Sunflowers & Sips Along The Three Rivers Wine Trail

Hello Friends!

Who among us doesn’t appreciate a fine wine? I totally wore the girls out with August girls’ day, but to make up for it, I made sure they had plenty of wine to make them happy 🙂 I even made sure to toss a brewery in for my beer-drinkin’ gal pals! I’m a great friend if I do say so myself!

So, what exactly did our day consist of? We finally made it to the Coshocton Sunflower Festival, after I initially missed our exit and had to do a quick turnaround. I’m not sure why they let me drive – I’m totally directionally challenged. GPS really is a technological marvel! And, I apparently hug the yellow line (so says Julie) and go way too fast on the back country roads! Whatever – I’m well aware I have a lead foot! And really, who doesn’t want to go ‘weeeee’ up and down the hills of the back roads?

I had pre-purchased the $15 early admission tickets online, making getting into the event a breeze, though they weren’t at all crowded when we arrived! A cute little tractor with attached trailer hauled us back to the field, where multiple varieties of beautiful sunflowers were in bloom.

Quick tidbit here – I found out after the event that Christine is NOT a fan of sunflowers. Girl…what is your aversion to sunflowers anyway? How about you all? Flower aversions? Is that even a thing?

We quickly perused the craft/artisan vendors, where Teeny and I bought some fabulously scented goat milk soap from Zion Creek Farm and Heidi picked up some beef snacks. Gal needs her snacks, okay?

About 4-5 food trucks were also set up, so Heidi snagged herself some donuts to munch on as we skipped through the sunflowers. Quick note – there wasn’t actually skipping – more like trudging 🙂

I must say, the glorious sunflower field was wrought with bees. To be expected, of course, but just in case you’re allergic, be sure to have that epi pen on standby.

As the designated photographer and selfie-stick holder of the bunch, I took lots of great pics and we took full advantage of the fun props stationed throughout the field. They had things like a wooden swing, tractor, cute seating areas, shelving, doorways and bunches of other interesting stuff. If you’re on the hunt for a great place for senior pics, family pics or fun kids shots, this would be a great place to visit.

After careful selection, we each cut our free-with-purchase sunflower. If you want, you could certainly purchase more, but we knew we’d be out and about for quite some time, so we didn’t pick up the extras.

All in all, we spent less than 2 hours at the festival before heading off on the rest of our journey – the Three Rivers Wine Trail.

I’m not sure where I first found out about the Three Rivers Wine Trail, but essentially you visit 7 wineries and 1 brewery. Pick up a passport at whichever winery you hit first and have them stamped along the way. Once your passport is fully stamped, you can either turn it in in person or send it in to receive a free t-shirt!

Baltic Mill Winery

Located in the city of Baltic, the aptly named Baltic Mill Winery was the only one on the tour located in the center of town. The historic vibe of the building itself was immediately evident. I was delighted to walk inside and take a look at the cozy area they had created. It almost reminded me of an old library, with leather seating and a fire roaring in the fireplace. I wish we could have found a spot to sit in the snuggly nook up front, but sadly they were all occupied.

Instead, after grabbing our wine tasters from the extremely helpful bartender, we headed into the back seating area, found a table and enjoyed our wine. In talking to the bartender, we found out that Baltic Mill had previously been an old flour mill and that the original steam engine was still in the basement. In addition to their indoor area, they have a small patio our front to enjoy those beautiful spring, summer and fall days.

And, by the way, if you’re into reds, be sure to try Blend III – it was fabulous and I’m literally kicking myself for not buying a bottle or two. Sad girl over here! If you’re hungry, plenty of nibbles that pair perfectly with wine are on the menu!

Rainbow Hills Winery

Be prepared for the drive back to Rainbow Hills, including lots of narrow, gravel roads. Yes, yes, I had the girls going a little crazy with my driving again 🙂

I’m not gonna lie though – we kept driving along, wondering where the heck we were going, beginning to freak out a bit thinking we were lost or had made a very wrong turn somewhere. Lo and behold, after precariously driving for what seemed like an endless amount of time, we came upon Rainbow Hills, tucked way back off the beaten bath.

The building itself is nestled on the side of a hill, with a winding, multi-teared deck tucked into the woods. I didn’t sample the wines here (DD, after all), but the girls all seemed to enjoy them. We sat outside on the rustic deck and I kept imagining how beautiful the setting would be in the fall. Might have to visit again then, just to see if my hunch about the fall foliage is accurate!

Yellow Butterfly Winery

Honestly, one of my favorites. Not far up the road from Rainbow Hills, Yellow Butterfly is another winery that is tucked back, set off the winding, gravel roads. Instead of coming upon a tree laden environment, however, Yellow Butterfly was resplendent with its gorgeous yellow barn, sitting majestically on a grass-covered hillside.

Inside the big yellow barn, the rustic charm made us feel immediately at ease. That, and the lovely gal behind the counter that took the time to talk with us about the wines, even mixing up a few special blends, while we stood there doing a quick tasting. A few of us gals combined our tasting with an engraved Yellow Butterfly wine glass, perfect for drinking our favorite wines at home! Is it just me, or does everyone else love souvenirs as much as I do?

We sat out back on the huge deck and enjoyed the beautiful and most serene view, before heading off to our next stop!

Raven’s Glenn Winery

Raven’s Glenn was, in my mind, a little more on the upscale side. It sits right on a county road, easy to find and even easier to get to without the one-lane, gravel road issue we’d been dealing with all day long!

We chose to have lunch here and, since the heat index had gradually been increasing all day, decided to sit inside the beautiful winery instead of out back on their very large patio, surrounded by an even larger pond.

I ordered a starter of Arancini, which came covered in a beautiful tomato sauce. For lunch, Teeny went with a Pecan Crusted Walleye, I chose a Blackberry Salmon, Julie went with the Codfather (gotta love funky food names) and Heidi chose a Grilled Steak Pita Wrap. Teeny and Julie both enjoyed their dishes immensely. My blackberry salmon was lovely and though I love salmon and eat it weekly, I’ve never had it with blackberries before. Unfortunately, Heidi wasn’t a giant fan of her steak pita.

Along our trek, we began to notice the same group of people over an over again – our wine trek day trippers two died! One of those groups happened to be sitting next to us for lunch and they chose a flaming cheese dip that I was totally enamored of, so I asked if I could get a picture. Cheese? Flames? Yum! Why didn’t we order that?

They have a great storefront area with lots of wine and related accoutrements. Christine picked up her second bottle of wine for the day. She’s taking home plenty of yummy sips to enjoy later!

YOLO WINERY

You’ve probably noticed as we moved along throughout the day, my picture count declines at each spot! Oops!

YOLO’s decor seemed to be a bit more modern than some of the others we’d visited today, but the inside is filled with plenty of tables and comfy chairs to enjoy your drinks.

We chose to sit outside and chat with some of the other customers. We all did a few tastings at YOLO, while Christine chose to go old school with Jello shots! Yes, Jello shots were on the menu. Do any of you make Jello shots anymore? I haven’t for quite some time, but may have to pull those out for some upcoming event!

A few of us also went in for the cute wine glasses here, etched with the YOLO insignia!

WOOLY PIG FARM BREWERY

The only brewery in the bunch, Wooly Pig wasn’t quite as difficult to get to as some of the early stops, but it was definitely a narrow road headed back. After pulling in and finding spot, we popped in and grabbed ourselves a beer! They have everything from small tasting portions to large growlers (to go) available, so there seems to be something for everyone.

Although their outdoor area was pretty full, we were able to find a spot to sit and enjoy our beer. They don’t offer food service, but it looks like they have food trucks available now and then.

We weren’t there long, but Wooly Pig would be a great place to chill and have a few beers on a warm summer evening.

INDIAN BEAR

Another one of our favorites! I really wish we’d had time to hang out here for a while, but since we were nearing the end of our wine trail trek, we couldn’t stay too long.

The inside was astoundingly beautiful with rustic, yet elegant touches. We didn’t get to hang out inside though – we headed to to the fantastic outdoor seating area, featuring a lovely patio area and big deck up top.

Indian Bear does have food and Julie took advantage and ordered some pretzel bites to snack on! So glad she shared because they were pretty yummy!

We enjoyed the scenery and visited with some regulars before rushing along to our last stop!

STONE CREST VINEYARD

We literally hit Stone Crest at 8:45 PM, knowing they were closing at 9. Stone Crest might have been the most difficult to get to, with very narrow roads. Of course, that might have been because I was trudging along by the moonlight and, as we were in the middle of literally no where, there was nothing to guide me except the moon and headlights. I’m not gonna lie – I was a little petrified I was going to roll us off the side of the road or something.

We arrived at Stone Crest with minutes to spare. The girls ran in and grabbed some sample wines – I abstained because some sane and sober person (that was me this time around) had to navigate us back to the highway!

I’ve got to give a big shoutout here to Fred at Stone Crest, who was happy to help us out despite our late arrival. Once we got back on the road, we realized that Christine had left her completed passport on the counter. We called and spoke to Fred, who agreed to mail it to Christine. She literally had it within 2 days, so I have to give them kudos for amazing customer service that went above and beyond!

We were all pretty tired by the time we made it back home, but all in all it was a great girls’ day spent with my fabulous friends! I certainly wish we could have spent more time at some of the wineries, but we were in the great wine race of 2021, after all!

If you hit the wine trail and have the ability, I might recommend splitting it into a two-day affair. This would allow more time to enjoy each of the fabulous wineries on the trail. If not, you can for sure cram it into a day!

Now, onto the next winery? Any favorites we should add to our list of places to go?

Until next time, enjoy your friends and be sure to make plenty of memories.