Ohio winerefers to wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 made from grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s grown in the U.S. state of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. Historically, this has been wine grown from native American species of grapes, not European wine grapes, although hybrid and vinifera

Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....

 grapes are now common in Ohio. Currently, over 110 commercial wineries operate in Ohio, and there are five designated American Viticultural Area

American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....

s partially or completely located within the state.

History

Wine has been produced in Ohio since 1823 when Nicholas Longworth planted the first Alexander

Alexander (grape)

Alexander is a sponteneous cross of vines from which the first commercial wines in America were made. It was discovered in 1740 in the neighborhood of Springgettsbury, Philadelphia, in a vineyard where James Alexander , William Penn's gardener, had originally planted cuttings of vinifera in 1683...

 and Isabella

Isabella (grape)

The Isabella grape is a cultivar derived from the grape species Vitis labrusca or 'fox grape' which is used for table, juice and wine production.-Appearance and use:...

 grapes in the Ohio River Valley. In 1825, Longworth planted the first Catawba

Catawba (grape)

Catawba is a red hybrid grape variety used for wine as well as juice, jams and jellies. The grape can have a pronounced musky or "foxy" flavor. Grown predominantly on the East Coast of the United States, this purplish-red grape is a likely cross of the native American Vitis labrusca and another...

 grapes in Ohio. Others soon planted Catawba in new vineyards throughout the state and by 1860, Catawba was the most important grape variety in Ohio. At this time, Ohio produced more wine than any other state in the country, and Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

 was the most important city in the national wine trade. As in many other states, Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

destroyed the Ohio wine industry, which has struggled to recover.

Wine industry

Many wineries in Ohio are members of the Ohio Wine Producers Association. The site includes resources for produces and consumers, including an extensive calendar of Ohio Wine events. It also includes the Ohio Wine Hall of Fame.