I don’t know much about wine but I do like the taste. First thing I learned; though not mandatory, it’s best to hold a wine glass by the stem. That way the wine won’t warm from your hand. Second, it’s best to drink a glass of wine in the company of friends and family. Candlelight Winery is all about friends and family.
Harvest season is now and the whole family comes out to help pick the grapes. Almost instantly, they go from vine to crusher to press and get turned into juice. Candlelight Winery has three small vineyards of their own and imports California grapes from a vineyard north of Napa Valley for some of their drier wines like the Sangiovese.
“Select wines require certain grapes from different climates,” says Amanda Conkol, co-owner of Candlelight Winery. Her favorite wine is the Cabernet Franc. It is a “dry red.”
Chris and Amanda Conkol are two of Ohio’s youngest winery owners. They have worked hard at building the winery, and I do mean build. An architect by profession, Chris designed the structure and with the help of friends and family, from the ground up built it with his own two hands. One can only stand and marvel at its rustic beauty. Even as I sat interviewing Amanda in the ambiance of the winery, Chris was out building a ramp to the fire pit where a fabulous patio and Candlelight Cove Light Display of over 30,000 lights are synchronized to music.
“What kind of music?” I ask, sipping a fabulous “Pink Pug” wine and holding the stem. The wine is delicious, chilled and soft.
Amanda hugs their twin daughters. “Friday night is family night, and that is reflected in the music. Saturday we have live music geared more toward adults.”
I think of that line about no wine before its time. “How do you know when a wine is ready?” At this point we are walking through the basement where the wine is fermenting. It is an impressive sight. Oak wine barrels, huge stainless-steel processing vats, boxes and boxes of bottled wines.
“Sweet wines take an average of six months, dry wines up to three years. After that time, you rely on taste. It’s actually best to taste the wine first thing in the morning.”
Fermenting, yeast, sugar, residual sugar, there is no residual sugar in dry wines, their wines on the average are 11 and a half percent alcohol, Chris likes the dry reds too…. I’m taking notes and trying to absorb it all. “What about sniffing the cork? Why is that so important?”
“Mainly, it lets you know if the wine was aged and stored properly. If wine is stored standing up, it could become oxidized, which would turn the wine to vinegar. You want the cork to be wet to ensure air has not gotten into the wine. A wine bottle should be stored on its side.”
We pass the kitchen and I realize I am hungry. “Do you serve food?”
“Yes, we have cheese trays and a menu of delicious flat bread pizzas. For dessert, we offer a decadent Smores delight. The customers can order from the menu or bring their own picnic or snacks.”
Candlelight Winery is open year-round, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 3-9:00 pm and Saturdays from 1-10:00 pm. The Conkols have plans to put in more vineyards and possibly open an additional winery in the future. They will pick the same setting for the next one, rustic, a hillside, whispering trees all around. But that is in their future. At the moment, the whole family is out harvesting grapes.
For more information about Candlelight Winery visit their website at www.candlelightwinery.com