Camelot Cellars in Columbus celebrated the unveiling of their new menu in July by hosting local food trucks on Fridays through September, creating a new buzz in Olde Towne East, showcasing new menu items – salads, soups, dips, and local meats and cheeses, with a focus on locally sourced foods and ingredients. And there’s more to come: on October 1, Camelot will introduce a full food menu, offered Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays – all accompanied, of course, by the winery’s 60-plus different wines and a variety of beers on tap.
In Madison, Debonne Vineyards – Ohio’s largest and oldest vineyard estate – celebrates its centennial birthday this year. The original vineyard of 20 acres was purchased 100 years ago by Anton Debevc; Tony Debevc Sr. added an additional 18 acres and his son, Anthony, returned home from college and military service in the early 1970s and opened the first winery in northern Ohio since Prohibition. The family kept no profits from the winery for years, reinvesting every penny in the winery. In 2008, third-generation Anthony collaborated with his son, Tony Jr., in launching Cellar Rats Brewery on the site, starting Ohio’s first winery/brewery combination. Today, the Debevc family still operates at the Doty Road location chosen by Anton Debevc; they’ve expanded to nearly 200 acres and regularly win some of the highest awards at international wine competitions. Most recently, they took the prize for the Best Dessert Wine at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and were named “Wine Family of the Year” by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
In Massillon, Robert and Keelie Mann announce the opening of the Newman Creek Cellars enlarged tasting room and new retail store. The tasting room expansion added more seating (for up to 50 guests), so it can now be rented for private parties and events separate from the retail area – but for customers’ convenience, the two spaces are connected by an archway. Home enthusiasts especially will enjoy browsing in the retail store, featuring equipment and supplies for making wine, beer and cider. And if the tasting room happens to be booked, the Manns have left plenty of room to create more seating for other customers to taste and buy wines by the glass or bottle. There’s even a new production section where customers can make their own wines!
It’s been a winning spring and summer for St. Joseph Vineyard in Madison. They brought home two Golds from the prestigious Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, for their 2013 Shiraz and 2013 Dry Riesling, along with a Silver for their 2013 Pinot Noir. They followed those awards with top honors at the 2016 San Francisco International Wine Competition – the largest international wine contest in the country, with more than 4,600 wines competing – with a Gold for their 2013 Cabernet Franc and a Silver for their 2013 Chardonnay.
