shade winery

We stopped in on our way home from a visit to Athens, and had the pleasure of watching a stunning sunset from their tasting room. We tasted about eight wines at the tasting bar while our teenagers had cheese and crackers at a table -- it was too cold to be outside on the lovely deck. We really liked several of their wines, and ordered glasses of the one we liked best, with smoked salmon and crackers to share. The salmon and cheese were wonderful, and the crackers appropriately plain but fresh. The tasting room includes about 7 tables with chairs, plus a coffee table and comfy chairs in front of a gas-log fireplace. While we were there, 4-5 parties of two or three people came and went, and a happy party of 7 adults and several children arrived with loaded picnic baskets; the owners pushed two tables together for them and I envied their meal. We enjoyed conversation with the owners, though they were actually rather busy with the comings and goings. We bought three bottles to take home: estate vidal blanc, estate elderberry, and their kestrel. We'll be making this winery a part of every trip to Athens or the Hocking Hills; in warmer times of the year you can use a lawn that slopes down to a small pond, with picnic tables and gas grills -- it will be easy to talk the kids into a picnic here on the way home!

My husband and I rented a cabin in Hocking Hills and thought it would be fun to check out Shade Winery. We were greeted by the owner Neal and his wife and were ushered in to the tasting room where we were quickly shown their wine list and at their suggestion, tasted all 14 of them. There were plenty of chairs all around but we weren't offered one, and so we stood at their tasting bar where they served stale oyster crackers and were quickly given a "taste" of each of their wines. We were only given one glass to share each sample, and the owner neglected to rinse the glass between each tasting, resulting in the cross catamination of each sample of wine that we tried.After our tasting, we both chose a wine that we liked and bought a glass to share together outside on their wrap around porch. We also bought some cheese and crackers to eat with our wine...but when the owner brought it out to us the cheese was still wrapped in the cellophane it came in, and the crackers were a little bit stale. We had driven over an hour to visit this winery and all and all it was a very average experience.

We saw the sign for this winery on our way to Hocking Hills, Ohio and decided to stop on our way back home. We were not disappointed! Neal and Owi Dix, the owners, were so hospitable and inviting! The vineyard is beautiful and the views are worth staying and sitting out on the patio for a while with a bottle or two of wine. They have live entertainment on some weekend nights and light snacks like cheese, crackers and fresh caught salmon are available to purchase. They also encourage bringing a picnic lunch and enjoying the property. Good wine, GREAT people, spectacular views! We had a really nice afternoon! We will definitely be returning!!!!