Good day, winos! We have a bonus adventure for you to enjoy! Thanks to a little time off, and nutty curiosity, we set off on Tuesday, December 26th to go see the famous Nutcrackers of Steubenville, Ohio!
So, the Ohio Wine Explorers passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane Forrest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then drove down Interstate 77….Ok, full disclosure, we stopped in Cambridge, first!
The first stop in our Nutcracker adventure was one a brand new winery for us, Guggisberg Doughty Glenn Winery, located at 5025 OH-557, Millersburg, OH 44654. Doughty Glenn is not only a fantastic winery, but they have a full service hotel with an incredible view. The hotel was closed for the holidays, but looks really nice. The following is a view from their breakfast room!
They had a nice cross section of sweet and dry wines, but their sweet spot seems to be right in the middle. I tried (and went home with) a bottle of their Cranberry. Now, I love cranberry anyway, but this semi-dry had a perfect understated tartness with just a touch of sugar. The Pinot Nior was also very unique, with a great flavor and just a very slight hint of sweetness. I’m no opposed to sweet wines, I just lean dry, so these were perfect!
I know Mike left with two bottles, but I can’t remember what they were!
Our next stop was truly a hidden gem, Heritage Vineyard Winery located at 27561 Township Rd 45, Warsaw, OH 43844. Wow, from the first moment, we loved this place! We were greeted by who I imagine is their leader, Hank.
The winery is located down a long driveway, and Hank beat the actual owner to the tasting room, greeting us as we entered. If you peruse our Instagram account, you know we are suckers for winery dogs!
Now, the wines! I am a sucker for unique offerings, so when I see a Chambourcin or Traminette, I just have to try! They did NOT disappoint! The Traminette would be the perfect, slightly chilled, clean, crisp summer’s day patio drinker. Their tasting was 5 wines for $4, so I tried several of the drys and semi-drys, but the Chambourcin, holy Hank it was good!
The Lighthouse Red is a slightly sweet version of the Chambourcin, and was just as fantastic! I went home with a bottle of both! Jen, Sara and Mike really liked the Twilight Blush, so we left with a bottle of that, too! I do not think there was a single miss on this line-up!
Stop #3 for the day was Raven’s Glenn Winery & Restaurant. Located at 56183 Co Rd 143, West Lafayette, OH 43845, Raven’s Glenn provided the perfect wine+snack stop for mid-day! The winning started with the lone guy working who took care of several parties with speed, graciousness, and humor. Check out the wine list, here!
My favorite for the stop was their Mad Raven, a semi-dry red blend, with Estate Noiret grapes (remember? I said I like to try unique!), but their Merlot was wonderful. Wait…am I becoming a Merlot fan??? Everyone also enjoyed an Ohio winter favorite, too, the warm mulled wine.
Beyond the wine, we got to try flaming cheese dip! It really was fantastic, and hit that mid-day snack spot!
A little (or a lot) further down the road, was Georgetown Vineyards, otherwise known as Georgetown Tavern on the Hill. Hill indeed! the view from this place, overlooking Cambridge, is amazing! Located at 62920 Georgetown Rd, Cambridge, OH 43725, it sits overlooking the valley to the east.
Instead of being greeted by a winery dog, we were met by a stray cat named Mozzarella. He was the sweetest kitty who loved getting pets. I usually stay nice, on here, but I will say whoever abandoned this sweet little kitty should rot in hell, and never get anymore wine! If we were headed home, I might be typing this at a house with four cats, instead of three.
Ok, back to wine! Once again, the Merlot got me! I had two glasses as we ordered and ate some excellent pizza. Mike really enjoyed the Ferdonia, and left with a bottle! And the people, freaking amazing! Funny, gracious, and patient! I guess this guy liked it so much he never left!
From here, it was about an hour and half drive to our hotel for the night, the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Steubenville. I’m a Marriott guy, so I had cashed in some points to get us a couple of rooms for the night. This was a slightly older property, but very clean and with a nice steaming hot tub and indoor pool. A long soak to purge the day of sitting in a car was welcome. And the folks were VERY nice. Hey, Marriott, if you’re following, and liked to sponsor our little group, we wouldn’t say no! LOL!
Wednesday, we got up and started the day by avoiding the rain in a fantastically huge antique place call the Antique Warehouse. It is 4 floors (3 floors plus a basement) full of vendors. walked out with an armload of albums for my vinyl collection. We then started our walk among the Nutcrackers!
The Steubenville Nutcracker Village is a real institution in this area. 200+ nutcrackers of famous (and locally famous) people, from the Rat Pack to John Glenn! check out our Instagram post to see more of them! And seeing as Steubenville is Dean Martin’s childhood home, we did go visit “his” hometown pasta place, Naples Spaghetti House. Wow, ok, I’m not really a pasts person, but the food here was fan-freaking-tastic!
Full of pasta, we hopped back in the car for the trip home. Frist of two stops on the way was The Vineyards at Pine Lake. Located at 14101 Market St, Columbiana, OH 44408, this place is as beautiful as it gets! The tasting room sits on a hill overlooking Pine Lake, and even on a cloudy winter day, it is just a pleasure to sit and take in the view.
You can find their wine list online at https://www.thevineyardsatpinelake.com/wine-varieties/. I thoroughly enjoyed the Malbec, and even bought a bottle to bring home. It was smooth, somewhat earthy, and tasted amazing. All four of us enjoyed the Berry Patch, which ended up coming home with us, too! Jen, sara, and Mike, also enjoyed the Niagara, and the Blue Orchid.
Our second and final stop for today was CharBenay’s Wine of the River. Located at 220 W Market St, Warren, OH 44481, we felt compelled to stop and channel our inner Dave Grohl!
The moment you step into this place it’s as if you stepped of the plane onto Winter Fantasy Island! All we needed was Herve Villechaize in a white suit yelling, Da Minivan! Da Minivan! The place is gorgeous, and had a warm, welcoming feel.
Again on the search for different, I tried and enjoyed the Montepulciano, a smooth dry red that was warm on my tongue! The River rock was also excellent. The wine list, and the entire menu, can be found here. We snacked on some Rosemary Parmesan Fries because, well, we could! They were so delicious!
From there, it was just homeward bound. It was a fantastic little impromptu adventure with Sara & Mike, Jen & I. Cindi, Jesse, and their two boys also took a trek down to see the nutcrackers, and briefly met up with us at the hotel lobby, but decided to head home on Tuesday.
As always, you can follow our exploration in real time on Instagram and Facebook!
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