Browse the Northeast -- Lake Erie Collections
Debonne Vineyards, 201605/20/2016Featured 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. |
Debonne Vineyards, 201605/20/2016In 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. |
Deer's Leap Winery, 201605/20/2016Founded 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. |
Dover Vineyards, 1990s07/26/2016Established 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. |
Farinacci Winery, 201606/17/2016Three 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. |
Ferrante Winery (Cleveland)07/26/2016In 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. |
Ferrante Winery, 1990s06/14/2016Architectural drawing of the Ferrante Winery. |
Ferrante Winery, 199310/01/1993
Glimpse of the original Ferrante restaurant before a fire destroyed it in 1994.
|
Ferrante Winery, 199310/01/1993Glimpse of the original Ferrante restaurant before a fire destroyed it in 1994. |
Ferrante Winery, 199601/01/1996View of the new tasting room and wine shop after a fire destroyed the restaurant in November of 1994. |