Based on the wine grapes Nancy Bentley and Ron Barrett have grown and harvested, southern Ohio is beginning to resemble southern France.

        In October, we told you the partners were harvesting the first crop of grapes on their Kinkead Ridge Vineyard, just outside Ripley, about 55 miles east of Cincinnati. Ms. Bentley and Mr. Barrett moved to Ohio from near Portland, Ore., in 1997 to grow grapes and make wine. And they set their standards high.

        Unlike most wine grape producers in Ohio who grow sturdy French hybrid varieties, the partners are committed to producing vinifera — chardonnay, merlot, sauvignon blanc and other grapes common on the West Coast and in Europe. Vinifera grapes are known for making the best wines, but they're also more susceptible to damage from disease and cold weather.

        So far, the grapes native to the Rhone region of southern France, especially the white roussanne and red syrah, are showing the most promise.

        “I'm really impressed with the syrah,” says Mr. Barrett, who believes his soil and climate are best for producing red wine grapes. “It tastes more like rhone than Australian shiraz. It's very interesting wine, but it's still hard to tell at this stage.”

        Kinkead Ridge may be the first commercial vineyard in Ohio to successfully grow syrah, a grape used to make full-bodied, deep-colored French wines from Hermitage, Cotes du Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape.

        If anyone can grow premium wine grapes in the remote, rolling hills above the Ohio River, it might be the Kinkead Ridge partners. Ms. Bentley is a former graphic designer and computer information specialist who later earned a culinary arts degree and worked as a chef. A Columbus native, Mr. Barrett was an electrical engineer in Oregon before retiring to work in that state's fledgling wine industry in the mid 1980s.

        After harvesting more than 15 tons of grapes with the help of part-time vineyard workers in the fall, Mr. Barrett hauled his ripe fruit to a winery near Akron, where he crushed the grapes and stored the fermenting juice. He hopes to have white wine in the bottle by August. But syrah and other reds won't be available for sale until next year.

        This year, wine production should become easier, after the partners finish building their winery in Ripley. The couple hopes to break ground on the structure this spring and have it open by May.

        Until then, Mr. Barrett is catching up on paperwork in the couple's renovated 19th-century farmhouse, well within eyesight of the vineyards. He won't begin pruning grapevines until mid-February, in anticipation of bud break two months later.

        Ms. Bentley, meanwhile, is meeting with government agencies to discuss regulatory issues, and designing bottle labels on her computer.

        She'll also develop strategies for selling the first southern French-style wines grown and produced in southern Ohio.

        Learn more about Kinkead Ridge Vineyard at www.kinkeadridge.com.

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