4 Ohio Wineries to Visit This Autumn

Wineries abound across Ohio, from urban operations like The Skeleton Root, located in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, to destinations like M Cellars, which has been highlighting the fruits of our state’s Grand River Valley growing region for years, these four destinations promise a flavor or autumn and some tasty Ohio-made wines. 

The Skeleton Root | Cincinnati 
This spot in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood focuses on dry wines in a speakeasylike setting with a warm atmosphere. 

Housed in a 1920s industrial building in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, everything about The Skeleton Root’s winemaking operation goes against the grain. That’s what makes it so sensational. Owner Kate MacDonald pledges her allegiance to dry wines made from American heritage, norton and catawba grapes, as well as others.  

“A lot of what people associate with Ohio wines is sweeter wine styles, but we don’t often get associated with dry, high-quality wines,” MacDonald says. “So that was something that I was very interested in and wanted to try to keep everything really focused as locally as possible.”

She adds that the Ohio River Valley is known as the birthplace of commercial winemaking in the United States, so when she returned from living and working in wine regions such as Napa Valley and the Finger Lakes, she decided to plant roots for her winery in her hometown. The urban location resembles a speakeasy, with leather couches that invite visitors to lounge in conversation nooks and casually sip Bordeaux varietals paired with shareable light bites. 

MacDonald works with smaller-scale, regional growers, bringing the fruit on-site to crush, press and ferment the grapes that make their way from the barrel-aging room to your glass, which can be enjoyed in either a spacious bar area or outdoor patio

“It’s a great way to just kind of relax, and it’s very cozy. We try not to have a snooty wine vibe at all,” MacDonald says with a laugh. “You can have flights made from grapes you’ve never heard of, have food, hang out and, hopefully, take some wine to go too.” 38 W. McMicken Ave., Cincinnati 45202, 513/918-3015, skeletonroot.com

M Cellars | Geneva 
This award-winning vineyard and winery in the Grand River Valley AVA offers music and food trucks during fall weekends, as well as an annual autumn clambake.  

A bottle of wine as a thank-you gift to Matt and Tara Meineke lit the fuse that ignited M Cellars winery. In 2012, the couple began welcoming visitors to their Geneva winery in the Grand River Valley AVA to enjoy award-winning sparkling wines and aromatic whites that Matt says rank among their top offerings. 

“It’s definitely a warm atmosphere,” Matt says of the winery. “We try to treat everybody like family and make sure everybody loves the wine.”

Visitors can take a seat in the tasting room or in the loft above it for a more intimate experience. Relax fireside in the tasting room while sipping M Cellars’ bestselling Meritage or nibbling on shareables like the street corn dip and tortilla chips, warm brie with fig Jam and crackers, or artisan charcuterie and fromage. 

On weekends in the fall, live music, food trucks and an annual clambake top the list of things to do and experience at this boutique winery. Outside, a two-tiered deck and stamped-concrete patio invite patrons to pull up a chair next to the more than 12 acres of vineyards, providing a look at where the fruit they’re enjoying in their glass began.  

“We connect all the dots pretty much on one property. You’re drinking wine 100 feet away from where it was growing, and the production is literally right below you down in the winery,” Meineke says. “Everybody talks about farm to table, and it really doesn’t get any more farm to table than that. We’re a supplier, we’re a farmer, we’re winemakers. It’s a full circle. So the authenticity that we bring is a big deal.” 6139 S. River Rd. W., Geneva 44041, 440/361-4104, mcellars.com

Maize Valley Winery & Craft Brewery | Hartville 
This 100-acre working farm hosts an annual fall festival made for families, complete with wagon rides and an 8-acre corn maze.

A 175-year-old barn creates the perfect backdrop for Maize Valley Winery & Craft Brewery in Hartville, which offered just five wines when it opened in 2005. Today, the menu features more than 25 wines, as well as craft beer, which was introduced as an offering in 2014. 

Visitors can take advantage of the plentiful indoor and outdoor seating options that look out over the gentle, rolling hills. This 100-acre working farm grows pumpkins, lavender and soybeans, in addition to French-American hybrid grapes that produce award-winning blends such as the winery’s Reserve Blanc, which is made using frontenac and frontenac gris varietals. 

The Tasting Room Cafe serves up soups, sandwiches and appetizers for hungry patrons, while weekly car cruise-ins and live music provide entertainment. Every year, a hot-air ballon liftoff starts the fall season, which sees some 20,000 people visit to enjoy Maize Valley’s 8-acre corn maze, apple cannons, wagon rides, duck races and straw-bale mountain. 

“We’re a family destination that still has fun for Mom and Dad,” says Michelle Bakan, one of four owners of the family-owned operation. “We build all our attractions so that adults can get on them, so they apply to kids and kids at heart.” 

This year, Maize Valley’s ever-popular corn maze will toast Cheers to 20 Years as the winery celebrates this milestone. 

“It’s very picturesque here in the fall,” Bakan says. “We get so many people out here that love to sit down and just enjoy a nice glass of wine or a beer and watch their kids play.” 6193 Edison St. NE, Hartville 44632, 330/877-8344, maizevalley.com

Paper Moon Vineyards | Vermilion
This family-owned winery on a 50-acre wooded lot offers a mix of red, whites, rosés and ciders at its renovated tasting room. 

The Cawrse family behind Vermilion’s Paper Moon Vineyards continues to seek out high-quality fruits to produce their award-winning wines. They also create a warm atmosphere for those visiting to try offerings like the winery’s dry rieslings, blackberry sangria and hard cider.   

Tucked away on a 50-acre wooded property, the winery has a Tuscan interior with stone and stucco accents, barrel tables and a semicircular, copper-clad tasting counter. Outside, a pavilion-style tent with nearby fire pit seating provides a great spot to enjoy live music and lawn games. 

“It’s just a comfortable place where people can relax and recharge and hopefully go away with a good experience where they feel like they were treated well,” says winemaker Adam Cawrse. 

In 2009, Adam and his parents, Dick and Sheryl Cawrse, took their hobby and launched Paper Moon Vineyards that today offers reds, whites and rosés, as well as hard cider made from locally grown apples. 

“[We] try to offer pretty much everything across the board to meet everyone’s palette,” he says. 

With a recent renovation that expanded, insulated and enclosed an outdoor porch and added roll-top doors, Cawrse says the stage is set for any type of fall weather.  

“We can roll down our glass doors and keep it warm inside, or we can open things up, and it feels like you’re outside,” Cawrse says. “We try to offer a lot of different spots where you can feel as private as you want with just a couple people, or larger groups can gather, and you can all have a fun time together.” 2008 State Rd., Vermilion 44089, 440/967-2500, papermoonvineyards.com 

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