Donniella Winchell

Picture a sophisticated, well-dress business owner, or a polished, carefully coifed senior bank executive. Imagine a well-educated young university professor, or a talented, poised aspiring actress. Want to make any of them weak in the knees? Send them into a fancy restaurant with a group of their peers and suggest they choose an appropriate wine for dinner. Imagine then how a ‘regular’ person feels when faced with the same daunting task.

As much as I hate to see the end of a glorious summer season, the harvest time will soon be here. In some parts of the state, with some varieties, in just a week or two, the first grapes will be in the cellars. The Grand River viticultural district, located in Lake and Ashtabula counties and within the larger Lake Erie district, is regarded as one of the world’s premier locations where great wine grapes can be successfully grown. The lake provides the conditions for growing great fruit — and so the time to head to the vineyards is just ahead.

Football season is upon us. College games and the Pro season will continue for months. If you are planning to meet old friends for the Homecoming game, setting up in a parking lot outside a NFL stadium or just turning the big screen TV toward the patio so you can watch a game from your back deck, it might be the time to set aside the six packs and plan a local food feast and feature the wines from your hometown.

Brilliant blue skies, red and golden trees, puffy white clouds, crunchy leaves, high school football games, tall corn stalks, orange pumpkins, cool evenings and sunny days. When fall rolls around, residents of northern Ohio have one additional pleasure to explore: harvest time in wine country.

Ohio Wineries are being encouraged to participate in a national celebration of wine as a part of activities for friends, family, community socialization and fun.

The last weekend in September every year, the city of Geneva turns purple. From kids chewing grape gum, and entering coloring contests, to purple-garb of all sorts, shapes and sizes, to ‘merch’ in local shops and purple cow sundaes in restaurants, a whole community celebrates the Concord grape. There are marching bands, grape stomping, classic bands on stages, church dinners, two parades that stretch for miles, 5K runs, car shows, art shows, wine tasting, baby picture contests, queens, princesses and tiny little girls in glitzy gowns plus baskets of juicy purple grapes, tasty grape jelly, fresh pressed juice, and hundreds of yummy grape pies made by the local Catholic church ladies. It is called the Geneva Grape Jamboree.

The wineries are in the final stages of the Crush. The season was early this year, but tourism traffic will remain heavy for the beautiful days ahead as spectacular fall foliage drives visitors to Ohio Wine Country.

We live in “Wine Country,” so a visit to a local tasting room with talented staff and tasting opportunities make choosing a perfect vintage for dinner is quite simple.

This fall, Mother Nature has surely provided a season to remember. The beautiful autumn weather, the puffy white clouds, spectacular foliage and

Lake and Ashtabula counties, person for person have, per capita, one of the most sophisticated wine audiences in the state — and perhaps except for