Donniella Winchell, Executive Director
Ohio Wine Producer’s Association

A lot of residents of Northeast Ohio think Concord and Catawba grapes when they think about Ohio wine. You know it: that mega-sweet stuff, almost like candy, that souvenir you picked up after a long day in the sun on Middle Bass Island? Well, if that’s your impression of what our region’s wine is capable of, I’m here to tell you it’s not all just Smucker’s melted jelly anymore.

Don’t believe me? Perhaps Donniella Winchell can change your mind. She is the Executive Director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association (http://www.OhioWines.org) and she has a blast winning the cynics and naysayers over. The Ohio Wine Producers Association (OWPA) has been at promoting the breadth of wine in the state for decades—their work culminating every year with the Vintage Ohio wine festival (http://www.VisitVintageOhio.com), which takes place this Friday and Saturday, August 4-5, at Lake Metroparks Farmpark.

Winchell (“Donnie” to her friends) is the epitome of youthful spirit. She sees Vintage Ohio as “Cedar Point for grown-ups,” loves to share stories and relate the thrills of wine production in Ohio as an economic driver.

Our conversation takes place Friday afternoon, t-minus one week until Vintage Ohio lift-off. Flooding has taken place out east, where she's located. Tensions could be high, with all the phones ringing off the hook and details on the event being cinched. But she’s peaceful. People are looking for tickets, placing orders and congratulating her on the placement of Vintage Ohio in USA Today (see below). In the middle of a three-ring circus, it isn’t any wonder why Winchell sounds blissfully happy. Our conversation was upbeat, intriguing and went like this:

Cool Cleveland: Thanks for taking the time. I read that Vintage Ohio is now the largest wine event in Ohio. Outside of the 35,000+ who know because they attend, what does that mean exactly for a casual reader?

Donniella Winchell: USA Today did a January/February “round up” of wine events across the country. In that story, they listed Aspen, Monterrey, the New York Wine Experience and Vintage Ohio as their four key events. It’s been gratifying to see Vintage Ohio mature to such a level of significance. Certainly we’re the biggest in the state, and in the top 10 in the country.

Vintage Ohio is the current model for the Zinfandel fest in California, and yet it’s different from most other wine festivals. We don’t sell bottles, because we don’t want you to drink… we want you to taste. Based on your wine travels, you know what the other side looks like! (laughs) We pride ourselves on being “An experience for all of your senses.” That’s our new motto. From a potential consumer’s perspective, the average street festival’s patron will stay at an event for 2 hours; at Vintage, we get 6 hours, so there’s a tremendous value, too. And our arts package alone this year is worth the price of admission, and because of our approach, we always seem to draw well.

Local and regional partnerships have been key for Vintage Ohio.

It’s definitely an affinity group replica, much in the same way that MBNA built businesses in concentric circles. Think about it: only so many people drink wine, and of those people, only so many have the first Friday and Saturday in August available because of vacations… the growth comes with opportunities to promote to a lot of people who are potential customers. You get the [Ohio] Farm Bureau to explain agriculture to an increasingly urban audience. You bring cheese producers, restaurateurs, producers of wine accoutrements… it’s built completely on relationships and partnerships, which also helps keep our audience engaged.

How far back does interest in wine go for you and how did you originally become involved with the Ohio Wine Producer’s Association?

Well, I grew up on a grape farm, but I vowed early on that I would never marry a farmer because it’s so dicey. But it must be in a gene pool, because here I am. And my daughter loves horses and has gotten pretty good with them, so I don’t suppose we’re leaving any time soon! (laughs). Anyway, I was a schoolteacher in the ‘60s, had read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique was going to be liberated! (laughs) I’m not a super liberal feminist, but I knew my options… I wanted to be the first female superintendent, but really became interested in wine.

I’ve been doing this since 1978, Peter. That’s forever! The Association originally hired me for 3 dollars an hour, when it was extraordinarily small. Over the years, the Association, our success and the bankroll have grown considerably. I got to thinking about this the other day: our very first print clip was in American Fruit Grower magazine. Last weekend, we got the front cover of the USA Today travel section!

How did your own passion for wine develop and how has your interest in wine changed over the years?

When I taught history, the appeal of 2000 years of time and some 300 civilizations never lent itself to boredom. I was always challenged and intrigued; wine is the same way. Once you get proficient in one area, there’s something else to learn. You discover more about viticulture. You learn about mapping soil types for successful growth patterns, like someone I know does. You get to lecture several thousand people about the subject. You try new blends and varieties. You can never master it all, but I’m working on it. (laughs)

What is current wine production like in Ohio, how does it differ from, say, 20 years ago, and what are the causative factors for such growth?

Three things on growth. One is research, mainly the Ohio State University research done at the branch in Wooster. Those folks really helped [growers] figure out what grapes everyone in Ohio could grow successfully. Second is the entrepreneurial spirit—that hard-working, aggressive, “A-type” personality, where sometimes the egos get as big as barns. And third, our vines have finally been in the ground for a while, which is critical. A young Riesling is fresh, fruity and very up-front… where a mature one is full of melons and more complex.

Production, on the other hand, has not increased dramatically in the past 20 years; we’re up in volume about 9-12 thousand tons every year. What’s changed is the mix. We were mostly producing Concord and Catawba 20 years ago. Now, we’re doing a lot of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir… and local growers are now [challenging] a lot of nationally-recognized producers competitively.

Give us a few stats that most Northeast Ohioans won’t know about the wine industry in the state, especially related to economic growth and tourism.

I’ll give you a few. There are 600 jobs that we can attribute specifically to the wine producing business in the region, and that’s going to expand. The economic stability tied to that is big, too… also, we can’t grow enough to meet the demand and popularity. 65% of all the grapes in Ohio are grown on a 22-mile long, 4-mile wide stretch on either side of the Grand River in Lake and Ashtabula County.

Incredible! I bet a lot of people have no idea.

There are challenges in protecting what we have, while identifying potential new growing areas. Then there’s the growth of bed & breakfasts and the transportation services born from the economic impact of wineries being clustered like the 20 we have out here. Wineries really have been identified as an economic engine in this region, which has helped define this region, driving business and tourism.

Vintage Ohio draws out a lot of wine aficionados and “foodies,” like me. But it also draws a lot of the self-professed Wine For Dummies students who want to know more. What does Vintage Ohio offer them?

A totally un-intimidating environment, where you can pick and choose what you sample and how you progress. You can pick varietals, engage winemakers for recommendations and discussions with real one-on-one time. There are cooking class workshops with Loretta Paganini, a Wine Education Tent and tasting and food pairing courses. Intimate connections help break down barriers.

Wine has enjoyed a fruitful crossover into the mainstream lately and become a leisure pursuit for young professionals. Is that surprising?

What’s surprising is the exploration younger generations are engaging in, because they grew up in Boomer households where wine was present. You’ll find these people jumping headlong big reds without apprehension, which is a thrill because it’s so unlike the natural progression of the wine palette everyone is used to reading about. A lot of Millennials are not just getting into wines, but into the wine business, too. These people are young, smart and edgy and have a lot of moxie. It’s exciting to see.

I’m certainly no “Miles” from “Sideways,” although Paul Giamatti would be my choice for acting my life story on film. But from my “junior wine steward” seat, it seems like Ice Wine and Rieslings are really in Ohio’s “strike zone.” They grow well up here and seem to be popular in Cleveland, because of the German, Czech and Polish immigrants who grew up on sweeter wine and then settled here. They’re also fairly competitive.

(laughs) It’s true. One of the favorite things we all do as wine producers is the blind taste test. We don’t always win, but [Ohio is] always in the ball game and our price point is almost always more attractive. You know, I think that sometimes wine critics drink labels and not wine, and if we can get those wines of ours into people’s mouths, we will consistently win people over.

I’ve been surprised by Cabernet Francs from Ohio, too. Very bold.

Absolutely. They are extremely good and again very competitive.

There was a time when California was the only game going. And while California beat France again—twice in 30 years—we’ve seen different wine growing regions sprouting up and really developing their “terroir.” What would you say Ohio’s “terroir” is, and how far away are we from getting to the level of New York, Oregon and Washington State?

I went to school at Allegheny, Western Pennsylvania. My family would make regular trips to the David Mead Inn for dinner there, and in those days, the wine list was exclusively French and German, with a Gallo burgundy. That’s it. And in one generation, California was on top.

Give Ohio one generation and we will be there. Growers are trying to figure out what side of the mountain to plant. We are at a point now, with all of the wine categories I mentioned, where we’re really on the brink of a lot happening. We don’t have a long enough growing season for some varietals and we won’t, unless global warming continues!

What do you consider to be the best bottle values, or perhaps even the Best Kept Secrets, that come from Northeast Ohio?

I really have to say, across the board, that there are a lot of great ones. People should know that, especially as it relates to Rieslings, “sweet” does not equal bad. If they’re not done right, they do end up tasting flabby. With the right pairings, and the right balance, honey, there’s really nothing better.

Well, I’m sure I could talk to you all day, but really should let you go. I can hear your phones ringing off the hook. “Vintage Ohio” is days away and you’re on the fast track to being awake at 5 a.m., with a couple hours sleep each night. How will you decompress?

We have a tiny little condo In Geneva-on-the-Lake. I’ll hide there and watch the best sunsets outside of Key West. I’m taking three days off. Delicious!

For more information on this weekend’s Vintage Ohio wine festival, please visit their website at http://www.VisitVintageOhio.com. The festival will be held at Lake Metroparks Farmpark 8800, Chardon, Ohio 44094.

Interview by Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com (:divend:)