Viticulture in Ohio

With roughly the equivalent of 15,000 acres devoted to the vine, Ohio is normally exceeded only by California, New York, and Michigan in grape production. Of the fruit and berry crops grown in the state, commonly only apples, and in some years peaches and strawberries, exceed grapes in farm value. Worth $795,000, the 1934 crop totaled 22,720 tons. Although this was only about one and one-third per cent of the national production of 1,775,168 tons, the amount gains significance with the knowledge that approximately eighty-six per cent of the national aggregate originated in the state of California where production is largely of the European type grape. Ohio is, therefore, one of the leading producers of the American type grape (Table I). Not only this, but the degree of concentration of Ohio vineyards into a relatively limited area calls for interpretation. Slightly more than four-fifths the total number of vines of bearing age are located in the counties bordering Lake Erie (Figure 1). Further, the majority are in the northern part of these counties, within a few miles of the lake shore. They thus form one of the more important vineyard concentrations outside of California. Other important concentrations are found in the Chatauqua and Finger Lakes districts of New York; the Benton Harbor and Paw Paw districts of southwestern Michigan; the Springdale district of northwestern Arkansas; and Erie County, Pennsylvania

Biology · Business · Geography · Viticulture · Wine · Fermentation and Sensory Analysis · Forest Insect Ecology and Management · Horticultural and Viticultural Research

• Applying Geospatial Tools and Techniques to Viticulture

  Open Access•Adam J Mathews•Geography Compass•2013

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