By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bill Hollister is more accustomed to being on the other side of the table at a wine show. Saturday at the V.I.N.O. Wine Festival at the Wood County Fairgrounds, Hollister was pouring wine samples instead of sipping them.
This was the third wine exhibit he’d participated in since he and his wife, Michele, purchased Chateau Winery & Vineyard in Helena this July.
Hollister said he much prefers his position now. “I like to be able to talk to people
He and his wife are both business teachers with 50 years’ experience between them. They bought the winery after he had been making wine at home for about 10 years.
Now they’re putting what they teach in class to use. The business side has not been an issue, he said. The challenge has been on the farming side, he said. They grow four of the varieties of grapes, in addition to bringing in grapes from California, the Finger Lakes Region of New York, and Geneva-On-the -Lake in northwest Ohio. All the wine is made on site.
The Chateau was one of 13 Ohio wineries participating in Saturday’s festival.
It was the first time for the event. Planning for the event has been in the works for several years, with its launch delayed by the pandemic, said Chrissy Jeppe, event coordinator for the Ohio Wines Producers Association.
“We’re focused on doing events in each area so the public has the opportunity to see all the wines that Ohio has to offer,” she said. This was the first festival in Northwest Ohio.
Jeppe was pleased with the turnout. More than 400 tickets had been sold as of mid-afternoon.
“We didn’t have a lot of presale tickets,” she said. “We were a little nervous, so we’re doing well. We’re getting a lot of people coming to the door.”
For the cost of the ticket attendees got a taste of wine from each of the wineries. The wines ranged from the traditional cabernets and chardonnays and to fruity wines including a “breezy” lemon wine, cinnamon-pomegranate wine and raspberry-chocolate port.
There were other vendors selling a variety of products, including bat-themed pajamas, hats, and honey and maple syrup.
Bowling Green works well as a location, said Laura Rufenacht, the owner of Majestic Oak Winery just outside of Neapolis. She was a member of the planning committee. The city offers “a nice cross section of people,” both local and from out of town.
Even many locals didn’t know where the winery was located, she said. For her the festival was 50% about sales and 50% about promotion.
Keri Lee Pierson, who works at Myla Marcus in downtown Bowling Green, said she’s served a lot of regular customers, and some of them were bringing friends to introduce them to the winery.
The festival was a great way, she said to bring new customers to Myla Marcus. That included folks from Indiana and Illinois.
The business also made a point of introducing people to some of their downtown BG neighbors. They had a basket on display that featured not just their wine, but also products from other downtown shops – Novel Blends, Downtown Ben’s, and Coyote Beads, who was a vendor at the event.
Jeppe said that in addition to showing the vitality of Ohio’s wineries, the event is meant to showcase other small businesses.
Bowling Green, she said, was very welcoming. Visit BG worked well with Ohio Wines to stage the event.
Jeppe said Saturday was her first time in Bowling Green. She was even wearing an orange blouse. She admitted, though, that she didn’t realize that was the BGSU color, she was just dressing in a fall color.
