Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern, 8960 Wilcox Drive, Twinsburg, will hold a wine tasting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 featuring Buttonwood Winery.

The event is $30 and includes five small plate courses with wine pairings, and the chance to chat with winemaker Karen Steinwachs. Call 330-486-BLUE (2583) to reserve a spot.

By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer

Vintage Ohio, the state’s largest food and wine festival, returns to Kirtland for its 17th year Friday and Saturday.

The event is considered the premier tasting show for Ohio wines. This year, 24 wineries from throughout the state will offer samples of their vintages.

New this year is the appearance of four gourmet food trucks that operate in Northeast Ohio, which will be serving foods paired to match with wines from various wineries. Trucks that will be there are JiBARO, StrEat Mobile Bistro, Umami Moto and Zydeco Bistro. In addition, there will be food from dozens of Northeast Ohio restaurants and caterers, three stages of entertainment and cooking demonstrations by staff from the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking.

The wine fest is 1 to 10 p.m. each day at Lake Metroparks Farmpark, 8800 Chardon Road, Kirtland. Tickets are $25 in advance, $27 at the gate, $40 for a two-day pass, $10 for designated drivers and $3 for children 4-18 (free for children 3 and younger). For advance tickets, call 800-227-6972 or visit http://www.visitvintageohio.com.

The Cleveland Wine Festival is July 29 and 30 in Voinovich Park in downtown Cleveland.

The festival offers food, wine and beer tastings, as well as wine education, cooking demonstrations and live music.

There will be more than 270 wines to sample, food from Morton’s The Steakhouse, Zinc Bistro, Ponte Vecchio Ristorante, La Strada and La Dolce Vita, as well as a Belgian Beer Cafe featuring Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe Belgian beers.

Wine tasting tickets are $27 in advance and $35 at the door. The ticket includes a souvenir wine glass, 10 samples, admission to all of the programs and the chance to buy bottles of wine at a discount.

Designated driver tickets are $10 in advance or at the door and include two non-?alcoholic drinks, as well as the other amenities. Anyone under age 21 is admitted free when accompanied by a paid adult.

The Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center is featuring a “Sip, Savor and Sleep” package for the event. Call 216-696-9200 for reservations and details.

Proceeds will benefit the Bright Side of the Road Foundation, which supports finding a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Festival hours are Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m. For information, visit http://www.?clevelandwinefestival.com or call 847-382-1480.

The Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York is known for wine. But there are some pretty nice breweries scattered throughout. (Including Wagner Valley, which last I looked was the only combination winery-brewery there.) The breweries have always been overshadowed by the wineries, which each year attract massive amounts of tourists. A group of breweries is hoping to raise their profile as well and have started the Finger Lakes Beer Trail. The trail extends from Syracuse to Rochester. “Our mission is to increase the visibility and reputation of our local craft brewing and beer culture,” co-creator Theresa Hollister told the Elmira Star-Gazette, noting the trail has been patterned after the successful Finger Lakes wines model. Given the amount of breweries in Ohio — 50 and growing — it’s amazing that there’s no organized beer trail in the Buckeye State. To read the Elmira Star-Gazette story, click here.

Rick Armon is a full-time newspaper reporter with the Akron Beacon Journal and a beer enthusiast. He’s been a homebrewer for more than 10 years and writer about beer for the newspaper. Rick’s book, Ohio Breweries, will be published by Stackpole Books in September 2011.

Visit Rick’s Armon’s Beer Blog

This year’s event will feature wines from Napa Valley’s Beau Vigne, with vineyard owners Ed and Trish Snider in attendance.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by 7:45 p.m. dinner prepared by green caterer Spice of Life Catering, which prepares organic meat and produce from Ohio. There are live and silent auctions for more than 100 wines and wine-related items, as well as a woodcut print by M.C. Escher and trips. The after-party begins at 9:30 p.m. with music and dancing.

This is the museum’s largest fundraiser of the year, with proceeds benefiting the museum’s programs and operations. It is held in the Beatrice Knapp McDowell Grand Lobby. Tickets start at $250. For information, visit http://www.AkronArtMuseum.org/wine or call 330-376-9185.

Sponsored by ohio.monster.com, the event took place on May 19, 2011.

Ten wine selections from 5 regions including France, Italy, Napa, Australia, and Argentina were offered for tasting.

Catering was provide by Acme Fresh Markets and chef Marc D’Antonio. Floral arrangements were also provided by Acme Fresh Markets.

Guests enjoyed the sounds of jazz performed by the Mike Forfia Trio.

Kudos to Breitenbach Wine Cellars in Dover for being one of three Ohio wineries to receive the Ohio Quality Wine Award, for making their wines with at least 90 percent Ohio-grown grapes. Other wineries recognized include Ferrante Winery in Harpersfield Township and Burnet Ridge Winery in North College Hill.

The JZ Wine Co. of Cuyahoga Falls recently received some kudos from Wine Spectator magazine. Its Frost Bitten Ice Riesling scored 90 points in the magazine’s ratings.

Frost Bitten Ice Riesling is going back on sale soon for $11.99, company owner Joe Zaucha tells me.

Troutman Vineyards and the Winery at Wolf Creek have hired Carrie Bonvallet as the new winemaker to oversee both wineries.

Bonvallet, a native of Freeport, Maine, who currently resides in Wooster, has a degree in chemistry from Kenyon College and did postgraduate studies in brewing and distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

She previously worked as a brewer for J.T. Whitney’s Pub & Brewery in Madison, Wis., and is an avid home brewer, specializing in British ales.

The Winery at Wolf Creek is at 2637 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road, Copley Township, and Troutman Vineyards & Winery is at 4243 Columbus Road, Plain Township near Wooster.

When the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster held its annual Ohio Wine Competition, several local wineries walked away with medals, including Red Horse Winery in New Franklin, which won Best of Show for Fruit Wine for its blackberry.

The blackberry wine also was awarded a gold medal.

Red Horse was the only Akron-area winery that took top honors. The winery also took a silver medal for its Niagara, and bronze for its Pink Catawba and 4 Play fruit wine vintages.

Maize Valley Winery in Hartville won silver medals for its Sinfully White Chardonnay, Secret Stash Zinfandel, Red Neck Red concord, raspberry fruit wine and Summer Fling flavored fruit wine, and bronze for its riesling, Sinfully Red Zinfandel, Big Red Pecker red blend and La Crescent white varietal.

Canton’s Gervasi Vineyard won silver for its Bellina Chardonnay; while Aurora’s ThornCreek Winery & Gardens won bronze for its cabernet sauvignon and Drift Away red blend.

Viking Vineyards & Winery in Brimfield Township won two bronze medals for its vidal blanc and Party whites, and Perennial Vineyards in Navarre took a bronze for its vidal.