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It is all in the family for Kennedy Vineyard, a locally owned winery that you may not have heard of, but you will never forget.
Northwest of the Miami Valley, located in New Madison, Ohio, the property has personality, warmth and a homey feel.  It makes sense.  The winery and tasting room are all located on the family homestead. It is a fully functioning winery and farm.  Depending on where you live in Dayton, the trip could take from between 20 to 45 minutes.  It is a perfect date night, or destination Food Adventure.  It feels like a weekend escape, when you have really just traveled to the next county.

Time to explore……

HERE’S THE SKINNY on KENNEDY VINEYARD:

— Three generations live on the homestead, from grandma to the grandaughter.  All contribute to the working farm.  You may see some chickens and crops if you keep your eyes peeled.  Parts of the farm have been turned into the winery.  The tasting room is the old corn crib.  You may even get a welcome from the family’s young daughter, who is very sweet.

— John and Louisa Kennedy are the owners of the winery.  They have poured a lot of dedication and hard work into making the place a comfortable and delicious experience.  It is a welcoming spot and place that every Daytonian should visit.

— Twelve years ago, John’s mom started planting the grapes.  John, who grew up in the home, took over production and in 2014, the tasting room was opened.

—The Winery address is 3911 State Route 722, New Madison, Ohio.  It is just a few miles off of an exit on I-70 West not far from Greenville/Arcanum.

—Kennedy Vineyard’s philosophy is to make the wines in small batches. This keeps the wines young, and helps preserve the fruity flavors.  Many of the bottle’s labels are artwork from friends, family and customers.  Some are drawn from photos taken at the winery by friends or family.

—The winery hopes to be brewing beer too by summer 2017.

— Limited Menu HERE offering flatbread pizzas, meat and cheese trays from local farms. The cheeses are from J’s Country Store and the meats are from Winner’s meats.

— Tasting Room Hours:  Thurs 6pm-9pm,  Fri 4pm-9pm, Sat. 2pm -10pm

— Wine Prices are as follows:  

****** Bottles of Wine – $10-$15, depending on what style you order.

****** Wine Flights:  7, one ounce pours for $5  or build your own wine flights for $1 per pour

****** Glasses of Wine: $5 – $8.50 depending on the wine

They have an assorted meat and cheese plates that hit the spot, while tasting wines.  They sometimes offer flatbreads and soups as well.  But the main event is the wine, and we have the breakdown of all the wines you don’t want to miss.

*NOTE* Dear Sophisticated wine drinkers,  the selection of wines is not very dry, so don’t expect that.  You can expect some semi-dry and fruity wines, many of them sweet as well.  Keep an open mind, as they are a growing establishment using Ohio grapes.  You won’t find a dry, dark merlot here…..  yet.

 

MUST DRINKS at KENNEDY VINEYARD:

TWISTED OAK:  One of their dry, red wines.  The wine is stored in oak barrels for flavor.  The result is traces of coffee and rich, dark chocolate.  The artwork on the label is truly unique.

 

LONE CEDAR RED:  A dry wine made with De Chaunac Grapes, which is a hybrid of a French-American grape project in the 1860’s.  The grape is vibrant in Canada, New York, Ohio and Michigan.  This red wine won the bronze medal at the 2015 Finger Lakes International wine competition.  Named for a lone

cedar tree that survived on the farm.

 

DARKE KNIGHT:  One of the Big Ragu’s favorite wines.  It has black cherry and blackberry undertones.  The vineyard describes it as “a full bodied, red wine.”  A little too sweet for Hungry Jax tastes, this was a 2015 Finger Lakes International Wine Fest Silver Medal winner.

 

RED NECK GIRL: The #1 selling wine at the Kennedy Vineyard.  Is it the name or the soft and sweet taste.  This wine dances with fruit flavors like cherry and raspberry.  Refreshingly delicious, this wine was also a Silver Medal winner at the 2015 Finger Lakes International wine fest

 

EMERICK SKY: Semi Dry crisp white wine, with refreshing citrus flavors.  Artwork on label is from a photo taken of the sky above Emerick Street.

 

RIESLING:  The Big Ragu also pegs this as his other favorite.   A sweet, refreshing taste , almost like champagne.  Very light, white almost clear wine.  The flavor is so nice and all day drinkable.  The Big Ragu drank this one so fast, John Kennedy looked at him and said “You’re not much of a sipper are you?”

 

LOVE AT FIRST WHITE: A signature white wine from Kennedy Vineyard.  Big Ragu loves this one as well.  Cold, refreshing and sweet.  Fall in love with the sweetness and the bold flavors of the Niagara Grape.

 

RED NECK LOVE:  This is an invention of the staff.  It is actually a glass of half “Red Neck Girl” and half “Love at First White.”  The result is a popular sweet blush.  This one is a lot of fun and in the spirit of a Food Adventure.

 

BLACKBERRY WINE: Very fruity flavors abide in this one.  A little deep, yet subtle, it is a great sipping wine.  This wine is the 2nd most popular wine at Kennedy Vineyard.

 

RESILIENT: Their blush wine.  Pink in color, refreshing and semi-sweet wine.  $1 off all bottle sales goes to the Epilepsy Foundation

 

And now we turn to ones that are sold out until next year….

 

MUST DRINKS THAT ARE “OUT OF STOCK” UNTIL NEXT HARVEST:

KV SUNSET: A dry, red wine, this is their Estate Reserve wine.  This means the grapes were grown on premises and processed from vine, to crush to bottle at the winery.  There were limited quantities of this one due to a limited quantities of a special “Chambourcin Grape” grown at the vineyard.  It is a French-American Hybrid grape, and rare at Ohio wineries.  KV Sunset is also the winery’s dryest wine.  This is their rarest bottle of wine, and since they only brew a limited small batch, it goes quickly.  Maybe you will get a taste in 2017.  This is their dryest wine on the menu.

 

CHARDONNAY:  This popular, dry white wine has a subtle oak taste.  It is light tasting and has hints of citrus flavor.  They are looking to get this favorite back in stock, real soon.

 

TRAMINETTE:  A semi-dry white wine, this is a well balanced product.  There are tastes of apple and pears, with a spicy end and aftertaste.

 

We have been to Kennedy Vineyard a four times now with friends, and this place has stolen our heart.  It is a great story about a charming local

family, who are delivering a fun product.  Make sure you take the time to stop by this vineyard.

Now, we have an announcement…………..

*** SUMMER FOOD ADVENTURE “WINE AND SWINE.” at KENNEDY VINEYARDS SAT JUNE 3rd,  2pm-10pm ***

We are having a Food Adventure dinner event at Kennedy Vineyards for next year.

 

We are hosting at a 200 person limit, hog roast and barn party called “WINE AND SWINE.”

$25 per person, get your tickets at this link

Attendees will each get a bottle of wine and a full Pork BBQ dinner.

SATURDAY JUNE 3rd, 2017 SCHEDULE:
2pm-4pm CASH BAR and Mingle on the vineyard grounds,
3pm-5pm Acoustic Music
4pm – 6pm Hog Roast Dinner to include:
1 bottle of wine per person.  Pulled Pork, homemade BBQ Sauce, Homemade Slaw, homemade Cheesey Potatoes, homemade Baked Beans
7-9pm Rock Band
6pm – 10pm CASH BAR

This promises to be a blast, so please GET YOUR TICKETS NOW !

LET’S GET SOME EARLY BUZZ STARTED…  pun intended

THE BIG RAGU, CHEF HOUSE and HUNGRY JAX have decided to give away 2 tickets to this event to kick off the new year !!

That is a $50 value – all you have to do is comment below and one person will be chosen at random next week to win 2 tickets to JUNE 3rds WINE AND SWINE event !!!

Check out more photos of the vineyard below.