Summer wines are different; people tend to eat lighter foods and the drinks that go with those foods are lighter. We’ve put together a list of local wine bars, wineries, and craft brewers to wet your pallet. Enjoy.
Lighter meals in the summer time are usually also associated with lighter wines sold at Cypress Cellars Winery, according to owner Rick Taylor.
“A lot of people don’t like red wine in the summer because it’s a little heavier, you associate that with more of a full meal,” he said. “People eat lighter in the summer so they like a lighter wine, it’s easier drinking and a little less alcohol content.”
The most popular wines at Cypress in the summer are their fruit wines, blueberry and most recently a peach wine. Taylor said many people enjoy an ice cube in the sweeter blueberry and peach wines, something you wouldn’t do with a dry red wine.
“A lot of people like fruit wines, and in Ohio a lot of people like sweet wines,” said Taylor. “It’s a nice blend of grapes and blueberries or grapes and peaches.”
For fans of drier wines, Cypress offers a French Kiss wine that is a blend of gewurztraminer and viognier, which Taylor describes as dry but crisp. Cypress also offers a Sauvignon Blanc for fans of truly dry wines.
All wines are offered year-round at Cyrpress Hills, but the white sweeter wines are more popular in the summer.
Cypress Cellars Winery is located in Mansfield, Ohio at the rear of 37 East Fourth Street below City Grill, and is open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The Happy Grape Wine Bar & Bistro
The Happy Grape carries approximately 30 different wines at any given time. Paul Smith, who co-owns the Happy Grape with his wife Pam, said, “If somebody is looking for something, we have thousands and thousands of wines to choose from, and multiple distributors, so we can find pretty much anything you need.” He added, “I think one of the misconceptions is that because we’re a wine bar our wine’s really expensive and it’s really not.”
“As summer comes around, a lot of people move toward the white wines,” Smith said. Appropriately, the Happy Grape has various selections of pinot grigios and sauvignon blancs, including Biltmore Estate’s pinot grigio–a refreshing and versatile drink with pear aromas and sweet citrus flavors. There’s also Tora Bay’s sauvignon blanc from Martinborough, New Zealand, as well as New Age’s semi-sparkling blend of 90 percent torrontes and 10 percent sauvignon blanc from Mendoza, Argentina.
Some of their sweet wines are Villa Rosa’s Moscato d’Asti, a bubbly white wine with hints of almond, melon and ripe stone fruit. Smith also highlighted Casali’s Rosa di Rosa, a red, sparkling Italian wine made with black Malvasia grapes. “That’s one of our best sellers,” Smith said.
Smith said they also carry plenty of wines that are great for sangrias. “Typically they’re inexpensive reds and a little bit fruity and sweet. Just throw in some fruit, let it sit for a bit, ice it up and they’re great for the back patio,” he said.
The Happy Grape has two locations: 300 E. Main St. in Lexington and 47 E. Main St. in Ashland. The Lexington location is open Monday – Thursday from 3-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 3 p.m. – midnight. The Ashland location is open Tuesday – Thursday from 3-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. – midnight.
In Bucyrus, Italian made wines are flying off the shelves at Norman’s Niche Wine Bar. Owner Natalie Norman said Italian wines are a little more bubbly and a little lighter, making them perfect for summer weather.
“For our area in general we usually sell sweeter wines, moscatos,” said Norman. “They’re a little more tropical, a little sweeter, a little fruitier.”
Norman’s Niche has been in Bucyrus for a little more than a year now, and Natalie Norman said sweeter wines have been a great introduction to new wine drinkers in the area.
“Sweeter wines are the most popular year round, I think because people are new to wine so it’s a little more friendly, and it’s hot outside and the wine is chilled so it’s a little more refreshing.”
Norman’s Niche also offers a wide selection of craft beers, mostly Ohio made. Natalie Norman said fruity beers have also been the most popular beverage on the beer side, including raspberry and blueberry flavors.
“The Root Beer beers are real popular too,” she said. “We have two styles, one is real sweet and the other is a little stronger in flavor and alcohol, but it’s still really good.”
Norman’s Niche is located at 219 S Sandusky Avenue in Bucyrus. They are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
While the Phoenix Brewing Company may not offer many summer wines, the bar has the market cornered on summer ales. Co-owner and Master Brewer Duncan Macfarlane said the most popular summer ale at the Phoenix is their Jane Doe American Wheat beer.
“It’s a similar recipe to the John Doe, but we add pure raspberry puree, 42 pounds per each 150-gallon batch,” he said. “It’s added to the end of fermentation so it actually does go through some fermentation with the berries in there.”
Macfarlane said the Jane Doe goes very well by itself or with some of the Phoneix’s beer cocktails.
The brewery will be adding a brand-new summer brew to its menu starting August 1, the Adalinda Hefeweizen. The German beer has spicy notes of clove and hints of banana.
“It’s a German style wheat beer, so it’ll have some haze because it’s not filtered and traditional with the style,” said Macfarlane. “It’s a very refreshing summer beer and has a little bit more flavor than some other beers, it’s very thirst quenching.”
Macfarlane said many people want a lighter, refreshing beer in the summer as opposed to a heavy darker beer.
“I call them ‘patio beers’ because you don’t want a heavy stout in this heat,” said Macfarlane.
The Phoenix Brewing Company is located at 131 North Diamond Street in Mansfield. They are open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Saturday and 12:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
At The Vault Wine Bar, owner Cindy Lash said she notices many more white wines being sold in the summer versus the winter.
“White wines are served colder so that would make it more of a summer drink,” she said. “People like a glass of white wine on the patio.”
Many of the wines served at The Vault are seasonal in both name and flavor. Lash said the bar carries Flip Flop wine as well as a Sea Glass Pinot Grigio – on July 24, anyone who wears a pair of flip flops to The Vault will receive a dollar off their drink.
“People like the names, it makes them feel like they’re outside at the beach,” she said.
A New Age white wine blend is served over ice with a squeeze of lime, which Lash said normally is a no-no with wine but the cocktail is a very summery drink. The Vault is also offering a bucket special of single serving Myx Moscato in coconut, peach and mango flavors.
“Those are very summery, and in a bucket it’s perfect for sitting on the patio,” she said.
The Vault Wine Bar is located at 29 West Main Street in Shelby. They are open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday, and 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday.
Wayne’s Country Market has a variety of sweet and dry wines, including some high-end wines. The store sells many Ohio wines and imported wines from places across the globe, such as Italy, South America, New Zealand and Africa.
Firelands Winery’s gewurztraminer was among the recommended wines for the summer. “It’s bright, crisp and a little tart,” said staff member Katie Radford. “It’s really good chilled as a sipping wine or with seafood.”
Another suggested wine was Taken Wine Company’s red wine called “Taken.” A cabernet and merlot mix, “It’s a smooth red blend,” Radford described, “You get a little bit of the nice, dry bite from the cabernet sauvignon grapes, but it’s very, very smooth.”
13 Celsius makes a sauvignon blanc that’s also available at the store. Radford said it has notes of grapefruit, adding, “It’s really refreshing and crisp.”
Sangrias tend to be a popular drink during this season, and one that was highlighted was Paper Moon Vineyards’ blackberry red wine sangria. It’s very fruity, sweet and best served chilled, Radford said.
Lastly, Wayne’s also sells Canella Winery’s Bellini, which is mixed with sparkling wine and the pulp of Italian white peaches.
Wayne’s has a WineStation, an automated temperature-controlled, wine dispensing and preservation system, that allows customers to sample wine before purchasing a bottle.
The store, which is located at 2440 Lexington Avenue in Mansfield, also holds wine and beer tasting events. Wayne’s is open Monday – Saturday from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (no alcohol sold on Sundays). For more information, call 419- 884-1993.
Winery 1285 at The Blueberry Patch in Mansfield, which opened late last year, currently has 11 wines, plus sangrias, that were each made on-site.
Listed on the menu, of course, is blueberry wine. One that winery co-owners Steve and Lisa Beilstein highlighted was their blueberry reserve wine, which contains Blueray blueberries that were aged in a French oak barrel. The Blueray blueberry is their most popular variety of blueberries at The Blueberry Patch, Steve said.
Their white wines like pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc are also good choices for the summer, they said. “Those are light and bright,” Steve Beilstein explained, adding that the pinot grigio is a little fruitier than the sauvignon blanc.
He said their sweet riesling and Catawba breeze also make for good summer drinks. One wine that was recently added was an apple cider wine that’s served in a cinnamon-sugar-rimmed glass. “It’s like eating apple pie in liquid form,” Steve said.
Additionally, they serve sangrias, including a peach-basil frozen sangria. “It’s like eating a slushy and having a glass of wine at the same time,” Steve said. Lisa added that they will soon serve a blueberry sangria, too.
Late summer, they intend to add three more wines to the menu: blackberry, red raspberry, and rhubarb wines.
Winery 1285 is located at 1285 W. Hanley Road. Though the winery is open Wednesday – Saturday, Lisa Beilstein noted that customers may purchase wine to drink in The Blueberry Patch’s cafe (except Sunday) or purchase a bottle to go during regular store hours (except Sunday). The winery also hosts wine and paint parties.
Hours of operation are Wednesday and Thursday from 4-10 p.m., Friday from 4-11 p.m. and Saturday from 2-11 p.m. For more information, call 419-884-1797 or check out the website or Facebook page.
Wishmaker House, located at 116 Main St. in Bellville, currently produces 13 house wines, each of which were made from grapes grown in Ohio or New York.
Cassie Swisher, co-owner of Wishmaker House, said three of their wines recently won medals at the 2015 Ohio Wine Competition. Their moscato earned a double gold medal and their rhubarb and “Starry Night” wines both won silver medals.
The moscato is a sweet white wine with hints of citrus and peach, while the Starry Night is a semi-sweet wine with honey, apricot and peach flavors that’s made from Brianna grapes. “There’s probably only a couple other wineries in Ohio that make wine using that grape,” Swisher noted. And the rhubarb wine “tastes a little bit like rhubarb pie,” she said.
During this season, she said they also sell a lot of strawberry wine, which is nice and sweet.
Two new wines this year include the pear wine and pinot grigio, both of which are popular drinks, she said.
Throughout the year, Wishmaker House hosts wine pairing dinners. The dinners include five courses, each of which are served with a different wine.
Wishmaker House wine bar is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. For more information about Wishmaker House, call 419-886-9463 or visit the website or Facebook page.
