Winery Review: Rockside Winery

Rockside Winery is located in Lancaster, Ohio, just minutes outside of downtown Columbus.

Among the rolling hills of Fairfield County near Lancaster, Ohio, you will find Rockside Winery. Located just 35 minutes from the heart of Columbus, this small winery first got its start in 2007 when the first vines were planted.

Owners Robin and Valeria Coolidge are growing varietals such as Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Niagara and Corot Noir on 17 acres of property on the outskirts of Lancaster.

Growing grapes can be challenging in Ohio with its harsh winters, so Rockside and many other wineries in the state usually elect to grow native American varieties, French-American varieties, and hybrids. Rockside, for one, keeps its crop loads low, which means its vines have the resources to remain healthy and still give intense flavors to the fruit.

With the challenge of growing grapes in Ohio, Rockside also brings in fruit from the West Coast to produce some wines that don't grow well in Ohio's climate. But don't let that deter you from visiting its tasting room and sitting down for a tasting, flight or bottle of some friendly wines.

We visited the winery en route to Raleigh from our yearly trip up to Michigan to visit family. It was a sunny but relatively chilly afternoon when we stepped foot inside the tasting room.

Rockside allows visitors to choose their sample flight, which was $9 for five samples or $2 per sample. That afternoon, the winery had 11 wines available.

We selected the following: Rockmill, Harmonies, Night Flight, Rose Window and Lardboard. We'll get into those with more detail later, but first, let's mention all the others on the list. There were also the following: Town Square (Cabernet Franc), Uncle Billy (Chambourcin), Serene (Merlot), Apple Wine, Old Grandstand (Niagara) and Rockside Red (Concord).

Our first sample was the Rockmill. This wine was made using Rockside's estate grown Frontenac Blanc. We both agreed on this wine because we haven't had many Frontenac Blancs in our home state of North Carolina. A mouth-watering semi-dry white wine is the best way to describe a Frontenac Blanc. We both got pear and citrus on the nose and aroma and while still a little too sweet for our tastes, we did pleasantly enjoy this wine.

Next, it was another white wine. Harmonies is an estate-grown Traminette. While Dathan is usually the bigger fan of this grape than Jen, they both felt this one was a little too lemony for their tastes. That could have been from a recent interview with a winemaker who told us Traminette to him tastes like Lemon Pledge – and now that's all we're getting. But it was fun to taste the difference between an Ohio Traminette and a North Carolina Traminette.

The vines outside the tasting room at Rockside Winery in Lancaster, Ohio.

Our only Rosé came courtesy of Rose Window. Made using estate-grown Steuben, this semi-sweet wine had a bouquet of red berries on the tongue. At first, Dathan wasn't sure about the taste, but then after a few sips, it started to open up, and we both enjoyed the flavors.

Steuben is a hybrid grape developed in 1925 in New York from crossing two unique grapes – Wyane and Sheridan. It piqued our interest and was worth picking up a bottle to take home.

Night Flight was next and was an estate dry red blend. Jen got in the taste of what we refer to as "NC Twang." That's that metallic taste in the back of your throat you get with some red wines. We're not sure if it is from any chemicals or straight up from the soil, but this wine had slight hints of that "twang." And that's strange because this wine is a blend of Washington state grown Cabernet Franc, Corot Noir and Chancellor grown on-site. Hints of plum and dark fruit were the dominant tastes in this wine.

Our final sample was a fortified Port-style wine, Lardboard. The two of us really enjoyed this one, but since this port was residing at 19% ABV, we had a little less poured in our glass – which made us savor it even more. Jammy, sweet, plum-like and rich were just a few words we used to describe this dessert wine.

Another reason to visit Rockside, besides the tasty wines, is they also serve up small bites such as an Ohio cheese and meat plate, hummus, Greek olive bowls and woodfired pizzas. Not only that, but if you want to try something other than wine, Rockside features some local Ohio craft beers by the glass and shots of local Bourbon.

Rockside Winery is worth a stop to check out and will be added to our list of potential visits the next time we're passing through Lancaster.

The Larboard port was one of our favorites of the afternoon.