Updated outside view of Brieitenbach Winery and Der Marketplatz.

Vintage exterior photo of Breitenbach Winery and Der Marketplatz

Older Breitenbach's winery sign.

One of Breitenbach's most popular wines is the medal winning 'First Crush', a semi-sweet and tart wine produced from native grapes.

Breitenbach's winery sign.

Glimpse of Breitenbach's winery shop.

In 1975, amateur winemakers Fred and Joanne Bucci, started growing American hybrid and French American hybrid grapes on 4 acres in Conneaut. Eleven years later, the couple opened a comfortable bed and breakfast with four rooms for lodging adjacent to the tasting room. Today, the winery specializes in white wine and produces about 1700 cases annually. In 2018, Buccia Vineyards was re-built with a modern design while keeping the feel of the original winery.

Wineowner Carl Limpert in the vineyard holding a gallon of Golden Sunshine, described as similar in taste to a Cream Sherry.

The Limpert family shifted from selling fruit to making wine after Prohibition. During this time, according to Limpert, a gallon of wine sold for 80 cents a bottle, plus an additional 20 cents to cover the tax.

More than 160 years ago, Carl Limpert’s great-grandparents settled on over 70 acres of farmland in Dover, known today as Westlake. The Limpert family established a fruit farm in the 1910s and shifted to making fruit wine commercially in 1934, a year after Prohibition. The family determined the market for wine at the time was more robust than the fruit produced at the farm.

Over the years the area has transitioned from large tracts of undeveloped land to a highly developed commercial area and the fruit farm had decreased in size to 25 acres. Known for its simple country wine sold only in gallon quantities, regulars would purchase it from the back porch of Limpert’s house. The location in the 1990s offered four varieties of Concord, a semi-sweet Niagara, and one dry variety. All of the wine was produced from Labrusca grapes, apples, plums, and apricots grown on site. Carl Limpert, with help from his daughter Nancy Rodgers, ran the winery until his passing in 1998.

Photo features Carl Limpert, winemaker and wine owner

Interior glimpse of Au Provence restaurant. Jack Foster is pictured holding a bottle of wine he produced in the basement of the restaurant.

Winemaker: Jack Foster

Dr. Thomas Wykoff, a surgeon, in 1974 converted a Cleveland Heights beauty parlor into Au Provence, a well-known French style restaurant and a winery named Chateau Lagniappe. The company also operated a wine store adjacent to the restaurant. Prior to opening his own winery in Madison, Bill Worthy of Grand River Vineyard sold his grapes to this firm. The businesses were in operation till 1986.

Table setting featuring Terminal Red, a Chateau Lagniappe wine from the Cedar Hill Wine Co.

Jack Foster in the basement winery at Chateau Lagniappe.

Winemaker: Jack Foster

For many years wine was produced in the basement of Au Provence from hybrid and Lake Erie grapes and was sold in the adjacent wine shop.

In 1983, the sons of Charles Daughters, Sr. established a small winery in Madison and offered a variety of well-made native, hybrid, and vinifera wines. Dana Daughters, who worked for Bill Worthy of the Grand River Wine Co., managed the wine cellar and Charles Daughters, Jr. operated the winery.

Its 1978 American Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular, stood out and received a gold medal in the state of Ohio wine competition. Production was limited to 9,000 gallons a year in a converted garage area and grapes and juice for the wines were sourced from California and local growers. The winery closed its doors permanently in 1986.

The site presently is the home of Daughters Florist and Gift Shoppe, a brick and mortar store started by Charles Daughters, Sr. over three decades ago.

Original hospitality room at Chalet Debonné.

Second place award winner at the first annual Hot Air Balloon Festival receiving a plaque from Tony Debevc, Jr.

Wine owner: Tony Debevc, Jr.

One of the initial Chalet Debonné awning signs.

Exterior view of Chalet Debonné.

First, second, and third place winners at the first annual Hot Air Balloon Festival at Chalet Debonné.

Award winning wines produced at Chalet Debonné.

The summer of 2016 marks the 34th annual Hot Air Balloon Festival at Debonne. Guests listen to music, sip wine, and dine under the stars as illuminated hot air balloons pass by. Tethered hot air balloon rides are available on scheduled days during the summer.

Outdoor dining is available Memorial Day through Labor Day by "The Grill at Debonne" featuring wood fired pizzas, specialty sandwiches, paninis and appetizers. Year round indoor dining is also available.

Touching tribute to Tony Debevc, co-founder of Debonne Vineyards, painted on the interior wall inside one of the recently remodeled tasting areas.

Featured as part of the Ashtabula County’s Barn Quilt Trail, an 8 foot-by-8-foot painted airplane quilt hangs prominently on one of the oldest barns on site. The story goes that before wind machines were used to prevent vine frost damage, the late Tony Debevc, Sr. would bring in World War II airplane engines to circulate the air and protect his vines. The current wine owner, Tony Debevc, Jr., is also an avid flyer and his personal hangar is located on a grassy site between rows of grapevines.

In 1972, two generations of the Debevc family opened a winery in Madison on crop land acquired by Anton Debevc, a Yugoslavian immigrant, in 1916. The winery was originally named Chalet Debonné because of the Swiss Chalet style of the first winery, which was built from the wood of the family’s farm buildings.

The winery has grown significantly from its humble beginnings. Today, the family and staff tend to over 175 plus acres of vines and produce over 85,000 gallons of wine each year. The winery is known for its Riesling and ice wine. It is the largest estate winery in Ohio and in 2008, it became the first winery in the state to open a microbrewery.

Founded in 2001, this Geneva establishment offers a tasting room, full-service restaurant, and an outdoor stage for entertainment. The winery is co-owned by Bob Bostwick, a fifth generation winemaker and founder of Pennsylvania’s Heritage Wine Cellars. Bostwick also owns a line of wines from Biscotti’s Winery in Conneaut and, together with Deer’s Leap, he sells more than 20,000 bottles of wine annually. The winery specializes in fruit wines and all the juice to make the wine is shipped from the Northeast and is bottled on site.

Established as a grape growers’ cooperative in the 1930s, the location at its height ranked as one of the largest wineries in Ohio with a combined storage capacity of 180,000 gallons. Named for the Dover region, known today as Westlake, the location specialized in Labrusca wines and served as a major ingredient and equipment supplier for local home wine and beer makers. For many years the winery also operated the Dover Chalet, a well-known Hungarian restaurant.

Acquired by Zoltin Wolovitis in the 1950s, it increased its distribution network by entering into a marketing agreement with the Rutman Wine Company. This opportunity enabled the company to sell its product through a variety of retail channels unavailable to other local wineries. In 1984, Bernard Rutman and others purchased the company and brought on Bob Bostwick as a consultant, a fifth generation winemaker and founder of Pennsylvania’s Heritage Wine Cellars and co-owner of Deer’s Leap in Ohio.

The ingredient and equipment supply side of the business is known today as the J.W. Dover, Inc. and has been owned by Jerome Welliver of Heartland Vineyards Winery since 1997. Firelands Winery, the vanguard facility for Lonz, Inc., now owns the Dover Vineyard brand of wines.

Three generations of the Farinacci family have made wine but Michael Farninacci was the first to turn it into a commercial venture. It all started when home winemaker Antonio Farinacci, an immigrant from Gildone, Italy settled in the Little Italy area of Cleveland in 1912. His son, Dominic, carried on the wine making tradition and then passed it along to his grandson, Michael.

In 2006, Michael and his wife Dawn acquired 38 acres of farmland in Austinburg and converted a barn into a winery with outdoor space and a great room. The winery offered several varieties of red wine, Vidal Blanc, and Limoncello, Antonio’s recipe made from Meyer lemons, grape brandy, and cane syrup. The winery has since closed.

In 1977, Peter and Anthony Ferrante sold the original location of the wine shop located in South Collinwood on the corner of Saint Claire Avenue and Whitcomb Road that their father had purchased in 1937. The brothers opened a state of the art wine making facility and a restaurant on the family’s vineyard land in Harpersfield a few years later. Photographed are Peter Ferrante and his wife Josephine, who were inducted into the Ohio Wine Hall of Fame in 2005.

Architectural drawing of the Ferrante Winery.

Glimpse of the original Ferrante restaurant before a fire destroyed it in 1994.

View of the new tasting room and wine shop after a fire destroyed the restaurant in November of 1994.

Nick Ferrante and Kent State President Dr. Beverly Warren discussing wine fermentation in the cellars of Ferrante Winery as part of the President's 2014 Listening tour.After the event Warren remarked that she is so impressed with the sense of community in Ashtabula County.

“It doesn’t matter if I am with faculty, students or local business leaders, the sense of family is really at the core of why people live, work and play in Ashtabula County,” she said.

Kent State Ashtabula Dean Susan Stocker and Nick Ferrante presenting to a group of community members and Kent State officials. The event was the first event of President Warren's Listening tour.

Located along the southern shores of Lake Erie, the winery offers award-winning wines, a tasting room, cellar tours, weekend events, a full-service Italian restaurant, and an outdoor terrace with scenic views of the vineyard.

It all started in 1937 when Anna and Nicolas Ferrante opened their first winery in Cleveland's Collinwood area and grew grapes on the winery's current location in Harpersfield. New winemaking facilities were built in Harpersfield by sons Anthony and Peter in the 1970's around the same time the winery in Cleveland closed.

Today, the wine is produced by Nick Ferrante, a third generation winemaker, who was inducted into the Ohio Wine Hall of Fame in 2015. The winery currently sells about 100,000 to 130,000 gallons per year and about 35 percent is estate grown. The winery is known for its vinifera varieties and its ice wine.

A cozy winery located in the former Bulger’s Inn in Ashtabula, the establishment opened in 2012 and offers a casual food menu, sweet wine such as apple Riesling, cherry Niagara, blueberry Shiraz, and pineapple grapefruit, a dry Riesling, and a Pinot Noir. All of the wine is made on site from sourced juice.

Historic Grand River Vineyard sign.

Bill Worthy assessing the health of his grape vines in the vineyard.

Wine owner: Bill Worthy

Because of the way grapevines grow and produce fruit, growers must prune annually during the winter months when the vines are dormant.

Bill Worthy speculating in his vineyards. In 1972, the former banker and stock broker turned winemaker and wine owner, planted the first vines on his 23 acre farm and sold his first bottle of wine in 1978.

Wine owner: Bill Worthy

Vineyard worker tending to the vines.