Ohio Wine of the Month Club

Seth Meranda grew up on a tobacco farm and, after graduating from Ohio State University in 1994' planned to continue to grow the crop as his livelihood at his great-grandfather's farm. He said he didn't foresee the demise of the tobacco industry in southern Ohio.

"Around 1998 I saw the writing on the wall," Meranda said. "Free trade and cheap imports led to the demise of the industry here."

Seth and his wife, Tina, looked for an alternative crop to replace the tobacco.

"We knew the history of the land, and figured we'd try, too, to bring back the wine industry for the third time," he said.

In 2OO3 the Meranda Family Vineyards was born on five and a half acres of land, with the first bottles of wine to be produced in 2OO7.