kinkead ridge vineyard and winery

After visiting the Parker and Rankin Houses in Ripley we decided to head out to the Kinkead Winery after seeing their many signs in town stating they were open for tastings. Head out Hwy 52 and turn on Congress Street beside the McDonald's. Go about a block to Hamburg St. and there you are. I was a little surprised when I saw the tasting place as the vineyards are not on Hamburg Street. The tasting room and is a subdivision house in a residential area. In fact, when my friend pulled into the driveway, I thought it must be the wrong address. I am glad we went in though as it was an enjoyable time with some great wines. It is nothing fancy for sure, but the people were friendly and engaging and the one man even played a song on his violin. Perfect! Great wine, cheese cubes, and violin music! Six tastes are $4 with a plastic glass or $6 with a take home souvenir glass. I really liked them all. Try them!

I've had the great good fortune to have visited many wineries over the last several decades, western and upstate New York, Tennessee, California, northern Ohio, and more than my share in the Ohio River valley but I have never visited one quite like this one!! We found KR(www.kinkeadridge.com) in a review of a series of wineries clustered around the triangle of Ripley, Georgetown, and Bethel, Ohio and decided to make a day trip of it. Since most of these wineries were very limited in the days and hours they are open(check their websites to keep from finding them closed), we started with KR based upon their being open the earliest. I ran a routing on the computer and we headed for Ripley, Ohio, the tobacco producing capital of Ohio. Turning left on Hanover Street off of U.S. 52, the main route along the Ohio River and the main street of Ripley, we entered a residential area of single lane blacktop streets. Turning right on Hamburg Street, my wife and I began questioning if we had made a wrong turn somewhere because this didn't look like any area where we would ever find a winery - we were in a residential neighborhood. Confusion reigned. Having missed the numbers, we reversed course and headed back the way we came. What we found was a 1960's vintage single family ranch-style house with two ladies sitting in lawn chairs in front with a banner that said "Kinkead Ridge Winery" across what had at one time been a garage door and could not be seen with them sitting where they were.After being greeted and shown inside, it was obvious the inside of the house had been gutted to create an open area where the fermenting tanks and other necessities of wine production have been installed. The first question out of my mouth was, "... how did you get a permit to put this business in a residential neighborhood?" Her answer, "...Ripley doesn't have any zoning." This means that anybody can put anything wherever they want in the village pretty much without restriction. Situation answered. The next question was the location of the vineyard, which obviously wasn't around here, and which turned out to be how the winery got its name, the vineyards being on Kinkead Ridge Road.KR is one of the small estate wineries that dot the Ohio River valley, a legacy of the late Nicholas Longworth who first started commercial vinoculture in America, and produces maybe 700 cases a year, some from local grapes, some from juice brought in from other grape-growing areas. Riesling, Traminette, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, plus Syrah and Petit Verdot form the bulk of their production. After paying an honorarium to the State of Ohio, we were offered generous amounts of their wares to contemplate its quality. We found the '11 Traminette and their '11 Riesling to our taste and although I'm not big on Cabernet Franc, I did find it more appealing than I usually do. Cost per bottle was average for the estate winery trade in Ohio.After generous hospitality and a recommendation on a place to have lunch(which unfortunately didn't work out), we left a friendly and most interesting winery operation that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression in my mind and upon my pallet as well.