An unforgettable experience!

What began as Nick & Mechele Frost’s dream of starting a winery and vineyard has now become a family venture, or should we say… adventure! Drake Frost, the younger of two sons, was drafted from the very beginnings. More often than not, his contributions were reluctant and not without disagreement. But let’s be fair, what 17 year old wouldn’t  have had better things to do than cleaning barns and digging holes… lots of holes! Now 21 and of legal drinking age, he has a new appreciation for the wine industry. His contributions have become limited as he is earning his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Wright State University and working as an intern in Columbus. While his time is more limited than ever, Drake is committed to making this a true family adventure. In 2015, Nick & Mechele saw their elder son, Logan Frost graduate from the University of Cincinnati with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Over the following year, they watched him follow his career as an engineer to Chicago with his long time girlfriend and partner, Caitlyn Gullett. While they enjoyed many of the experiences in Chicago, November 2016 would see Logan move back to Ohio and take a position with an engineering firm in Columbus. Both the Frost & Gullett families

were happy to see their return. But another thing had happened on their return… having seen the first grapes harvested from the vineyard and having helped bottle and taste some new varieties of wine, an interest in Frost Wines was sparked. Both Logan and Caitlyn expressed a desire to become more involved. Over the 2016 Christmas & New Year’s holidays, it was agreed that the two of them would take on larger roles. There is a renewed excitement as the additional resources will mean a sooner opening of Frost Wines. More importantly, Nick & Mechele’s vision and purpose of starting their winery was to create an environment where friends and family could enjoy one another’s company. They have expressed that nothing has made them happier than to know their children want to share this same experience! “We are all very excited to work together and realize some very ambitious milestones in 2017!” - Nickolas Frost.

Nick & Mechele’s original goals were relatively small. When they purchased the property in 2012, there was a new 36’x36’ building they identified as a potential tasting room and production facility. They spent the first two years pouring concrete, cleaning and preparing the building for renovations. The plan was to utilize the tasting room as a production facility for 9 months of the year and only opening as a retail tasting room during the summer months until they realized enough income to build other facilities. As the vineyard took shape, the Frosts quickly realized they were storing more and more equipment in this 36’x36’ building that was meant to be a tasting room for 3 months of the year. This posed an unforeseen issue… where do we store production equipment, bottling equipment and supplies when we are to open the facility as a tasting room with ability to seat 30-50 people?

With Logan & Caitlyn’s joining Frost Wines, their first questions were how do we open sooner? How can we make an impact? The answer was obvious, we need to build another facility capable of storing supplies, vineyard, fermentation and bottling equipment but Nick & Mechele have been reluctant to take out loans or create any more debt than necessary before they realize any income from the venture. As a 2016 Christmas gift, Logan announced he would purchase the plans and materials to build a 2,000+ square foot facility. As an additional gift, Drake announced that he would oversee its construction as well as the subsequent renovation of the tasting room. Look out 2017 because we have a plan, the means and the determination to make this our most ambitious and rewarding year to date!

Welcome to Frost Wines!