TRUMBULL TOWNSHIP – Jacqui Ward and her husband Jeff have been working for three years to bring their new vineyard and winery, meant to be a model of quality local wines produced sustainably, on the line, and on Friday, Jan. 16, they opened their doors to the public.
Monarch Meadow Vineyard, located in Trumbull Township, at 1599 State Route 534 South, near Boughner Road, is a project of the Wards launched after they experienced local wine culture.
“We’re longtime patrons of the wineries in the area, and we fell in love with the community,” Jacqui said.
The Wards own Midnight Rose Farm in Thompson Township, which they purchased in 2006. They purchased the 41-acre plot in Trumbull in 2021, taking the sustainability model they employ at the farm and applying it to Monarch Meadow Vineyard.
The land has sandy, well-drained soil that’s ideal for growing vinifera grapevines, which the Wards planted in 2022, with a goal to have 16 acres under cultivation over the next few years.
In the meantime, Monarch Meadow Vineyard is working with juice pressed from Grand River Valley grapes, as the Wards didn’t get their state permit to press and de-stem grapes in time for this year’s harvest.
The tasting room has three wines to offer as of January, with a goal of having seven by summertime, according to Jacqui.
Monarch Meadow Vineyard’s tasting room has a cabernet franc, a chardonel (a white wine hybrid grape) and a rosette (another hybrid used to produce rosé).
Jacqui said the vineyard uses hybrid grapes, which are usually blended with more traditional varietals, that the Wards instead use standalone because hybrids require less spraying and overall maintenance, while still producing outstanding wine.
This is in keeping with Midnight Rose Farm’s mission of sustainability and environmental responsibility, according to Jacqui, who quoted their motto, “our vineyard, our mission.”
“We took our mission of sustainability and our pollinator project from a small farm in Thompson to a small business to show it can be done,” she said.
For the time being, Monarch Meadow Vineyard is just Jacqui and Jeff, who balanced their full-time jobs with running Midnight Rose Farm in Thompson while building out the vineyard, planting grapevines and everything else they needed to start the business.
“We did it a little bit at a time,” she said.
The vineyard offers a rotating menu of food offerings, with menus published weekly. Jacqui said they plan to work with local suppliers as much as possible to bring in meats and cheeses, with produce to come in the summer.
In the meantime, she said they are offering a lot of greenhouse produce.
Hours of operation are Wednesday and Thursday, 4-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 1-9 p.m. Visit facebook.com/monarchmeadowvineyard/ for specials and the music schedule.
