Vintage Firelands bottles of White Baco Noir, Vidal Blanc, and Chardonnay.

Glimpse of the tasting room and gift shop.

During the Revolutionary War, the Firelands region of north central Ohio was given to Connecticut citizens whose homes were razed by the British. As they resettled, they brought with them their wine making heritage. The original wine cellar on site was built in 1880 by the Edward Mantey family and has been incorporated into the present Sandusky facility.

In 1979, the winery was purchased by Bob Gottesman, owner of Paramount Distillers, who envisioned a better Ohio wine product. His foresight revitalized the lagging Ohio wine industry. The business was sold to Claudio Salvador, the wine maker, and John Kronberg in 2002. The wines have steadily improved and are now national and international award winners. Today, it is one of the largest producing wineries in Ohio.

Catawba Island Wine Co. built the winery in 1872 using local limestone, sand, and timbers. Soon after the repeal of the 18th amendment, the winery was acquired by one of the few producers of domestic champagne at the time, Mon Ami Champagne Co. . The restaurant was added in 1945 and in 1956 the business was sold to Norman Mantey, a family with historic ties to the Sandusky wine-making business.

Meier's Wine Cellars, the largest wine-making firm in Ohio, purchased it in 1980 and Lonz, Inc., the parent company to a number of well-established Lake Erie wine brands such as Firelands, Lonz, Mantey, and Dover, obtained it in 2000. Today, the winery serves a number of labrusca wines and European-style viniferas.

The winery ceased operation of their wine in 2019 due to a name rights issue. It was purchased by Quintin and Donna Smith and renamed Gideon Owen Wine Co., a nod to the man by the same name who moved to Catawba Island nearly 200 years ago and was involved with the original establishment.

Established in 1888 by Gustav Heineman, a German immigrant, this Put-in-Bay winery offers island tourists a tasting bar, a wine garden, and a gift shop. Tours of the Crystal Cave are also available. Touted as the world’s largest geode, this cave located 40 feet under the winery was discovered by workers digging for a well in 1897. Historically known for its sweet wine, the most popular wine is Pink Catawba. Other native grapes such as Ives, Delaware, Concord, and Niagara are also grown on the island. Ohio’s oldest family owned winery, today the winery is still run by the third, fourth and fifth generations of Heinemans.

Photo of Louis Heineman providing a tour of the winery. Louis served as the director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and was the winemaker at Heineman’s until he passed along the responsibility to his son, Edward.