Columbus, Ohio -- A state-funded program to identify and promote Ohio's premier wines will make its public debut June 24, when wines eligible to wear the Ohio Quality Wine (OQW) seal will be unveiled at the Ohio Statehouse.

According to Donniella Winchell, director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association (OHWP), the program has been carefully planned over a five-year period, under the auspices of the ag department's Ohio Grape Industries Committee (OGIC), in partnership with the viticulture and enology program at Ohio State University's Agricultural Research and Development Center. OHWP "is very supportive" of the program's goals, Winchell told Wines & Vines. "There is a real desire on the part of the Ohio grape and wine community to emphasize the potential for exceptional wines that we have here."

Although Ohio currently has some 2,200 acres of bearing vineyards, Winchell noted that the state faces increasing urban encroachment on agricultural real estate. She lauded the state government for its recognition of the wine industry's value. Only wines made from estate-grown vinifera "and select hybrid" varieties will be eligible for the OQW seal, she explained. "The program intends to identify low-production wines appropriate for white-tablecloth restaurant placement. We are focusing on the locavore market," Winchell said. "We want to convince the (baby) boomers that our wines have matured, too, and get some credibility among sophisticated palates."

Relatively few wines will qualify for the OCW seal, Winchell said. In addition to the estate-grown and varietal limitations, candidates for the seal must be pre-qualified by winning a medal in a recognized competition. Then, they must be submitted to a qualified panel of tasters, which will rate their sensory characteristics. Finally, and for an additional $50 fee, each wine will undergo laboratory analysis by enologists at Ohio State's lab. Only then will the winery earn the right to use the OQW seal in advertisements, point-of-sale materials and other promotions.

Winning wineries will be provided with collateral material including bottle stickers, wait-staff buttons and even bottle capsules imprinted with the OQW logo by the Department of Agriculture.

"The winners will get the accolades," Winchell said, but those wineries that don't win the seal of approval will come out of the process with more information about their wines, and perhaps be inspired to set their winemaking sights a little higher.

So far, two little-publicized judgings last year gave only 52 wines from 15 wineries the seal of approval. (See them at tasteohiowines.com.) Winchell said that, following another tasting this May, 38-50 wines from 13 wineries have been chosen to join the selective roster.

Wineries may choose to submit their wines or not, so the program does not automatically include all potential seal winners.

Giant Eagle, the dominant retail chain in Northern Ohio, reported that last year, Ohio wines constituted 6% of its total wine sales. "Even more important," Winchell said, "two years ago, the total for Ohio grew by 20%, and last year by 22%."

Although that's phenomenal, "Our premium production is of such limited quantity," she said, that the $50 bottles rarely make it to supermarket shelves. By increasing public awareness that fine wine can be--and is being--made from Ohio grapes, the industry hopes that more land will be devoted to growing the kind and quality of grapes that go into those bottles--hence the teamwork behind this initiative.

"The teams established a series of criteria to help identify what we can do best, how best to showcase it, and how to encourage more plantings," Winchell said. "This has huge political support." The governor is expected to announce the new wines at the Statehouse event.

"What we are trying to do as an industry is what makes this so important," Winchell concluded.