On our recent travels through the south shore of Lake Erie in Ohio and Pennsylvania we made several observations. There are many vineyards, some small and some stretching as far as the eye can see. Many of these vineyards grow Niagara and Concord grapes. Many of these grapes go to Welch’s. This is not surprising if one takes a moment to think of all the Welch’s products made from grapes available in grocery stores throughout the country. These products, juice and jelly for example, require massive tons of grapes. One can observe a large number of acres of Concord and Niagara grapes.

Another observation is that the many wineries throughout the area make more than Niagara and Concord wines. True they also make Catawba, but there is a large planting of vinifera grapes especially the cooler climate varieties. Many wineries indicated that their best selling wines tend to be sweet. Ranging from 50 to 75 percent of sales are wines from the sweeter part of their portfolio. But don’t be led into thinking that these are all Concord, Niagara and Catawba. At many wineries the best selling wine is an off-dry or sweet Riesling.

With the massive plantings of vineyards destined for Welch’s, it is easy to overlook the many vinifera vineyards. Chardonnay and Riesling are commonly planted along with Pinot Grigio. For the reds, there are plantings of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot will grow in some areas, but frequently is bought from growers in other wine regions. There are also many plantings of other vinifera as well as hybrids.

Several winemakers told us that even though the sweeter wines are the best selling, they’ve noticed a change in drinking habits over the past few years. Customers who always buy sweet wines are beginning to also buy the dryer wines. The winemakers also noted that the younger purchasers tend to buy dry.

One pleasant scene was a drive through North East, Pennsylvania where we saw acres upon acres of vineyards. If you haven’t visited the South Shore Lake Erie area, consider taking time to become familiar with it.