1 minute read
Wine mini-documentary highlights Ohio industry
The Ohio Grape Industries Committee premiered a new documentary in July highlighting the grape growing industry in Ohio and recognizing its growers.
The short film showed how the Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program is working to expand new and existing vineyards throughout the state. The goal is to create conversation around Ohio wineries and vineyards, and celebrate its long history of grape growing.
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Showings occurred at Buccia Vineyard Winery and B&B, 518 Gore Road, Conneaut; Folck Winery, 6843 N. Urbana-Lisbon Road, Mechanicsburg; Gideon Owen Wine Company, 3845 E. Wine Cellar Road, Port Clinton; Hanover Winery, 2165 Morman Road, Hamilton and Vinoklet Winery, 11069 Colerain Ave., Cincinnati.
Ohio has a long tradition of growing flavorful grapes that produce quality wines. It first began in the early 1800s when Nicholas Longworth, a pioneer in the commercial wine industry, planted Catawba grapes in Cincinnati above the Ohio River.
Unlike the stronger-tasting wines of that era, Longworth’s Catawba grapes produced a semi-sweet wine that quickly won the praises of consumers.
His initiatives proved so successful, that by 1859, Ohio had become the leading producer of wine, boasting more than 3,000 acres of grapes along the river between Cincinnati and Ripley, Ohio.
The Vineyard Expansion Assistance Program (VEAP) allows wineries to invest in and plant high-quality, high-value grapes onsite instead of purchasing them from other states.
The VEAP is an incentive program created and funded by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee. Ohio is the sixth largest wine producer in the country, with just over 1,500 acres of vineyards producing and selling 1.2 million gallons, or 500,000 cases, of wine annually.
There are currently 340 licensed wine manufacturers across the state, creating more than 8,000 full-time jobs for Ohioans.
VEAP is managed by OGIC, which was established in 1981 and operates in-part through the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Learn more about Ohio wines visit www.findohiowines.com.
