Vintage Ohio brings delight to lovers of all things local

By John Benson

Locavore.

That’s a new word in our lexicon that caters directly to the spirit of the 14th annual Vintage Ohio event, which takes place 1 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday at Lake Metroparks Farmpark in Kirtland.

“Absolutely, the term means someone who enjoys eating and drinking local products,” said Ohio Wine Producers Association Executive Director Donniella Winchell. “So this year we’re focusing very much on the whole locavore experience with a farmers market, and all of the food used in the cooking school will be local.”

Vintage Ohio, which is rated as one of the top 10 wine and food events in the nation by USA Today, is billed as the biggest outdoor wine and food festival between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains.

“This year there will be 26 wineries and about 200 different wines on the field,” Winchell said. “Whether their palate is very sophisticated and they’re looking for a Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, or the Pink Catawbas that are fun and fruity, the event is designed to focus on wine and food, and things that go along with a lifestyle of people who enjoy wine and food.”

That list includes three stages of live jazz, blues, reggae and rock music, as well as 20 regional restaurants and caterers serving their finest cuisine. There’s also a Sensory Tent where winemakers and food experts will be providing education about exploring the sensory aspect of food and wine.

Something new this year to Vintage Ohio is cornhole, the popular backyard game that involves two teams of two people throwing bags of dry feed corn at two 2-by-4 foot platforms, which have a hole in the middle.

While on the surface cornhole may seem too pedestrian for the average Vintage Ohio attendee, Winchell points out the opposite is true.

“It really depends on what part of the country you come from,” Winchell said. “Cornhole is no longer what it was. Go to a neighborhood picnic in Westlake filled with households of $200,000-plus and see how much cornhole is being played. It’s bigger and better than boccie ball because it is so family focused.

“So we planned a cornhole tournament this year with a $750 prize, where people can organize a team and enter for $40. We’re adding some fun things to do with the extended day that we hope people spend with us.”

While roughly 70 percent of Vintage Ohio visitors are from Northern Ohio, this popular annual event attracts people from all over the country. With an average attendance hovering around 35,000 people, in theory the two-day event could get much larger, but Winchell stresses that’s not necessarily the intention of Vintage Ohio.

“We see it morphing,” Winchell said. “It isn’t growing in terms of numbers. It really isn’t our goal to have 100,000 people on a farm field in Lake County to attempt to gather all of the people we can to collect the gate. It really is an opportunity to expose what Ohio wines are and have become over the last 10 years to an increasingly sophisticated audience.”

Winchell stresses that one shouldn’t confuse sophisticated with snobby. Vintage Ohio is designed to accommodate all levels of wine consumers with an all-day affair that includes music, food, fine arts and more.

“If you go out to a club, you’ll have a couple of drinks and hopefully get in a car with a designated driver and get home safely,” Winchell said. “At Vintage Ohio, our goal is not so much to sit down and have a couple of drinks but in fact to move around and sample all that is on the festival field and then to go to the wine store and take home lots of bottles of wine that you can share with family and friends down the road.”

She added, “It really is an experiential event more than a destination event.”

Adult tickets are $22 in advance and $25 at the gate. Children 17 and under are $3. Toddlers 3 and under are free. Two day sampler tickets are $40. Pre-sale tickets are available at area Discount Drug Mart locations. For more information, call (800) 227-6972 or visit www.OhioWines.org.