No Wine-ing in This Family Business

Story by McKenna Christy

Photos by Ellie Habel

Story originally published in Backdrop Magazine’s Volume 15, Issue 4 in May 2022.

The Davidson family transformed their grandparent’s farm into the Hocking Hills Winery and provide a cozy experience for visitors in the area.

Hocking Hills Winery glasses with the prominent logo can be found at the winery. Hocking Hills Winery opened their doors in 2015.

While the soil of the Hocking Hills Winery may not contain the roots of grapevine trees, it does hold the memories of one family’s history. The Davidson family farm occupied the land long before the winery came to be.

Blaine Davidson, CEO of Hocking Hills Winery, and an alumnus of Ohio University, spent summers and many weekends at his grandparent’s farm growing up. Davidson developed a love for the land and his time on the farm.

The land has been in the Davidson family since the 1960s, which is when Max and Loris Davidson moved to the area. The acres the winery now sits on was a cattle farm until the early 1990s. When Max and Loris Davidson died, the rest of the family thought about what to do with the farm.  

“We didn't want to sell it,” Davidson says. “We wanted to hang on to it and we wanted to maintain the agricultural status of the land.”

When a proposal of what to do with the land struck one of the family members, Davidson wanted to make it a reality.  

“So, we were just kind of sitting around, trying to come up with an idea of what to do with it all and came up with this idea of a vineyard and it sounded really cool at the time,” Davidson says.

Davidson wrote a business plan for the vineyard in an entrepreneurship class he took for his MBA and presented the plan to the rest of his family. Davidson’s family loved the idea and the work to create a vineyard began.

In 2008, the Davidsons planted one acre of grapes and another two acres in 2009. They quickly realized that growing grapes can be a lot of work. The Davidson’s original plan was to grow the grapes and sell them to wineries, but they discovered that business plan was not cost efficient.

The Davidsons then started thinking about the number of visitors that come to Hocking Hills each year. To get to Hocking Hills, people must drive past the Davidson’s land, which inspired Blaine to ask the rest of the family about opening a winery. The family began planning the winery in 2012 and opened their doors in April 2015 at 30402 Freedman Road in Logan, Ohio.

Part of Hocking Hills Winery’s goal is to be laid back and make room for all types of visitors.

“We want you to feel comfortable whether or not you're coming in from the hiking trails or canoeing or you're coming home from a fancy dinner and want to stop by for a drink afterwards in a suit and tie,” Davidson says. “There's no dress code, we try to make everybody feel comfortable and [be] welcoming.”

Music is another one of the attractions of the winery. During the summer and warm months, live music is played every Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. There’s an outdoor stage for musicians to play on by the patio in the surrounding wooded area. But the music doesn’t stop when it becomes colder.

During the summer months Hocking Hills Winery provides live music to those who visit. Live music can be heard from 6 to 9 p.m. every Friday and Saturday.

“When it's cooler out, we kind of bring them inside and focus on the smaller acoustic acts in the winter months,” Davidson says.

Although the winery does not grow their own grapes, all the wine is made on site. Some of the grapes used to make the wine are grown or come from other wineries in Ohio. Grapes are also sourced from the West Coast and Washington. The winemakers of Hocking Hills Winery then complete the fermentation and bottling process.

The variety of sourced grapes produce fan-favorite wines.

“Our Hocking River Red is by far the best seller,” Davidson says. “It's a sweet red wine. On the white side, it’s probably a couple of new releases with some Ohio grapes or [our] honeysuckle is selling well, it's a blend of three or four different Ohio grapes. It's a sweet white.”

Hocking River Red is a best seller at Hocking Hills Winery. The wine is a sweet red wine on the white side.

The absolute favorite drink at the winery is, surprisingly, not a traditional glass of wine, but the cold and savory wine slushies.

“[They] sell the best out of everything,” Davidson says. “We have peach, raspberry, pink lemonade or Sangria wine slushies.”

Amy Garrett, OU parent and fan of the winery, goes to Hocking Hills Winery every chance she gets. Garrett’s first time at the winery was after she dropped her child off at OU their freshman year. The winery was the first place Garrett and her family saw, so they stopped there for some drinks and a new experience.

“It's a nice cozy place,” Garrett says. “Nice patio outside. There's a fire pit. There's a patio that is enclosed, but they have it open where you can eat inside, drink inside and it's just a real cozy place.”

The Garrett family has visited the winery seven times since their initial visit. Garrett enjoys their chardonnay and her family always get the meat and cheese platter.

Garrett’s favorite memory at the winery was when she went with her family for her 50th birthday celebration.

“We rented this big house [with] my husband, the kids [and] my mother-in-law,” Garrett says. “My husband's brothers came, and we spent an afternoon [at the winery] just drinking and eating and even though it was chilly, it had those big fire [torches].”

The cozy and unforgettable atmosphere of Hocking Hills Winery is expanding. The Davidsons are opening a restaurant in downtown Logan, Ohio.

“We're hoping to open late summer sometime,” Davidson says. “And the name is going to be 58 West, which the address is 58 West 2nd St. And it’ll have a completely different wine offering so you can try some different wines as well as craft beer and spirits.”

Hocking Hills Winery strives to provide its customers with a cozy experience for all those who visit. The winery is laid back and welcoming to all no matter the occasion.

Part of the success of the winery and business stems from the Davidson’s collaboration and family values. Although some family businesses may succumb to squabbles or setbacks, it’s a different case for Davidson, his wife, brother and sister-in-law.

“We work well together,” Davidson says. “We all kind of stay in our own silos. We all have our particular duties and we all try to work together to make the customer experience the best as possible. So, it's nice to be to be able to work that closely with family.”