Grand River Valley Getaway
Located a little over an hour from Cleveland is one of our favorite spots in Ohio, the Grand River Valley Wineries. Each winter we head there with a group of friends and participate in the Tannenbaum Wine Trail. We’ve also gone up there in the summer time for a wine trip because nothing beats day drinking rosé in the Ohio heat at beautiful wineries. It’s far enough way to feel like a real vacation but close enough to still feel like home. We’ve been dying to head up there during the fall and were so excited when we were asked to attend a little retreat for travel writers.
The Grand River Valley is home to 24 wineries. We’ve probably been to at least 16 of them by our calculations. They’re so different from each other, but that’s why we like them. Some are super cozy and it’s as if you’re in someone’s house. Some are in beautiful buildings, such as an old church. Some are modern and swanky, and some are kitschy and weird. There’s a winery for everyone. What they all have in common is good, local wine. Notice we didn’t include the word sweet when describing the liquid produced here. There’s this common misconception that all wine in Ohio is sweet and that’s far from the truth.
Disclosure: For this trip Beard actually could only make it to the group dinners on both nights and stayed for only one night of the trip because of work.
Our home for two nights was The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake. The Lodge is located in the heart of Ohio’s Wine Country and right on the southern shore of Lake Erie. It’s the perfect spot for a family getaway or romantic escape. We stayed here when we came up in the summer with our friends and the Lodge was bustling with families, couples and groups of friends. It’s a cross between a quaint country inn and modern resort.
We started our trip with an amazing welcome dinner at the Crosswinds Grille, located in the Lakehouse Inn. We were lucky enough to enjoy dinner with owners Sam and Karen Fagnilli. Their son Nate is the chef and was there to explain all of the amazing courses he prepared for us. Chef Nate and their team are committed to serving locally sourced food with the freshest products available.
Our meal consisted of the Crosswinds special antipasto salad, shrimp and grits, short rib ragu, roasted beef navel, cauliflower and mashed potatoes, and maple infused ice cream over bourbon for dessert. All courses were paired with a Lakehouse Inn wine, except for the dessert, cause part of it was bourbon and that’d be insane. It was an incredible meal and there was no better way to start our trip.
In addition to running the kitchen, Nate started Na*Kyrsie Meats. He buys whole animals direct from the farm and seam butchers in house. Seam butchery preserves individual muscles or muscle groups of the animal and this technique wastes very little of the animal. It’s whole animal butchery. Na*Kyrsie meats provides meat not only for Crosswinds, but for other restaurants, wineries and retail stores. We had charcuterie and meats from Na*Kyrsie thoughout our stay (and again when we came back to Geneva later in the week) and honestly it was all amazing. We like to think of ourselves as budding charcuterie enthusiasts (charcuterists?), and this held its own with some of the best we’ve had.
On Wednesday Broad started the day bright and early at 6:30 am with yoga at the Lodge. She was actually the only attendee that made it. Go Broad! After eating breakfast in the Horizons restaurant in the lodge, it was time to start our winery tour. First on the list was Kosicek Vineyards. We had a taste of their Rhapsody sparkling wine which is a Pinot Noir and Riesling champagne style blend. It was paired with apple strudel and it was a delightful breakfast treat. We got a tour of the winery from the owner Tony Kosicek and were able to walk through the vineyards, take pictures and eat grapes right off the vine. Broad had never been to this winery so it was even more awesome to start the day at a new place.
The next stop was Laurello Vineyards. Laurello is one of our favorite stops on the Tannenbaum trail. They have delicious wine and they always have tasty snacks. Kim Laurello gave us a history lesson on the winery and let us sample many of their delicious wines. Our personal favorite is their Simply Mad habanero ice wine. There is just nothing like it. Ice wine is an Ohio speciality. Its made from grapes that have been allowed to freeze on the vine. This produces a very concentrated, sweet, full-flavored wine. Obviously it can only be made from grapes that grow in an area that also has a very cold winter, making Ohio the perfect spot.
Next was a winery we’re sure you’ve heard of, Ferrante Winery. They’re one of the largest wine producers and one of the original wine families in the area. It’s a huge, gorgeous winery with delicious wines and food. We got very lucky because Nick Ferrante, the wine maker, was available to give us a tour and share with us some history of the winery (a very rare occurrence). Broad’s favorite wine was definitely the 2017 Gruner Veltliner.
We then moved on to the panel discussion and lunch at Grand River Cellars. We enjoyed a full meal in the beautiful cellar and tried wine straight from the barrel. The panel participants were Beth from Debonne, Cindy from Grand River and Eddy from red e vodka. They talked about their businesses and the history of the Grand River Valley. We learned so much while eating amazing food and drinking very tasty wine.
After lunch we headed to M Cellars where we enjoyed one of our favorite Ohio wines, their brut rosé, on their gorgeous patio. Anytime we’re out this way we have to pick up a bottle. We were also able to walk through the vineyards and taste some more grapes.
After we tasted some more wines (their chardonnay is amazing) we walked across the street to Red Eagle Distillery. We met up with Eddy from red e vodka again where he talked to us about the distillery and we enjoyed a few cocktails. The Red Maple is our favorite spirit from Red Eagle and the we highly recommend the Peanut Butter Cup cocktail.
We ended our winery tour by making our way next door to one of our favorite wineries, South River Vineyard. It’s a personal favorite because it’s housed in a century old church. Such a cool and unique idea for a winery. It also has one of, if not the best patio in Ashtabula County. Their wines also happen to be stellar. Broad ended up doing a flight of two of their drier reds and two of their drier whites.
After our winery day, we went back to the Lodge to rest and prepare for the evening. Beard came back to join the group for a progressive dinner down Bridge Street. The area boasts itself as having some of the “best food creations between Cleveland and Buffalo along the Lake Erie shoreline” and from what we tried, we have to agree! We were honestly blown away by everything.
The first stop was Briquettes Smokehouse. They are a southern style barbecue restaurant offering local Northern flare. They brought out a really nice spread for us to try that included pork ribs, brisket, collard greens, potato salad and mac n cheese. We could have easily filled up here and been completely happy, but alas, we had to save room for the courses ahead.
Next stop was Rennick Meat Market. Rennick’s is butcher-inspired American fare. It’s a cozy, quirky place and the food was out of this world. We were served samples of the lobster bolognese (with smoked linguine!), a lamb chop, strip steak with black pepper sauce and hanger steak with chimichurri. We also got to try an array of their sides (our favorites were the mac n cheese and the mushrooms). We then popped over to Market Provisions (also owned by Rennick) to witness some fresh pasta making happening right in this speciality food store.
We finally ended the evening at Bascule Bridge Grille for dessert! We were treated to a trio of tasty treats including crème brûlée, pot de crème and elderflower panna cotta. These were honestly some of the best desserts we’ve ever had. They were all very creamy, but didn’t feel overly heavy or filling.
On Thursday Broad woke up early and ate breakfast. She then made her way to Lakehouse Inn and Spa for a 30 minute upper body massage. The spa is quaint, quiet and the massage was relaxing and much needed! Fun fact: The Lodge has partnered with Lakehouse Inn and Spa to offer discounted spa services for guests staying at the Lodge. Guests receive 10% off when they present their room key.
We really can’t thank the Ashtabula County Convention & Visitors Bureau enough for inviting us for this mini getaway. We had the best time eating and drinking our way through Ohio’s wine country and discovering some amazing new restaurants. For more information on Grand River Valley and Ashtabula County and to get your own visitors guide, click here!
*Disclosure: We were invited to take a trip to Geneva by the Ashtabula County Convention & Visitors Bureau. As always, all opinions are 100% our own*
Well that looks like a dream!!!!
The Ohio winery scene is so underrated. Looks like you had a blast!!
Amazing! I love the Ohio wineries and am glad that you had a blast!
We are SO lucky to have this lovely wine region so close to home! We go every year. It looks like you had an AMAZING trip!!
We are SO lucky to have this wine region so close to home! We go every year. Looks like you had an awesome trip!!!!