OUR 2025 ANNUAL MEETING – Sunday, November 9
This year we had not one but two guest speakers! James O. Miller and Bob Speers took turns sharing stories and telling tales about some of the most recognizable and most historic wineries in the area and how the wine industry flourished. Both are Board Members of the Society and have served for a combined 16 years. James is currently the President of our organization. From the first wine made on Kelleys Island to a personal history of the Steuk and E & K Wineries, this presentation had it all.
And look at some of the people who attended.
WE FEASTED – Oh how we feasted! The amazing Commodore Buffet did not disappoint. The Sandusky Yacht Club staff really outdoes themselves every year! Dinner included a house salad, dinner rolls, coffee, hot tea, iced tea. But the main attraction was the carved top sirloin, seafood scampi, green beans almandine, roasted redskin potatoes, and veggie pasta. And for dessert, the Club’s famous warm bread pudding. If this sounds delicious, you are right. Everyone went back for seconds!
Here are some vintage photos representing some of the oldest wineries in Erie County.
LAKE ERIE IS A DESIGNATED AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREA – The Lake Erie viticultural area is distinguished from surrounding areas by its proximity to Lake Erie, a distinct and contiguous viticultural district where there are vineyards of one acre or more located in every county, except Sandusky County, along the lake shore from near Toledo, Ohio to south of Buffalo, New York. Lake Erie is the geographical feature that defines this viticultural area. It was established on October 20, 1983. This area has an over 190-year history of grape growing and wine-making, benefiting from its late frosts, moderate temperatures, and long growing season (a growing season of 165 days is considered minimal and 180 plus days is preferable). The first mention of commercial grapes being planted appears in 1850 on Kelleys Island. “Charles Carpenter… set out the first acre of grapes planted as a field crop… The first wine from the product of his vineyard was made in 1850 in the old log house, his former residence…” This was “the first wine cellar [erected] north of Cincinnati.” In the year 1850, “George C. Huntington, made a barrel of wine, as being the readiest way of disposing of his surplus crop… The wine was called very good when it was two years old.”