Jen all did. Here is Sara’s flight:

The IO is a Moscato that, for a sweeter wine, is subtle. Of course, Sara lived the bottles and had to buy the matched set:

Overall, a wonderful Ohio winery, and return visit with the full crew is in order.

The third stop for the day, #55 on the Sara list, is a bit odd, but in a good way. Prime Vine Winery is an official tasting room for Venture Wines that crafts offerings from Napa Valley and Russian River valley grapes. The grounds of this place……wow.

We took our wines out on to the patio, which had an awesome full length fire pit (I used that image for our main site!). I tried three wines, this time.

1. White Blend – B-, but to be fair, I’m just really not a lover of white wines. Still, it was a good, clean, crisp white blend.
2. Red Blend, exclusive to this location – B, and a solid one at that. It wasn’t clear based on taste what was in there, but it was very good.
3. Cabernet Sauvignon – B+ for sure. Again, Cabs are a go to for me, so to get in my car, they have to come with a unique offering. I would gladly sit on this patio all summer long, drinking this Cab, though.
4. Bonus! Rose – B-, Jen for a glass of this and it was a generous pour, so I helped with it. It was crisp and clean, but did not have a strong flavor. I typically like a little more flavor, and prefer European Rose’s to US offerings. Still, very drinkable.

It appears that this is also a working event space, and even offer some custom……transportation! Sara wants to go back get a ride in this!

Our final winery for the day, was Silver Run winery, located at 376 Eastern Rd, Doylestown, Oh 44230.

This fantastic little winery does not grow their own grapes, but sources all of them locally, from Ohio grapes. The inside of this winery exudes a woody-rustic-welcomeness.

They have a great combination of wines, on both sides of the spectrum.

I, of course, tried a flight of dry reds, along with one surprise!

1. Rogues Hollow Red – A solidly, with some of the oak aging coming through somewhat subtle. I did not take one home, but I would gladly drink more!
2. Trading Post blend – A+ and just outstanding. A fan of Chambourcin, any blends with it are winners in my book!
3. Western Reserve – A+++ An outstanding Cab Franc, and if not for the fact that I have a full wine rack, this one would have come home with me!
4. Coal Minor’s Claim – A, a subtle sweet concord, I could drink a bottle of this. Not over the top, but I love the flavor of a concord without the kool-aid finish.
5. Red Tail – A+ and VERY unique! A just slightly sweet Chambourcin, something I had never had before. Outstanding Chambourcin flavor that, being a little sweet, hits a different spot on your tongue!

Well, that was it. A good but modest day. Stay tuned for more fun!!!