Home News North Coast Live Mon Ami Restaurant and Historic Winery - A Destination

Mon Ami Restaurant and Historic Winery - A Destination

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

People come from far and wide to the old stone winery for all sorts of reasons-a good lunch or dinner, entertainment, a selection of wine, jazz in the outdoor gardens, BBQs, weddings, meetings, special community events, to purchase a present in the gift store... and the list goes on. As one of the oldest wineries in the Lake Erie Islands region, Mon Ami Restaurant and Historic Winery began life as part of a co-operative of the Catawba Island Wine Company which constructed the winery in the early 1870s and was part of a number of Island grape growers. In 1937, Mon Ami Champagne Company acquired the facility and specialized in manufacturing domestic champagne. With a staff of 55 men, the winery produced between 400,000 to 500,000 bottles of champagne, burgundy and still wines a year. A restaurant was added in 1945 after a fire gutted the interior. In 1956 the facility was sold to Norman Mantey and was sold again in 1980 to Meier's Wine Cellars, Inc, the state's largest wine making firm. The present owners bought the winery from the Meier's company in 2000. They made improvements, while aiming to "enhance the magic and charm".  They renovated the main dining room, the Chalet, added a new wine list, overhauled the kitchen, created a new food menu and added a new gift shop. The main dining room offers a Seafood Buffet on Saturday and Brunch on Sunday, and the Chalet Lounge features a casual menu as well as entertainment for dancing on Friday and Saturday evening. Live jazz is the feature on Sunday afternoon. Special holiday events and buffets are also offered. But Mon Ami officials are not the only ones who can plan events. The facility is open for parties, business meetings, wedding showers, awards banquets, class reunions, receptions, rehearsal dinners, proms, wine and cheese tasting and most any other event guest request. And as far as the wine list...Mon Ami uses the Catawba grape, the historically prominent grape of the region, for several of its wines, and it grows other varieties to enable them to provide several kinds of wines including Pinot Grigeo, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Merlots and Pinot Noir. These wines can be sampled at the Wine Bar and can be purchased in the gift shop as well. Entertainment for the year includes a wide variety of music and is provided by Key Motion, Eddie and the Edsels, Lounge Lizards, Cruisin, The Late Show, Colin Dussault, Epitome, Cats on Holiday, Acoustic Tapestry, Allie, British Invasion and Rumors to name a few. Mon Ami is located at 3845 Wine Cellar Road on Catawba Island. For more information call 419-797-4445 or 1-800-777-4266.