Tourism on Middle Bass Island took a blow when Lonz Winery closed, but so did the ferry business that depended on traffic the winery generated.

"We lost three quarters of our business when the winery closed," said John Schneider, captain and owner of the Sonny-S, the ferry boat that makes the quick run between Put-in-Bay and Middle Bass Island.

"It definitely impacted our business," said Julene Market, who handles marketing for the Miller Boat Line, the only ferry that has a direct connection between Middle Bass Island and the mainland.

Just as they are today, the two ferry services were the main way to the island 10 years ago for people who don't fly, and those who don't own boats.

In the heyday of Lonz Winery, tourists flocked to Middle Bass Island nearly every summer weekend.

The island's local residents mingled with vacationers, and friends toasted their goblets to unforgettable evenings.

Business associates and casual partygoers flooded the winery's terrace, soaking up the sun and Riesling. Some stayed in summer homes, while others came and left by ferry to unwind for just a few hours on weekend afternoons.

The winery still stands as a majestic beacon, visible hundreds of feet from the shore. It's the first thing visitors see when the ferry docks.

But the clinking of glasses, live music and echoes of laughter have long since faded.

MIDDLE BASS ISLAND

Blocked vents. Containers of salt in the cellar. Half a century of rain and humidity. 

Molecule by molecule, over the course of 50 years, steel succumbed to rust under the concrete terrace at Lonz Winery. 

Water seeped through steel sheeting, corroding the terrace’s beams and joists.

MIDDLE BASS ISLAND

Virginia Mamere, a long-time ER nurse, lounged with a friend on the lawn outside Lonz Winery the afternoon of July 1, 2000.

She basked in the sun and listened to the band, waiting for a fellow nurse’s bachelorette celebration to begin.

“It was a day like today — just gorgeous,” Mamere said Wednesday.