Coshocton County wine trail also offers beer and other spirits
lodging at their lovely locations.
I couldn’t spend the night, alas, but I recently took a day to check out a few of the stops.
The centerpiece of Yellow Butterfly Winery, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is the magnificent, bright-yellow barn that serves as a tasting room, event center and, on Saturday evenings through September, a restaurant (advance dinner reservations required).
The century-old barn has been beautifully restored, and visitors also can sit on a comfortable outdoor patio overlooking the rolling hills and the winery’s own grazing herd of alpacas, which are as cute as, well, alpacas.
True to its name, Wooly Pig Farm Brewery occupies a converted barn on a historic family farm. The farm is still home to sheep, horses and, yes, wooly pigs. It also grows a dozen variety of hops used in the brewery’s Germanstyle beers.
The brewery’s tasting room has a nice view of the surrounding farm and features a magnificent live-edge elm bar and matching tasting tables from wood harvested from a giant tree that once stood on the farm. It’s a great place to enjoy a pint with friends, or just when you’re passing through on nearby U.S. 36.
Killbuck Creek Distillery, located near the confluence of Killbuck Creek and the Walhonding River, currently produces rum, vodka and white whiskey. The distillery also has a bourbon aging that will be called “1386,” the badge number of Columbus Police officer Steve Smith, who was killed in the line of duty in 2016. Smith was a friend of one of the distillery’s founders, who was himself a police officer at the time. Proceeds from auctions of the bourbon are planned to benefit families of other first responders who died on the job.
Guests can hear the entire story of the distillery’s founding and mission during a tour or tasting.
To learn more about all the stops on the Three Rivers Wine Trail, visit threeriverswine trailohio.com.
Steve Stephens is the Dispatch travel writer. Email him at sstephens @dispatch.com or follow him on Twitter @Stevestephens