**Disclosure: I was invited in by Grand River Cellars for their Grinchmas bar. All my other visits were on my own accord. As always my opinions are 100% my own.***
Something I love to do is winery hop and try new wines. The Cleveland area has so many great winery options. If you are heading to the east side, Ashtabula and Lake counties have a plethora of options. I thought about just mapping out each one of our winery days but the more I thought about it each winery really needs their own review. So I’ll really be trying to cover as many of my favorite wineries as I can plus some other restaurants and things to do out in Madison and Geneva. From downtown Cleveland Madison and Geneva is about 35 to 45 mins. Whether you decide to just spend a day or spend a whole weekend is up to you but either is totally worth it.
Grand River Cellars is located on Route 528 in Madison, OH. They are dog friendly and take part in June’s Woof Wine and Wag trail. When you pull in you will drive down a dirt road whereas you get closer to the winery building you can park anywhere along that dirt road or head straight back to more parking. If you are looking straight back there is a pavilion to the right, which they recently added and it is the perfect area if you have your dogs with you. To the left is the winery building and an outdoor patio. Inside they have a bar, multiple dining areas and a downstairs area with a party room.
Drinks: Grand River Cellars may be a winery but they also have amazing cocktails and local beers. Their cocktails do change depending on the season. They also carry red and white wine options. One of my favorites is the Muddy Paw Semillon. They do also have mocktail options for non drinkers. I feel like they have drink options for everyone.
Food: Grand River has monthly specials that include specialty flights. The last time I was there they had a mashed potato flight that came with four samples. These included bacon and beer cheese, roasted red peeper, Sage and white cheddar and mashed with gravy. They were honestly all delicious and I enjoyed being able to try a little bit of each type. Their actual menu includes appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches and burgers and some entrees. On Monday and Tuesday they do have a more condensed menu, which includes apps and sandwiches.
Some of my favorite food items have come off of their specialty menu and I’m always hoping they will make them permanents on the menu. The hot honey chicken sandwich is one of my all time favorites on their menu. There has been a couple variations of this sandwich but the last time I had it, it had grilled juicy chicken with pimento cheese, hot honey and Aleppo seasoning. Another favorite which they had at Christmas time was the roast beast Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese was cheesy and had some good flavor and the roast was tender and flavorful. There was a good amount of roast on the Mac and cheese. We have also just gotten some apps and a pizza and every one was really happy with our choices.
Grand River takes part in many of the monthly trails like the Woof, Wag, Wine trail, the Bunny Hop Wine and Cocktail trail, Ice Wine Festival, Adult Trick or Treat and the Turkey Trot. They have tons of events, music and trivia nights. Also in the winter make sure to check out their Grinchmas Bar, it’s adorable!! The best place to see what they have going on is on their socials and maybe I’ll see you there.
Have you been to Grand River Cellars? What are your favorites?