Andrew Hall
THANKS!!
What?
Annual wine competition
Only OH and MI grapes
Independent
Timed to “The Game”
Why do this?
Localism … except not in wine
∅ restaurants ∅ stores ∅ minds
And … why?
“Terroir” :
Or why local matters in wine
“of the place”Special Unique
Ohio …wine?
“It won’t make you go blind anymore”
“There are worse choices…”
If consumer perception were marketing slogans :
“They make wine in Ohio?”
Yes, Ohio wine( a long time ago)
Nicholas Longworth and the Ohio River Valley (1840s)
Ohio Sparkling Catawba“transcends the Champagne of France”
Climate/labor =>Lake Erie (1870s)
PROHIBITION
Yes, Ohio wine(now)
Renaissance in the 60s-70s
Big business :
~125 wineries now
Approaching 1,000,000 gallons
Wine tourism
Origins
Say “No” to Beaujolais Nouveau
+Drink Local
+The Game
=Let’s have a competition!
First Annual
Let’s start small …
Cross tasting between wines
Get MI to do same
A little publicity
Whoa!
Or not so small…
Ann Arbor and Columbus
20 judges
56 different wines
An aside
Wines from each state not available in the other
Shipping restricted
Stupid laws
Ann Arbor
And so it begins…
28 wines
Veteran judges
Press
Columbus
Overkill on wines (54)
Overkill on judges (16)
But…
Exciting story emerges
Results
I am a coward
5 Winners declared
Follow-up event @ Alana’s
Pretty happy
Talk about it
Ohio Wine ProducersNational Wine Marketing
Follow ups:
Ohio wine blogOhio Wine SurveyOhio v. World
To the vines!
Traverse City
Ohio River Valley
Lake Erie
Looking for quality
Second annual
Getting better …
Focus – 11 wines / state
Wineries get involved
Results II
One winner this time
MI = 4 of top 5
Story of a vintage - 2007
And beyond
Restaurant placements
Better consumer acceptance
Push for quality
Integrated notion of food and wine and local
Why, again?
Commitment to see it through
Reward local quality
At end, it is a lot of fun!
ohiovsmichiganwineclash.com