The Old Mill Winery in Geneva is one of some 30 wineries in Ashtabula County. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

By Ken Drenten

The Old Mill Winery in Geneva, Ohio, is one of more than 30 wineries clustered in Ashtabula County’s richly established wine-growing region along Lake Erie.

The area around Geneva was settled by people from New York, Connecticut and other eastern states starting in 1805. The town was established in 1816. As early as 1829, town postmaster Eliphalet Mills owned a gristmill as well as a tannery, distillery and blacksmith shop.

Built around 1864 as a planing mill equipped to convert rough lumber into smooth and graded material for use in construction and cabinetwork, the mill was once owned by J.E. Goodrich & Co. It has gone through a number of ownership changes since then.

Goodrich died in 1902, and in 1925 the mill was purchased from George Brown by the Farmer’s Supply Corp. and Broadway Milling Company. In 1937 General Mills took over from Farm Services Stores Inc.

An old photo of the mill posted on an interior wall, probably from the early 20th century, shows lettering painted on the outside reading “NICKEL PLATE FLOUR/FEED STORE, BALED HAY STRAW, CUSTOM GRINDING.”

In 1976, the mill, by that time owned by Richard G. Kinkopf of South Euclid, Ohio, became the first building dedicated to the City of Geneva by the Ashtabula County Historical Society.

The Old Mill Winery’s rustic interior retains much of the mill’s character. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

The two-story, red wooden structure near downtown Geneva includes patio seating and deck areas outside, and restaurant and tavern areas inside that retain the mill’s rustic ambience, with plenty of exposed beams in view inside the mill.

The Old Mill Winery is a family-owned business where friends and family gather for “great wine, great food and great times.” More than a dozen varieties of dry, semi-sweet and sweet wines are produced and bottled at the mill.

Lunch and dinner entrees include steak, chicken, seafood and pasta, as well as sandwiches, salads and barbeque. Old Mill Winery is best known for its signature Wine Burger – marinated in wine, then cooked over an open grill outside the mill.

The mill features a regular slate of live entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as “open mic” on Sunday evenings.

The winery is located in a microclimate that produces 65 percent of all the grapes grown in Ohio. It’s an ideal locale for sunny, vineyard-hopping daytrips and weekend getaways to the lake. In fact, many of the area’s wineries are located in and around Geneva.

Old Mill Winery is located at 403 S. Broadway (SR 534), Geneva (440) 446-5560. Learn more about Ohio’s mills in Dusty Tires; view videos of Ohio mills and other topics in Dusty Tires as well.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

Subscribe to Dusty Tires and receive a weekly email with the latest blog article. It’s free and ad-free!

All rights reserved, copyright 2024, Dusty Tires (dusty-tires.com)