Going to school at Ohio University is amazing but sometimes you miss out on a lot of the things there are to do off campus. I toured three wineries in one day all within 40 minutes of OU and they were amazing.Â
Hocking Hills Winery- We made a stop at this first winery after spending some time hiking at Hocking Hills. This winery is small but cute. The outside patio is dog-friendly and is very spacious. The atmosphere was laid back and relaxing. This winery is nice yet casual and would be great to host a birthday party or bridal shower. They have seating around a large fire ring and you can bring your own food. We sampled almost all the wine and the crowd favorite was the sweet chardonnay and the wine slushies. The wine slushies were amazing and came in two different flavors. Every slushy is served in mason jars with a straw. I would highly recommend making a stop at this winery.
Shade Winery – This winery was our second stop and it was beautiful. There were fields of growing grapes surrounding the entire winery, which is not dog-friendly. This winery offers food as well. Our favorite wine here was the Riesling. We sat in Adirondack chairs overlooking the fields of grapes and a small pond on the property. There is wrap around deck seating and a patio off the back of the winery. This was by far my favorite of the three I visited that day. It was a quieter atmosphere that would make a great spot for a date.
Pleasant Hill Winery- This winery is closest to the Ohio University campus and is very beautiful as well. The outdoor seating overlooks grape vines and the inside offers seating as well. We tried several wines here and our favorite was the Riesling as well. The owners have a dog that roams around so it is dog-friendly if your dog gets along with others. This winery would be great for a get together with friends or a date as well. This one was tied for second with Hocking Hills Winery out of all three.
Try breaking out of your daily routine on campus and try a few of these awesome local places, they are amazing and it’s fun to step outside of the “OU bubble’ that we all get stuck in.Â