You Can Sure Pick ‘Em

Every September, Fred Bucci looks for a few good hands. Bucci, the co-owner of Buccia Vineyards in Conneaut, Ohio, invites 50 of his customers and closest friends — and even a few new ones — to help him pick grapes in the 4 ½-acre vineyard.

Afterward, everyone sits down for a picnic dinner and the chance to sample some of the wines made from the previous year’s harvest. And some harvesters go from sweet wine to suite accommodations at the adjacent Buccia Vineyard Bed & Breakfast, where each of the four rooms has its own queen-size bed and hot tub.

“We’ve been holding a harvest picnic for about 15 years,” says Bucci, a tall, gravel-throated man who looks like he’d be just as comfortable opening the throttle on a Harley as he would opening a chilled Riesling.

“People come out on a beautiful fall day and work in the fields for about three hours,” he continues. “We pick about 60 percent of the vineyards. It’s a lot of fun. Some people who have been here before say, ‘I want to drink what I harvested last year.’ ”

Whether you drink the wine you helped create or something made from the fruits of another’s labors, the afternoon gives visitors a good taste of what it’s like to run a boutique winery.

But if you’re thinking of volunteering on September 25, Bucci suggests calling first to see if space is available. Occasionally, too many people show up, and too many feet tend to trample too many vines.

But whatever time you pick to visit Buccia, make sure you try the Agawam ($9.16 a bottle), made from a hybrid grape developed in Massachusetts in 1851.

The Agawam grape looks red, but produces a fruity white wine with an herbal finish. There are only 600 such vines in the United States, Bucci says, and his winery has about 400 of them.

Buccia Vineyards was born in February 1975, when Bucci, a technician for AT&T, looked out the window of his Mentor home, saw a raging snowstorm, then turned to his wife, Joanna, and said, “I don’t want to do this for the rest of my life.”

Already an amateur winemaker, Bucci (“buccia” is Italian for “fruit pulp”), bought property in Conneaut and planted vines. He then took winemaking courses while working part time as a tax assessor.

In 2009, the winery produced about 1,500 cases. The plan, he says, has always been to remain small. “You have fewer hassles, fewer employees and less expense. We have no desire to grow. We pay our bills, and that’s fine with me.”

The B&B was added in 1986. The Buccis enjoyed a vacation in a motel with a hot tub so much that Fred built one in the corner of the winery and covered it with a retractable floor to keep it hidden.

Visitors kept asking about the odd-shaped piece of flooring; once it was explained, they asked about renting it for a few hours. Sensing a moneymaking proposition, Bucci added rooms — and more hot tubs — to his home, and business began bubbling.

“Wine and hot tubs make for a romantic getaway,” he says. “We get about 100 calls a year just from people who want to reserve a suite for Valentine’s Day weekend.” To secure one, he advises calling at least six months in advance.”

But Bucci says the real fun of owning a B&B is meeting people from all over the country. “How often,” he asks, “do you run into someone from Nebraska?”

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Perfect Pairings

Fred Bucci, co-owner of Buccia Vineyards, suggests matching these wines with your entrées:

• Agawam ($9.16): This fruity white wine made from cold-pressed red grapes is good served with cheese as an appetizer or with semisweet desserts.

• Vignoles ($9.16): This tart white wine with a grapefruit/pineapple finish recalls a Sauvignon Blanc. Good with fish, poultry or a cheesy entrée.

• Baco ($9.86): This dry red wine goes well with red meat and pasta dishes.



Info to Go

Buccia Vineyard

518 Gore Road

Conneaut, Ohio

440-593-5976

bucciavineyard.com