The Best Fall Getaway on Lake Erie

Autumn is harvest here. The acre of Cabernet Franc on the lake side of the house comes in through October, the menu turns toward slower cooking, and the fires get lit in the dining room.

Harvest in the vineyard

The estate Cabernet Franc is picked by hand and aged twelve months in French oak. Black cherries and dates give way to candied currants and a lift of allspice. It took Double Gold at the 2025 Ohio Wine Competition, and it is poured by the glass and by the bottle all season.

Rooms in the mansion

Eight adults-only rooms on the first and second floors, each with a private bath and the lake out the window. Breakfast is cooked to order: coffee and fresh juice; mimosas are poured at the bar. The two-night minimum applies in summer only. Outside summer, one-night stays are available on open dates. There is no elevator.

Dinner

Chef Jeff Gable’s kitchen runs American food with Italian and Irish roots. In autumn that means the pork chop with cacio e pepe cream corn and peperonata, Nonna’s meatballs under whipped ricotta, croissant bread pudding to finish. The patio stays open as long as the weather holds; because we sit right on the lake, it can turn quickly, and tables move indoors when it does.

The wine bar

Irish whiskeys, cocktails and the full estate list, poured by the fire. Walk-ins welcome, groups by reservation.

The neighbours

Around half of every grape grown in Ohio comes out of this valley, and the wineries either side of us are worth an afternoon. M Cellars sits on the river road near the Harpersfield covered bridge. Harpersfield Vineyard is the place for the dry wines and Debonne for the range; they are ten minutes apart. Laurentia is also in Madison. Twenty minutes west, the tower at Lake Erie Bluffs faces the sunset.

Autumn weekends book early. Check availability for your dates, or call (440) 428-1300.