Chateau Winery

HELENA — When Bill and Michele Hollister became the new owners of Chateau Winery in July 2022 they had been making wine for more than 10 years but they weren't familiar with growing grapes. Since then, the two school teachers have learned a lot and the September harvest season is upon them once again at the winery and vineyard, 525 SR 635, Helena. "That's been the biggest learning curve," Bill said. The winery has 4 acres of grape vines with a little more than 3 acres in production. Bill said the former owners lost some vines in a severe storm in 2017 and had to replant. Those vines will produce again in the future. They have one full-time employee, who stayed during the ownership transition. "And we are thankful for that," Bill said. The Hollisters harvest the grapes themselves within the limited time available between teaching classes and running the rest of the winery. In addition to their own grapes, Bill said they buy juice from other locations – mainly varieties that do not grow well in the local area – from Michigan, New York, California, Washington and northeast Ohio. The Hollisters both teach high school business and marketing – Michele in Fostoria through Vanguard-Sentinel Career Center and Bill at Port Clinton High School. Buying the winery has been a chance to put into practice the marketing and business topics they've been teaching for many years – and prepare for future retirement from teaching. "We have a lot of real-life examples for our students," Bill said. The Hollisters have been making wine for 12-13 years. They discovered their passion for wine while on a vacation in Frankenmuth, Michigan, in 2007. "We went on vacation and somebody was providing samples, and we said, 'This stuff is good,'" Michele said. They also began to visit local wineries and others across the country to Sonoma, Napa, the Finger Lakes, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Geneva-on-the-Lake, northeast Pennsylvania, as well as wine regions in France, Germany and Italy. It was during a local visit to Chateau that their lives took a new direction. Former owners Mary and Bob Tebeau suggested they buy the place. "We were just here having dinner one night," Michele said. "Bill was buying wine supplies because we made wine for ourselves and friends and family. "We didn't know it was for sale," she said. "We couldn't stop thinking about the possibility." Fitting together the winery and teaching careers has been a challenge, Michele said. When school started in late August, they changed their hours to 1-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday. During the summer, the winery also is open on Wednesdays. "I would say we're doing well," Michele said. "We've met a lot of amazing people, we're making new friends." "When we took over, right away we put our own touches on it," Michele said. "New décor." They received their newly designed labels in August. "We wanted people to see the label and know it was us," Bill said. "We've been working on that since March or April." They have also developed a chardonnay that wasn't previously made at Chateau, so they have a larger selection of wines to choose from. They also have added more events and more Thursday specials. The Hollisters said the biggest season for the winery is June through August when most people are traveling for vacation and people have more free time. Sometimes tour buses stop. "We get a lot of people heading toward the lake," Michele said. There's a sign on US 6 pointing the way toward the winery. Michele said last winter was surprisingly busy last year, although she thought it might be a slow time of year. "People need something to do in the winter also," she said. The winery offers entertainment every Friday and Saturday evening. "We started including Thursday because so many entertainers want to play here," she said. In addition to wine, Chateau Winery offers food. "We're famous for our reubens," Michele said. Also available are cheese plates, flatbreads, sandwiches, salads and cheesecake. As many food supplies as possible are purchased locally from such businesses as Root's Poultry, Fremont, and Smith Family Foods, Tiffin. Also, there are 35 local partners that sell Chateau wine, including Ralph's Joy of Living, Tiffin. The winery also provides space for retirement and birthday parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, alumni parties and business get-togethers. Along with local people as customers, Michele said the winery is drawing customers through programs such as Harvest Host where people pay a membership fee and then can camp overnight at member locations. "The idea is that they patronize the business," she said. Chateau is part of the VINO. wine trail in northwest Ohio and the Lake Erie Shores and Islands Wine Trail and takes part in local wine events such as the VINO Wine Festival in Bowling Green Oct. 21 and similar events in Sandusky, Gibsonburg and Fremont.