Harmony Hill Comes Downtown

This is one of the strangest combinations I’ve come across. Harmony Hill Vineyards is coming to the Mainstay Rock Bar downtown. I know Harmony Hill does the music thing, but hmm …. Regardless of how strange I think the combination, I’m certainly going to be there. After all, the most important thing about this event is that the wine from out in Bethel will be exposed to folks in downtown Cincinnati. I’m all for that!

The event costs $20 and includes a wine tasting (flight I assume) from Harmony Hill and a chance to meet and greet with the winemaker, Bill Skvarla. Bill is an absolute hoot, and explains the science behind wine better than anyone I’ve met. So take this closer-to-home chance to meet him. Your $20 also gets you a selection of paired appetizers prepared by Mainstay.

Come to the party on Thursday, September 16, from 6-8 pm. Mainstay is located on the corner of 5th and Plum, at 301 West 5th Street. Tickets are available at the door.

Rabbit Hash and Wine … and a Dog

What? Sort of a weird combination isn’t it?

A couple of weeks back, I had my first visit to Rabbit Hash on the back of a friend’s bike as we rode in the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Poker Run. I fell in love with the place … of course, a hundred Harleys everywhere helped a bit with the ambiance.

If you haven’t been to Rabbit Hash, it’s hard to explain. It’s small, old-timey, full of character, and apparently home to a rather liberal-walk-around-the-street alcohol policy. Everyone was friendly. There was a cop stationed on the porch of the General Store, but we figure he was there to combat stupidity (don’t go falling into the river) as opposed to breaking up fights. I know they occasionally have rockabilly concerts at the store as well. In Rabbit Hash you can generally get burgers, hot dogs, beer, and now … wine.

I had noticed where the wine shop was going to open. I mean, there are only about 4 or 5 buildings, so it wasn’t hard to miss. The stairs leading up to the second floor shop read off different types of wines, including fruit wines. When I found out today that Curtis Sigretto of Elk Creek was opening the shop, I wasn’t surprised. Elk Creek is actually the perfect winery for that spot. Why? They offer more than just vinifera. By offering the fruit wines, they’ll appeal to a wider base of consumer.

Now, almost everyone around here has heard of Rabbit Hash (I’m pretty sure they’ve got a large marketing budget) and of course, they’re famous for their mayor. Elected in 2008, the current mayor is an adorable red and white border collie named Lucy Lou. It looks like Elk Creek is going to bottle several special editions of their wines with the dog on the label – yep, the Rabbit Hash branded wines will be called Mayor’s Select.

According to Cincinnati.com, the new wines aren’t all ready yet, but will be soon. The store itself opened July 25. The article goes on to quote Curtis as having some big plans,

There are plans to have a Rabbit Hash wine club and there is talk about having a Rabbit Hash wine festival, according to Sigretto.

“The Rabbit Hash wine festival will feature and celebrate Kentucky grown grapes and the processing of Kentucky owned vineyards and wineries,” Clare said.

Store hours are 11-7 pm, Thursday through Sunday, and hours may change for special events.

Editor’s Note: Elk Creek Winery is a frequent advertiser on this blog. At the time of this publication, they are not running an ad. In the interest of full disclosure, they have also been a past social marketing client of mine, although not for several months. I generally try to avoid writing articles that involve my advertisers or clients.  This is, however, news and not a review, and the dog is cute.

Guest Post: A Year in a Vineyard

Here is another guest post from contributor Nancy Bentley, co-owner of the wonderful Kinkead Ridge Winery in Ripley, OH.
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Have you ever wondered about a typical year at an estate vineyard and small boutique winery? Since 2007, Kinkead Ridge winery in Ripley has been uploading video to youtube. The main movie, which has been viewed over 16,000 times, is called “A Vineyard Year” and details what happens from pruning through bottling through harvest.

Another video, “The Romance of the Vineyard” (tongue in cheek!)  was a finalist in the Wine Spectator’s first video contest, and my prize was a ticket to the New York Wine Experience in Times Square.

There are approximately 40 very short “mini-movies” that show specific tasks, e.g. punchdown, post pounding, bottling, barrel movement, the flail mower, cane pruning, vine tucking and tying, bottle delivery, hedging and more. Grab a glass of wine, go to youtube.com, search for “Kinkead Ridge” and have fun!

United Slurps of America: Ohio Edition

Swirl, Smell, Slurp is a blog based out of Los Angeles that is trying to taste wines from all 50 states. Their original goal was to do it in 50 weeks, but the sample process does not work quite that quickly.

Thanks to Dep’s Fine Wines’s Kevin Keith, I was recommended to be the Ohio wine blogger with whom the Swirl, Smell, Slurp bloggers virtually tasted. I immediately recommended several Ohio wineries, including Firelands, Kinkead Ridge, Harmony Hill, and St Joseph’s. Kinkead Ridge got back to my new bloggy friends, but unfortunately, Nancy is seriously low on wine. Heck, I picked up one case of their second-label white and they’d only made 42 cases! Friends, the Ohio valley can be brutal on grapes some years.

However, my friends at Harmony Hill got back to the fine folks at Swirl, Smell, Slurp and I picked up my samples on Memorial Day Weekend. Bill provided us with four vastly different wines and you can read all about it – from She, He, and Me – over at the United Slurps of America: Ohio edition.

Oh, and my advice to He and She of Swirl, Smell, Slurp? Go sign up for the Wine Century Club. You’ll be getting all sorts of French-American hybrids at your doorstep if you’re trying all 50 states. Everything from the more common southern grapes of Chambourcin, Muscadine, and Traminette to crazy things like Teraldego. You’ll be in the Century Club in no time!

Choice Treats on Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is pretty much synonymous with food and wine for us here at My Wine Education. It means two things: Taste of Cincinnati and opening weekend for the local wineries.

Taste of Cincinnati is the longest running culinary festival in the US. How about that? 32 years! Every year, Kevin and I go and the menu for us is pretty straight forward. I pretty much eat crepes and cheesecake and cream puffs … every dessert I can find. Kevin tries every BBQ he can find. We usually drink some Moerlein and Great Lakes beer and we have wonderful food-filled day.

Kevin and I are usually there on Sunday or Monday, as I can’t handle the crowds on Saturday. It’s generally hot, so we bring water and stay hydrated all day. No passing out down on Fifth Street!

You’ll find all the information you need about Taste at their web site – they even have a Twitter account!

On Saturday, instead of fighting crowds downtown, we’ll be enjoying a leisurely drive out to both Kinkead Ridge and Harmony Hill. Both wineries, as well as La Vigna Estate, open for the summer this weekend. However, while La Vigna and Harmony Hill will be open Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer, Kinkead Ridge is open only this Saturday and Monday. If you want some Viognier-Roussane (I do!), get it now and get it early. It’s in limited supply.

If you want to spend the day lazily going from winery to winery, I recommend this route, starting in Ripley and ending in Bethel: Kinkead Ridge, Meranda-Nixon, La Vigna Estate, and ending at Harmony Hill. If you can, stop and pick up some munchies and sit out on the Harmony Hill patio with  glass of wine, listening to the music.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. And remember, if you’ve had too much to drink – just call the FETCH taxi service at 513.35.FETCH.