Ohio wine and grape industry's $6.6B impact on display at Ohio State Fair | WYSO

Every summer, the Ohio State Fair highlights the state's agriculture and one of the booming agricultural industries in Ohio is wine making.

According to Brian Baldridge, the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the wine industry has a huge economic impact each year.

"Ohio wine growers and grape growers and the wineries are just a great asset to Ohio as we look at a $6.6 billion impact to our our great economy here in Ohio," he said.

The industry accounts for 41,000 full-time jobs at the more than 400 licensed wine manufacturers.

The executive director for the Ohio Grape Industries, Christy Eckstein, said Ohio is one of the largest wine producers in the nation.

"We are the seventh largest wine producer in the country where winemaking actually got its start in Ohio in the 1850s along the Ohio River in Cincinnati," she said. "So we have a long history of winemaking and grape growing here. "

A total of 16 wineries will offer tastings at the state fair each day this year and more than 400 wineries applied. The state fair continues through Aug. 4.

Wines selected for tastings either had to win a double gold medal from the Ohio Wine Competition or be part of the Ohio Quality Wine program.

The quality program requires wines be made from a minimum of 90% Ohio grown grapes, undergo a sensory analysis and receive a silver medal or higher in competition.

Eckstein said visitors can download the Ohio Wines Visitors Incentive Passport app for special rewards.

“You get rewarded for visiting Ohio wineries, no purchase necessary," she said. "But we want people to get out and visit because there's anything from rural to urban, making sweet to dry, red to white – You're within a 30 minute drive of an Ohio winery anywhere across the state of Ohio.”

Kent Eichenauer co-owns Dragonfly Vineyard and Wine Cellar in Urbana with his wife, Connie. The winery's Estate Marquette is available at the fair after winning double gold in the Ohio Wine Competition.

"So we got the double gold and then three other golds. And all four of those were from wines that we grow in our vineyard," Eichenauer said. "So we have our Vidal, our LaCrescent and our Marquette."

According to Eichenauer, wine makers in Ohio have to be selective with which grapes they use to survive unpredictable weather patterns.

“So our Marquette and LaCrescent, those are two very cold, hardy varieties. At the University of Minnesota, called the Minnesota variety grapes. Basically, they're made to survive in their climate," Eichenauer said.

Eichenauer said the winery also grows a Cabernet Franc vine which can be difficult in the local climate.

"Those are a little more temperamental," he said. "And so this will be the first year that we have a harvest from those in five years. So they're are a lot of work, but they're worth it."

Raven's Glenn Winery and Restaurant is also attending the state fair this year. General Manager Stephen Justice and Owner Beau Guilliams are running the booth at the fair.

"This is the first year for me. I grew up in eastern North Carolina. Retired from the military. So when I moved up this way, this is really my first state fair experience," Justice said. "I like being able to talk about wines and be part of the process."

Located on the banks of the Tuscarawas River, the winery has been operating in Ohio for 12 years. The two wines available from Raven's Glenn Winery are a semi-sweet Vidal Blanc and a semi-sweet blueberry wine.

"These are Ohio wine products," Guilliams said, gesturing to the wine selection at the fair. "And because we won the the quality assurance, we were invited to participate here at the Ohio State Fair."