Gov. John Kasich yesterday signed House Bill 491 into law, declaring June as Ohio Wine Month, a time to celebrate Ohio’s wines and their impact on the local economy.
Ohio has over 162 wineries, with more than 1,600 acres of grapes that yield more than 1 million gallons of wine each year. According to a 2008 Economic Impact report, Ohio’s grape and wine industry generates more than $580 million in economic activity. The Ohio grape and wine industry also employs more than 4,100 people, providing a payroll of $124.2 million.
There are several events taking place around the state (and city!) in honor of Ohio Wine Month, a full calendar of which is available on the Ohio Wines website.
5 Comments on "June is Ohio Wine Month"
Check out this blog post about Ohio Wine Month
http://www.agribusiness.westfieldinsurance.com/2012/06/june-is-ohio-wine-month.html
I believe it’s a great thing to honor Ohio wine and the makers. Ohio was once the leading producer of wine in the United States. Supporting our state wineries can only help our state.
Much of the support is not as it should be. Ohio when I started was ranked third in winery production and number of wineries. We are now rated 9th in most reports I see. Yes we have increased but not at the rate of other states that provide a better business climate. That includes states that otherwise have a worse business climate overall than ours. Much of the advances have been at the influence of some of the wineries in Northern Ohio. But, I’ve also discovered efforts for some advances that have been profferred by others in the state have been blocked by the same. Many of their actions seem to be of a sort of regional or at least dominance wise in the Ohio wine industry of a protectionist nature and some sort of crony capitalism with the Department of Agriculture. I don’t see this as a healthy situation for our industry as far as quality and long term growth is concerned. Having decisions made for the industry on a sort of oligarchy basis with collusion with bureaucracy cannot be healthy. Most wineries just go along with it not seeing that it can be changed and not willing to risk losing money or worse, possible retribution.