The results are in.
Ohio’s best wine is a Riesling from Lake County’s own Debonne Vineyards.
That’s according to the 13 judges at the recent 2024 Ohio Wine Competition, in which 436 wines from throughout the state were judged over two days of blind tastings. They gave the Madison Township winery top honors with medals for the Overall Best of Show and Best of Ohio, both awarded for its Riesling Reserve.
“It’s a beautiful wine,” said Brian Fife, wine manager for World Wines & Liquor in Mentor and one of the invited judges.
Chosen from throughout the country, the judges included folks from winemakers to winery owners, wine writers to wine consultants plus educators and scientists.
Representing the retail wine business, Fife is tuned into what the wine-drinking public wants to imbibe.
The tasting competition to judge the wines took place at The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake, next door to the Kent State Ashtabula campus, which coordinated the contest.
Other wineries in the close-by Grand River Valley Appellation also captured the majority of the Best of Show awards, with Best White Wine also going to Debonne Vineyards for its Riesling Reserve; Best of Show Red Wine to Kosicek Vineyards for its Cabernet Franc 2022; Best Ohio Red Wine to Baci Winery’s Cabernet Franc 2021; Best Sparkling to Kosicek Vineyards’ Traminette; Best Ohio Sparkling to M Cellars’ Blanc de Blanc 2021; Grand River Valley Best of Show Dessert/Specialty Wine to The Winery at Spring Hill for its Frosted Red Raspberry Dessert Wine, 2023; and Best Ice Wine and Best Ohio Ice Wine to Debonne Vineyards’ Vidal Blanc Ice Wine.
Entrants in categories with Ohio as part of its category name must use Ohio-grown grapes, while others are permitted to use some grapes and juices from elsewhere. All must produce their wines in Ohio.
The American Viticultural Area known as the Grand River Valley Appellation, which includes wineries in Lake and Ashtabula counties, is geographically defined as the area within two miles of the Grand River to where it flows into Lake Erie and within 14 miles of the Lake Erie shoreline. Likened to the Mosel, Bordeaux and the Sonoma/Russian River Valley wine regions, Grand River Valle boasts a landscape that benefits from a climate moderated by the thermal effects of a large body of water: Lake Erie.
“It’s a real honor to be asked to judge this competition,” Fife said. “It’s very well organized, and I learn so much from the others since we are all from different aspects of the wine business.”
Christy Eckstein, executive director of the Ohio Grape Industry Association, sponsor of the annual Ohio Wine Competition, said Ohio wines have shown great improvement year after year.
“And they show well everywhere,” she said. “Even at the San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.”
That’s considered one of the top competitions in the country.
In Northeast Ohio, you don’t need to go far to experience something miles beyond
Four judges sit at three tables and taste seven wines at a time, Fife explained about the Ohio competition. Wine specialists from Michigan and New York’s Finger Lakes region hail from climates and conditions similar to Ohio’s.
“We all spit,” he said, noting that tasters don’t swallow the wine they taste. “Both days we started tasting at 9 a.m. and finished at 3:30 p.m., with a 45-minute break for lunch. It’s a lot of work, and we don’t even get buzzed.”
None of the judges knew the results until the tastings were done, he said.
“I was so pleased to see the Grand River Valley reds did so well.”
Sparkling wines are somewhat new for this region, and some Ohio wineries make them bubbly with carbonation rather than the more labor-intensive process used for Champagne, which can only be called that when it’s grown and produced in the Champagne region of France. Fife said the M Cellars’ Blanc de Blanc, produced by the traditional Champagne method, was a standout.
“But there are a lot of very good Ohio wines that didn’t win awards,” he noted. “They’ve got to enter to win, and many of them aren’t interested in competing and don't enter.”
Winning wineries
Debonne Vineyards: 7840 Doty Road, Madison; 440-466-3485.
Kosicek Vineyards: 636 Route 534, Geneva; 440-361-4573.
Baci Winery: 7800 Warner Road (Route 307), Madison; 440-307-2224.
M Cellars Winery: 6193 S. River Road W., Geneva; 440-361-4104.
The Winery at Spring Hill: 6062 S. Ridge Road W., Geneva; 440-466-0626.
