The not-quite-two-year-old Mastropietro Winery in Berlin Center sits on 52 acres of a former cornfield. Canal County Spring Fling Map: See a map of the 2007 tour When: The self-driving wine tour takes place March 23, 24, 30, 31 and April 6 and 7. Participants may visit on any or all designated days, from noon to 6 p.m. Discounted accommodations are also offered. Tickets are limited; for reservations, call 800-227-6972 or visit www.OhioWines.org. Tickets: Cost is $40 per couple or $30 for a single, which covers all tastings and appetizers, a crystal wine glass and, in a nod to the Easter season, a brightly colored basket for collecting pastel-wrapped candies at each site. You must be at least 21 to participate. Next tour: A similar event, the Fall Frolic, will take place in September. Ohio's five other wine regions have tours as well. For information, go to www.OhioWines.org.

A visitor to eastern Ohio could drive through the Canal Country wine region around Aurora, Akron, Canton, Youngstown and Warren in a couple of hours. But what would be the fun of that, when there are so many family-run wineries along the way where travelers can stop, schmooze the owners, taste the wares, try some munchies and even arrange to whip up a batch of their own special reserve?

The Ohio Wine Producers Association, seeking to promote the state's burgeoning wine business, is making the trip economical and easy to navigate with a one-price, self-guided tour.

The 2007 Canal Country Spring Fling tour runs for the next three weekends beginning Friday. The trail -- which isn't really a trail but rather a scattering of wineries -- is about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh at its nearest point (Youngstown). It has 16 participants this year, two more than last year and 11 more than in its inaugural event in 2004.

"The number of wineries in this region has doubled in four years, which is rocket speed in the wine business," said Doniella Winchell, executive director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association.

"Half of these places didn't exist four years ago, and we have gone from an average of 50 couples on the trail per tour weekend to an average of 200 couples."

The goal of Spring Fling is to introduce travelers to Ohio wines in a friendly, low-key environment, the better to turn them into wine lovers and repeat customers.

"The reception people get is very warm, and from end-to-end they'll have 16 different experiences," said Ms. Winchell.

The wineries run the gamut from sizable buildings with banquet rooms, gift shops, tourable cellars and, in some cases, extensive deli counters, to tiny operations next door to the family residence.

Visitors will find recognizable varieties -- chardonnay, riesling, cabernet, merlot -- as well as inventive names like White Lies, Original Sin and Blind Faith (The Winery at Wolf Creek in Norton) or Reflection, Illumination and Afterglow (Candlelight Winery in Garrettsville).

Other kinds of fruit wine are also offered, as are sweet ice wines made from grapes frozen on the vine.

The grapes that are grown in the region are an eclectic mix, said Ms. Winchell: cabernet franc, riesling, a lot of French-American hybrids that may not be familiar but, she said, "make great table wines."

However, visitors won't necessarily see acres of grapes in the fields. Some of these vintners buy their grapes elsewhere and turn them into wine on the premises.

The not-quite-two-year-old Mastropietro Winery in Berlin Center, for example, sits on 52 acres of a former cornfield. Only three acres are planted with grapes, and the family (winemaker Dan Mastropietro, his sister Cathy and his wife, Marianne) eagerly await their first harvest this fall.

Meanwhile, Dan Mastropietro says, he's been buying all his winemaking grapes from Pennsylvania, California and other parts of Ohio. Customers can enjoy their drinks on a patio overlooking a private lake and listen to live music on Friday and Saturday nights.

Several establishments, including the aptly named It's Your Winery in Fairlawn, help customers make their own private label wine.

The vintners provide all the ingredients, shepherd the mixture through the process and bottle it when it's done; customers come back weeks later to collect the finished product.

As the number of wineries grows, so does the tourist base, primarily from Ohio and neighboring states, Ms. Winchell said.

She's targeting two audiences for the Spring Fling: women age 34 to 54 (they bring their friends or significant others) and young people (ages 21 to 27) who are just learning about wine.

Said Ms. Winchell: "I tell our owners it's their job to turn visitors into wine drinkers."