Indiana Wine Blog

Howard Hewitt's Ohio River Trip

2009-08-03T20:39:00.002-05:00

It's been three months since I took my winery trip, and I still haven't finished writing about it. Fellow Hoosier wine blogger Howard over at Grape Sense-A Glass Half Full writes about his the next day. Show off!

He visited six wineries, including a few new ones and gives great descriptions. Check it out, parts I and II!

Howard also brings up a dilemma that comes up when one tastes wine-what do when something tastes off? Do you move on and not say anything or do you mention it? Myself, I play it by ear. Some pourers seem receptive to that sort of questioning, while others might bristle. It does get especially complicated when the pourer is the winemaker. It can be even more intimidating when someone is new to wine and isn't sure if there is something off with the wine or if they are really supposed to be tasting (and presumably enjoying) those off notes.

Anyway, thanks for the great review, Howard!

RIP Appellation America

2009-07-28T22:13:00.002-05:00

After hearing the bad news that the wonderful resource Appellation America was moving to a paid subscription site, we get the even worse news that the site has decided to cease totally. Sad. AA was a great resource that attempted to give weight to all of the wine growing regions in America. I somehow doubt anyone can pick up the slack.

There does seem to be a constriction in the wine internet world right now. Let's hope it is merely cyclical due to the economy. While more information is not always a good thing, I have appreciated much of the "power to the educated buyer" stance many websites have been offering.

Tasting Notes: Carousel Winery

2009-07-27T20:36:00.000-05:00

On day two of our recent winery adventure, we left our base in Nashville and hopped south on IN-37. Past Bedford, right on the highway, we came across our first destination of the day, Carousel Winery.

The winery has been in existence for 8 years, started by West Coast transplants Marion and Sue Wilson. What juice they can't get locally, they try to get from Washington State. Sue was at the beautiful limestone counter when we came inside just as another group was leaving, and was quick to set us up a tasting.

The first thing one notices about the winery is the decor. Just as the name would suggest, a merry-go-round theme is evident here. The rest of the decor was over the top as well, but to each their own. One thing I did like is that the winery hosts a different local artist every couple of months and allows him or her to bring their work in the winery for sale. Great idea to help support the local arts, not to mention a cheap way to decorate (and redecorate) your store.

You also notice the friendly large Retriever moseying around. Named Cayuga White, it is a great ambassador for the winery.

As we took our places at the counter, we were handed a wine list. It was out of date, with several of the varieties sold out but not marked as such, but we made due. I am listing the price we were quoted when we were there, even though the website now lists higher prices for some bottles, even though it appears the website is irregularly updated. Notes:

Aglianico ($28.04) Sue crowed about this wine, saying you will can rarely find it in this country, let alone Indiana. This is an ancient variety that has never come into favor in America, and has only recently arrived with significant California plantings. I enjoy Italian Reds, and I am always up for something different (not to mention to knock another off the Wine Century Club countdown), so we tried it. The bouquet reminded me of a Syrah. The taste is dry, dry, dry, (some age on this wine would have been appreciated), and I didn't notice much of the complexity I get from some of my favored Italian wines. The taste reminded me of plums not quite ripe. Try it for the novelty factor, but this price is way too high for what you get.

Petite Sirah ($32.71) This limited reserve cost $1 to sample. Wanting to see how Indiana wineries are handling the higher end varietals, I forked over the money. Some blackberry and pepper notes, but we would taste better vintages of this variety on our trip at half the price, not to mention absent the sampling fee.

Lady Luck ($11.00) The description on the list said nothing about the wine, just some quizzical lines about luck smiling on you. That's nice, but it doesn't tell me a damn thing about the wine. After getting a taste, it does have a good balance in the mouth, with enough sweetness to be a hit in Indiana. One of the better "summer sippers" we tasted on our trip.

Riesling ($15.89) Lots of pineapple flavors to the exclusion of everything else. Underdeveloped, and much better (and cheaper) Rieslings would be tasted on our trip.

Cherry ($14.02) Made from Michigan fruit, this is an above average cherry wine. For me, that damning with faint praise, since I don't generally care for cherry wine, but if you do, this is one of the better Indiana ones.

Pomegranate ($14.02 for 500ml) I have only had one other pomegranate wine, that being at Grape Inspirations. I wasn't too impressed with that. This one was much better, if pretty sweet. The Silver Fox said, "it tastes just like the juice." Sue says this wine is becoming a big seller. If you like fruit wines, it's worth a shot.

I have to admit, I came away pretty underwhelmed here. In fact, at the conclusion of our trip, we named it one of the two biggest disappointments. Some innovation, but the prices stifle the desire to buy. I am sorry, but you are missing a huge opportunity for business if you can't provide some dependable, decent wines for under $10. If you can't do that, you better make sure your wines are better than average. Sadly, they weren't here.

Review: 2008 Butler Vineyard Chambourcin Rosé

2009-07-20T18:38:00.000-05:00

I don't normally care or post about wine competition results, but do feel the need to point out that Butler Winery won the award for Rose Wine of the Year at The Indy International Wine Competition. This is the first time an Indiana wine has won one of the major awards and represents a huge breakthrough for Indiana wines. It also confirms what many have been saying about Butler Winery-they may not get the attention their larger brethren do, but they sure make good wine.

When I was in the winery earlier this year, the wine was not yet available for tasting. However, I recently was able to split a bottle with some friends at Mass Ave Wine Shoppe. There was a markup in price ($24.95 vs. $17.95 at the winery), but it was worth it to enjoy the wine with friends in a great atmosphere. (Not to mentioned the markup is pretty insubstantial when compared to restaurant markups.)

Anyway, the wine was crisp and refreshing, perfect for a warm summer day. Served chilled, it set the perfect mood with its full herbaceous bouquet. It was great with some light cheese and crackers. We all loved it. Chambourcin is a wine that can actually do well in Indiana, and it is great to see what magic Butler was able to put into the bottle.

A wonderful addition the Butler brand, and one of the best Indiana wines. Congrats on the victory! Get it at Mass Ave or at the winery-it won't last long.

Guest Judging at the Indy International Wine Competition

2009-07-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

Like several bloggers, I received an invitation to be a guest judge at the Indy International Wine Competition. Sadly, my schedule did not allow me to participate. However, you can find two great posts from Grape Sense and Wine Biz News.

Sounds like a great time was had by all! Sorry I missed it.

Oak Hill Winery Now Has a Blog

2009-07-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

Rick over at Oak Hill Winery has already done some pretty inventive things with his winery. Now, he becomes the first Hoosier winemaker to have his own blog, Ponderings at the Oak Hill Winery. He is doing a good job of keeping up the writing. Let's hope he keeps up the blogging, and that other wineries follow suit!

Lastinger Wine Review Reviews Oliver's Watermelon Harvest

2009-07-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

In my absence from blogging, I also neglected my blog reading. I missed this review last month on The Lastinger Wine Review on Oliver Winery and their Watermelon Harvest wine. I am not a big fan of these wines, though they certainly do have their finger on the pulse of Midwest palates. I agree with Stacy-the Black Cherry is particularly atrocious, just like a Luden's cough drop. The Mango isn't that bad though, and my friends who like sweeter wine rave about it.

Anyway, a great summation and worth reading. I haven't tried the new varieties of Watermelon and Passion Fruit, and though Stacy's review doesn't make me want to, perhaps I should and consider them for when I entertain people with diverse palates.

EDIT: I was at a dinner party this weekend, and a friend brought this over. Stacy has it right-this wine taste just like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. VERY sweet. As it was, it was too much. One of the people remarked, "I can't believe I used to drink this sweet stuff all the time." Another though it would be okay as a spritzer. I am sure it will sell well, since Oliver almost always has their finger on the Hoosier wine buying pulse, but I'll pass.

We all agreed the bouquet was wonderful though.

You know what they say about loose lips....Part II

2009-07-09T17:43:00.003-05:00

I've received some interesting feedback on my previous post detailing a very negative experience I recently had at an Indiana winery. A few people wanted to play the "If I guess the person correctly, will you confirm it?" game (uh, no), but most just wanted to add a few comments. Most of it is off the record, so I won't repeat that here, but I will respond to the comment Tia, co-owner of New Day Meadery, left the in comments on the blog. Since she responded in a public forum, I will do the same.

Tia writes:

Hi Charles, this is Tia Agnew. My husband and I own New Day Meadery and I felt I should comment on your post.

First, I'm sorry that you had that experience at an Indiana Winery. Being what I like to call the "oddball winery" here in Indiana (since we don't use grapes), I have to say that everyone's always been great to us and very supportive of everyone in the industry. Indiana's fortunate to have a wide variety of wineries and styles of wine - there's something for every palate and every pocketbook. We do our very best to talk one another up to everyone that comes into our shops and no one really sees anyone else as a competetor.

I know that once in a while, a customer will come into my shop and comment negatively on another winery or about Indiana wines in general. Our mode of operation is to try and get them to reconsider. Be it to try something else in their line or to think about how different grape varietals have different characteristics, etc. I'm sure that this same scenario takes place at all of Indiana's wineries and that 99.95 of the time they handle it in the same way - positive. I know from experience that many people are skeptical of our wines (the no grape thing really throws a lot of people), but many have come into my shop telling me how they were convinced by the conversation they had with another winery staff person or owner.

Again, I'm really sorry that you had such a negative experience and I don't know if my comments help with any bad taste in your mouth, but I want you to know how much I feel my fellow winery owners support me and the rest of my colleagues. It may sound cliche, but I honestly feel like we're a team rather than competitors.

Thanks for posting your experience so that we all can be certain that we're putting our very best foot forward.

All the Best,

Tia

Tia, thanks for your comments. I agree with everything you say.

As for any bad taste in my mouth, there is none. What happened on my visit reflects on the character of the owner of that winery, not on Indiana wine (and, yes, mead), and certainly not on Indiana winemakers who, as I have stated time and time again, are a very collegial bunch. Too many times to count do I see examples of this lack of competition, several of which are posted on the pages of this blog.

What shocks me most is this person was so indiscreet to begin with. As you and your winery knows firsthand, I do not generally identify myself as the writer of this blog, and on the rare occasion I do, it is after I taste the flight and engage the owner/staff in conversation. In fact, I never identified myself at all to this person, and unless they read this post and realized I was talking about them, they still don't know I popped in.

As you may or may not know, I don't generally ask winery owners their opinion on their competition. I have asked questions of a similar sort in an interview, for example, such as asking a winemaker what other Indiana wineries they admire. What I do not do is ambush journalism. I am not out to set someone up. These remarks came about when I was asking what I thought were relatively innocuous questions.

What should be of note is that if this person would be so indiscreet as to say these things to a total stranger as myself, someone who kept asking questions about the wine and did nothing to encourage further discussion along those lines, what are they saying to those they do know? And quite frankly, if the person is so indiscreet, I can't imagine the competition hasn't already heard that this person is badmouthing them. You actually hit on the point of my post (and I did a lot of inner debate as to whether I should post my experience at all) that everyone should be putting their best foot forward. Your winery, and every other Indiana winery I have been into, already does that.

You know what they say about loose lips....

2009-07-07T18:51:00.001-05:00

Dear Winemaker:

Just a few words to the wise. Your mileage may vary.

When a stranger comes in your winery to taste what you have to offer and what you have worked so hard to produce, it is not too wise to spend your limited time with that customer badmouthing your competitors. If your wines are truly worthy, they will stand on their own. You don't need to bury others to praise yourself.

Furthermore, if you want to bitch to said customer about how all your competitors aren't friendly to you, copy all of your ideas, don't tell you about upcoming events, don't seem to want to socialize with you, and are just plain jealous of your success, you should do so without the previously mentioned badmouthing. After hearing your rant, I can see why no one would want to spend time with you.

Your conversation is always in poor form.

It could be downright tragic if, unbeknown to you, the person you are being so indiscreet with happens to own this blog.

I can't help but be even more taken aback by your caustic attitude when I contrast it with every other winery I have ever been in, both inside Indiana and in other states. Never have I heard anyone broach the topics you did. In fact, I have even heard a few of your competitors say nice things about your winery.

Luckily for you, I am not going to identify you by name.

New Indiana Winery

2009-07-06T20:20:00.001-05:00

Indiana has yet another winery! Blue Heron Vineyard joins the scene all the way down by the Ohio River in Cannelton. The winery is selling five wines now, though the only varietal mentioned is Foch.

They have a small bed and breakfast on site, and what they claim is the largest in situ (that is, carved in stone) Celtic Cross in the world. They also appear to want to emphasize local food and culture.

Gary and Lynn Dauby are the owners of Blue Heron. Both are teachers, with Lynn teaching art (in addition to being a working artist) and Gary retired from a career spent teaching, among other things, at the nearby Branchville Prison.

Pretty impressive website so far, though I would like to see prices and perhaps pictures of the labels, as well as what specific varietals Blue Heron is selling.

Good luck to the newest Indiana winery!

Tasting Notes: Butler Winery

2009-07-04T14:42:00.001-05:00

In part three of my wine weekend, the three of us left Oliver and drove down some winding and hilly roads to Butler Winery. Butler had been around since 1983, and is Indiana's fourth oldest winery still in existence (Oliver, Easley, and Huber predate it). From Oliver heading south on IN-37, there is a sign pointing you to Butler. You still have to go down some roads that can be pretty treacherous in adverse conditions.

In our wine journey, Butler was a big question mark. I didn't know quite what to expect from this winery. It's been around for a while, and has three locations, but it doesn't get the attention of other wineries. I have had a few of their wines, and either enjoyed them (as I did when I reviewed their blueberry) or thought they were okay enough (as I did when I reviewed their Indiana White) but without tasting the full flight, everything else was a mystery.

Once there, one is greeted by a simple building. There was plenty of room for plantings, but given the risk of frost, not too much had been done, but the preparations were clear. There is patio on one side complete with tables that overlooks a pond. We wondered if the pond was for function in irrigation as well as form, but it was explained to us it was not. However, even the small size of the pond does provide a slight lake effect in giving the nearby vines a few degrees of warmth on cold winter days. Sometimes, two degrees is the line between harvest and nothing.

Upon entering the unpretentious and immaculate tasting room, we were greeted by co-owner Susie Butler. There was bottling going on in the back, as evidenced by the distant clatter of bottles, but we were the only customers there for almost the entire visit, so we were able to engage her in conversation. She was matter of fact in a great way. She answered all of our questions and seemed delighted to share her pride of the winery and the wines.

Every wine was given a great introduction, and a wonderful job was done by Susie. I am going to use the term unpretentious again, but it seems to fit this winery to a tee.

White Select ($11.95) A dry Cayuga fermented in stainless steel. Surprisingly sharp, but nothing that would make me forgive my aversion to this grape.

Chardonel 2005 ($13.95) One of the better Indiana Chardonels. No residual sugar. Oak Barrel fermentation, but one does not feel like there are splinters in one's mouth. A nice Indiana alternative to Chardonnay.

2005 Vineyard Chambourcin ($15.95) Oak aged for 6 months. Nice earthy aroma and a taste that is great for those who don't normally like red wines.

Black Currant ($12.95) I don't recall any other Indiana wineries making this wine, but they should if they can make it as well as Butler. One of the best Indiana fruit wines. Textured and bold, with just enough tartness.

2007 Vineyard Late Harvest Vignoles ($14.95) Above average dessert wine, though we would come to prefer others on our trip.

The thing we noticed about Butler was their consistency. All the wines were good, and there were several standouts. Having come into the winery with minimal expectations, we left very impressed. KeeKee went so far as to call it one of the two hidden gems of the trip (more on the second one later).

If you are going to make a trip to Oliver or one of the other nearby wineries, I suggest you make time for the Butler family.

Yes, I am Alive

2009-07-03T21:20:00.003-05:00

It's been a long 6 weeks since my last post, and for that, I apologize. Just this week culminated a massive investigation I had been involved in. I won't talk about that here, but if you paid attention to the news this week, you probably saw it. While I missed blogging, that's the way things are. Sadly, I don't get paid to write about wine, I get paid to do my day job, and after working twelve to fourteen hours a day at that, the last thing I wanted to do was get in front of a keyboard again. Things are still going to be hectic, but not as bad as they have been.

For those still around, thanks for checking in. I also thank those who emailed me asking if I was still around. Your thoughts are appreciated. There will be a new post up tomorrow. I have lots of things to catch up on.

Finally, I would again put out a call for contributors. The detriments to being the sole contributor on this blog have been evident the past few months. The pay is lousy, but if, like me, you want to improve your writing and care about Indiana wine, your submissions are welcome. If you do have an interest, financial or otherwise, in an Indiana winery, I would like to discuss that with you first, but that would not necessarily bar an article.

New Indiana Winery

2009-05-19T19:42:00.003-05:00

Richmond, Indiana is the new home of J&J Winery. The winery had its grand opening April 25th. The winery is owned by Dr. Jeff & Melody Haist and Jim & Karen Ramey. It sits on an 8 acres farmstead just outside Richmond.

The winery seeks to give visitors a Tuscan flavor, complete with a wood fired pizza oven. Trails and a large pond are present. J&J also has a bistro serving pizza and other simple Italian dishes.

The winery will release no wines until next year, having just produced their first crop last year. Now, they have other wine for purchase and are bringing people in by their bistro and by hosting functions.

Let's wish this winery well. Let's also hope they update their website soon so we can know the mission of the winery, as well as what wines they intend on producing.

Around and About

2009-05-11T20:56:00.003-05:00

I know I have been incredibly tardy in getting a new post out, but the real world intervenes. This is why I am asking for other writers!

I still have a lot more coming. What's to come:

-Further discussion of the nine other wineries I visited on my wine tour last month.
-A review of the Indiana Wine Fair, including some things I overheard from the crowd.
-Summer wine events are heating up, and I will have more on that.

Finally, a note of thanks. Last month, we averaged over 60 unique visitors a day to this blog. I well remember the first few weeks when we averaged one a day, not including myself. We quickly got to 20, and have increased steadily.

This has very little to do with me. There are plenty others out there who could do a much better job. This is due solely to the interest those out there have for Indiana wine. Cheers!

Tasting Notes: Oliver Winery

2009-05-01T19:20:00.000-05:00

In part two of our wine tour, KeeKee, the Silver Fox, and I left Mallow Run and headed south to Oliver Winery.

Oliver, as most everyone knows, is Indiana's oldest and largest (by quite some distance) winery. It is also the only Indiana winery that can claim to be a regional player, distributing wine in at least 11 states. If someone from out of state is familiar with Indiana wines, it is probably Oliver they know. Their size and reach are staggering, their marketing is aggressive, and their wine is, by and large, first rate. Still, it had been just over a year since I had been to the winery, and I wanted to see what was new.

Upon arriving, we had to fight for a parking spot. It was the first truly spring day of the year, and even though it was early afternoon on a Friday, people were out enjoying the weather. Once that was accomplished, we took a few moments to tour the garden. There had been some recent planting, and the grounds looked wonderful. It was nice to take a few minutes on the beautiful day to stroll amongst the flowers and limestone sculptures and see some life after the long winter. We also took a quick jaunt near the pond, where the familiar koi fish are so large, you can see them from the back door of the winery.

Seeing those grounds brought back memories of my first visit to Oliver now some years ago. I was already familiar with wine at that point, but preferred sweeter wine. I was there on a date, and we ended up buying a bottle of the Camelot Mead and taking it down near the pond. The honey aroma attracted so many bees we had to move to the patio. The relationship, still going strong. My enjoyment of the sweeter Oliver wines, not so strong anymore.

After the tour outside, we moved inside to the tasting room. The bar is large, with an appropriate level of staff. We had to wait a few seconds for a spot to open up, but when we did, we were greeted almost immediately by Lorraine. She has worked at Oliver for almost five years, having started out while a student at IU. She was as knowledgeable as you would expect with her experience. She gave us excellent descriptions of all the wines, chatted with us, and answered all of our questions. Our interaction with her is what you get from Oliver. While I do miss the down home family atmosphere you find at many Indiana wineries, there is something to be said for this style as well. Just like Secretariat, Oliver is a tremendous machine.

One bad thing about Oliver's wine list is that it is so large. It covers so great a gamut you have trouble picking what to taste, especially since the wine list asks you to limit your tastings to 6-8, though this is rarely enforced at any Indiana winery if you are tasting responsibly and appear to be serious.

Only a few things had changed at Oliver's since I had been there last. The Sky Dog Wines have since made their debut . Sky Dog is Oliver's attempt at a drier, entry level wine. I asked Lorraine how they have been received in the tasting room, and she said great. I don't believe it, but that is what she said. Almost everyone, including myself, has given them a thumbs down.

The other thing I noticed was the more aggressive marketing of the Creekbend label. Creekbend is Oliver's estate bottled wine, produced from vines located a few miles away. Oliver has said before they seek to extract as much quality as they can from Indiana's soil and put into the bottle with Creekbend. A noble goal, and a great project. Unlike Sky Dog, the results have been mostly excellent and worthy of praise. My only protest are the labels, an example of which is pictured above. The labels for Creekbend depict spearheads that celebrate the type of Indian artifacts often discovered when the fields are plowed. Nice, but another great thing about the main line of Oliver wines are the lovely William Zimmerman labels depicting native birds. I was assuaged somewhat by picking up one the magnets of the bird labels that are available for sale.

Here are the tasting notes:

Creekbend Chardonel ($15.50) Somewhat oily on the tongue, this was pretty hearty for Chardonel. I would not recommend this for sipping, though it might pair nicely with lighter meats.

Creekbend Pinot Grigio ($25.00) Oliver is the only Indiana winery to feature estate grown Pinot Grigio. Could certainly take in the lemongrass and pear the wine the description promises, but it seemed too light, even for a Pinot Grigio.

Pinot Grigio ($12.50) We much preferred this version, made from imported juice. Light body
with a little more underpinnings than the Creekbend version. Good note of pears.

Creekbend Valvin Muscat ($25.00) Great sweet perfume bouquet. Though it smells very sweet, it is actually quite dry, with an excellent finish. My favorite of the Creekbend wines I tasted.

Sauvignon Blanc ($12.50) Lorraine kept asking us to smell the gooseberries, though it has been so long since any of have smelled gooseberries we have forgotten what they smell like. The lemongrass we were also asked to notice was evident, and was actually one of the most pronounced lemongrass bouquets I have noticed in a wine. It reminded me of my days working in a candle shop. Another excellent light white.

Shiraz Reserve ($18.00) Aged for 30 months, you won't find many Indiana wines with this much age. The age shows, lots of character and mouthfeel in this wine. The wonderful earthy flavor that Shiraz develops over time was evident in this bottle. Excellent value.

Creekbend Vignoles ($18.00) Lots of apricot and melon flavors, with a nice touch of sweetness.

Creekbend Catawba ($12.00) I have had this before, but I decided to try it again because of my previous post about this wine. In that post, I questioned the price and whether any Catawba is worth this much money.

I will say, I have tasted a lot of Catawbas. This is best one I have tasted, and head and shoulders above most of them to boot. I still question whether any Catawba is worth $12, but if you enjoy this varietal, or sweet wines in general, it would be a worthwhile.

I would also point out that the display of Catawba did make a striking presentation on the shelf with back lighting showing off its bright peach color. Lorraine mentioned it does get lots of oohs and ahhs.

I did not taste at this time, but have previously enjoyed, the Muscat Canelli ($10) and the Beanblossom Hard Cider ($8.50)

After our tasting was complete, we toured the rest of the tasting room. Oliver also stocks a great supply of breads and cheeses for a picnic or for later. We made our purchases, toured the garden one more time, and headed on to our next stop.

I am always amazed when I go to Oliver. Oliver shows the potential for Indiana wine, while still preserving the uniqueness of Hoosier Hospitality. How much further can Oliver go to increase the power of their brand? Time will tell. One thing is certain. It is always hard to be the leader, and plenty of other wineries are trying to catch up.

Tastings Return to Cork and Cracker

2009-04-28T18:11:00.000-05:00

I got this email a few weeks ago, but it got buried in the rush of everything else. Indianapolis wine shoppe Cork and Cracker is hosting bi-weekly tastings at the Upper Room in Broad Ripple Steakhouse. The cost is $15 and includes 6 wines and appetizers. The next scheduled wine is May 7th. Call the store at 317-733-9463 for more details. Or better yet, go to the website and sign up for their newsletter.

Signs, Signs, Nowhere Are There Signs

2009-04-27T18:51:00.002-05:00

In Indiana, this is the sign you see along the road to let you know a winery is near. (This picture, taken from Indiana Wines website, is the sign directing you to Easley Winery, I believe from the Ohio Street ramp off of I-65.) There are also blue "tourist marker" signs that one sees directing you with specificity to a particular winery or other popular spots.

However, you may have noticed that not all Indiana wineries get such signage. On several recent tasting trips, I have been downright frustrated by the difficulty in navigating to a rural winery, especially when I am accustomed to looking for signs like you see on the right. I have always ended up finding the winery. But how many people decide to take a detour from their drive to visit a winery off the beaten path, only to be frustrated and turned back by lack of signage?

In speaking with winemakers over the past several months, I have asked several, via email or in person, why they lack signage. The answers range from mystification to anger.

I contacted Jeanette Merritt with the Indiana Wine Grapes Council to see what the qualifications were for the signage. She was kind enough to respond. She confirmed what a few winemakers had already told me-that a winery must have regular operating hours to receive signs. This is defined by being open at least five days a week, six hours a day.

This is obviously bone-headed, given that the costs associated with the start ups require most beginners to continue to work in their primary jobs during the week.

I should note Ms. Merritt's positions in this issue is neutral, since the IWGC cannot get involved in government or agency decisions such as this. The blame for this rests purely with the Department of Transportation.

I have been, and still am, very critical of wineries not having a website, or of not maintaining said website. There is just no excuse for it, especially considering how cheap it is to have a website.

However, on this issue, the government is entirely at fault. The government controls the easement near the highways, allowing them to help market wineries in ways that not even a website can. Plenty of other signs have hours on their sign as well, so one does not need to worry about visitors driving up without some idea of the hours. This can be done at no charge to the winery. The costs can easily be offset by the increased traffic and revenue the sign will bring to the State's coffers.

Wineries don't have this same luxury. In order to put a sign up near the road in the State's easement, you must obtain permission from the State. This, like any other sort of government action, is a pain in the rear, complete with meetings and specifications. The alternative is to find someone with land in a good location, and get their permission to display your sign on their land. If they allow it, you will probably have to pay rent. The other problem with several of Indiana's smaller wineries is that they tend to be more rural areas where the citizens might not be so keen to advertise a winery. One winemaker told this was case with them. The pleas to get some signage in the easement went unanswered, or were answered with a simple letter citing the rule mentioned above. No compromise, no offer to help, no other alternatives being proposed, just a simple form letter.

I am constantly amazed at the fact that the State just doesn't get the basics of marketing here. For all their talk about promoting agritourism (see here, here, here, and here, just to start) they forget that a small amount of publicity can reap big rewards. The rewards are even greater when the signage is pretty much permanent, assuming the sign doesn't blow away.

Not being able to see the forest for the trees. Our government at work once again.

In More Wine Competition News...

2009-04-26T17:50:00.003-05:00

At the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, the Gold Medal in the category of Cabernet Sauvignon went to Charles Shaw Winery.

That's right, even the "Two Buck Chuck" (or rather, three or four dollars here due to shipping and taxes) you see at Trader Joe's managed to win a gold medal at a major wine competition.

Indiana Wine Fair Medals Awarded

2009-04-25T20:32:00.005-05:00

Just returned from a delightful day at the Indiana Wine Fair. The crowd was happy, the weather near perfect, and the location great. I'll have more on that later, but medals were also given. Here are the results:

Best of Show: Oliver Merlot

Dry White: Gold-Oliver Viognier

Silver-Turtle Run Winery “The Chard”

Bronze-Huber Winery Starlight White

Sweet White: Gold-Easley Winery Cayuga White

Silver- Chateau Thomas Winery Fleur d’Peche

Bronze- Easley Winery Sweet Barrel White

Dry Red: Gold-Oliver Merlot

Silver-Chateau Thomas Petite Sirah Reserve

Bronze-Chateau Thomas Teroldego

Sweet Red: Gold-Mallow Run Winery Rougeon

Silver-Brown County Winery Vista Red

Bronze-Best Winery Concord

Blush: Gold-Oliver Catawba

Silver-Oliver Bean Blossom Blush

Bronze-Chateau Thomas Winery Slender Blush

Dessert: Gold-Brown County Winery Old Barrel Port

Silver-Carousel Winery Shadow Dog Port

Bronze-Huber Winery Ruby Port

Non-Grape: Gold-Grape Inspirations Winery Coco Royale

Silver: Oliver Blackberry

Bronze: Buck Creek Blackberry

As you know, I am not a big fan of wine competitions, but I do like the rules of this competition. Dr. Allen "Ole" Olsen, one of the main organizers of the event and the dean of Indiana wine bloggers over at Hoosier Wine Cellar, explained the rules to me. Five judges, not professional judges, but well-informed wine drinkers, blind tasted all entries. The judges were to consider color, aroma, taste, and finish. The judges were also to be cognizant of the limitations of Indiana's climate. In case of a tie, Dr. Olsen cast the deciding vote. From my viewpoint, many of the medalists are spot on.

Congrats to all the winners. I'll have much more on the Fair in the upcoming weeks.

Tasting Notes: Mallow Run Winery

2009-04-24T23:07:00.001-05:00

To kick off our wine weekend I accompanied KeeKee and the Silver Fox to Mallow Run Winery. I had been to Mallow Run a few times before, as had KeeKee, but this was a first visit for the Silver Fox. Since it was on the way south, it seemed a shame not to show her the beautiful farmstead on which the winery rests.

Mallow Run is located off of Highway 37, on Whiteland Road. You have to follow a few bends and curves, but soon enough, the red roofed barn greets you. The winery sits on a farmstead awarded a Hoosier Homestead Award, meaning it had been owned by the same family for at least 100 years. Nearly 180 in fact, having been settled by the family in 1830. The farm covers 600 acres, with 9 of those devoted to grapes, and the rest to standard fare (there was a wonderfully green patch of winter wheat in front of the vineyard). The tasting room is going on the fourth year, having opened in 2005.

The tasting room sits in a wonderful old barn. The counter (which is quite high) is sided with old wooden shingles. Exposed beams support the roof. A deck and chairs are outside for warm weather enjoyment.

We were greeted by Sandy, who was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Mallow Run and the wines. It was amusing to see her reaction when I asked for something to spit out the wine I was tasting. "No one's ever asked me for that before." she said. She found a pail though, for which I was very grateful, especially when I saw just how much wine I spit out. The pours have always been generous at Mallow Run.

Here are my tasting notes, interspersed with comments of KeeKee and the Silver Fox.

Syrah ($17.99) Good tannin balance here. Nice blackberry, currant, and light licorice notes. We all enjoyed this wine made from Lodi juice.

Zinfandel ($17.99) I expected more from this Zin, also from Lodi juice. It was just fine, but seemed muted. Not that wonderful pepper flavor you associate with this variety, and I noticed all the flavors period seemed muted. We all preferred the Syrah.

Seyval Blanc ($14.95) Apples, peaches, and lots and lots of pears from this newer release. More body than most Seyval Blancs, but I always find this variety to be pretty thin. Above average though. Grown by Windy Knoll Winery near Vincennes. Sandy said this wine is cold-settled for one day, filtered, and then cold fermented in steel.

Traminette ($12.95) Good grapefruit notes. Other than that, not much. I've had much better Indiana Traminettes, and by the end of the weekend, this one was not in the same class as the better ones.

Winter White (good until supplies last at $7.99) This blend of Muscat, Niagara, Traminette, and Cayuga was indistinguishable from Oliver's Soft White.

Riesling ($11.95) Just bottled. Made in a sweeter style, this was crisp and fresh. Good fruit notes, with a slight mineral finish. I enjoyed it, but it was a little sweet to suit the Silver Fox.

Picnic Red ($9.95) Standard sweet Concord, but I enjoyed this wine more than most of the other Concords out there. Worth the extra dollar or two if you enjoy sweeter wine.

Rhubarb ($10.95) The surprise of the flight. Many of the rhubarbs I have tasted have been briny, so I was not expecting much here. However, KeeKee had stopped in the winery a few weeks before and raved about this wine, so we decided to try it. I enjoyed it very much. It has the tartness of rhubarb without being too acidic. Sugar is added, but the wine avoids being syrupy. Good pizzazz. The Silver Fox, who doesn't care for fruit wines, raved about this as well. "I never have had any desire to try rhubarb wine, but this is very good." she said. This is perfect for sipping in warmer weather, which is exactly what we did that night on the patio of our hotel. The tart notes opened up even more upon being served very cold.

I didn't try the Raspberry, but I have in the past, and find it to be one of the better Indiana raspberries.

Overall, we were pretty impressed with the flight we tasted. A few uneven notes, but overall, pretty good.

Mallow Run brings people into its remote location with such events as pizza night, soup night, yoga lessons, and even hosting the Carmel Symphony (which drew over 800 people last year). Give them a try.

Follow the Indiana Wine Blog on Twitter

2009-04-22T20:19:00.000-05:00

Join over 450 other people in following me on Twitter. I'm under, strangely enough, Indianawineblog.

I am especially happy to see all the Indiana folks now following me.

Campaign Contributions From the Alcohol Industry

2009-04-22T20:12:00.002-05:00

From Fermentation comes a state by state list of how much in bribes, I mean campaign contributions, the liquor industry has paid out. Indiana and surrounding states:

Illinois: $1,588,484
Indiana: $282,462
Kentucky: $58,350
Michigan$523,073
Ohio $283,650

Indiana Wine Fair This Saturday

2009-04-21T20:04:00.003-05:00

As stated earlier, this Saturday, the wine festival season kicks off in a big way at the 2009 Indiana Wine Fair. The seventh annual event takes place at the Story Inn near Nashville. $20 admission gets you parking, a Story Inn wine glass, and entry in a prize drawing. Oh, and it also gets you ounce pours of wine. From 12:30 to 7, and the weather is supposed to be wonderful.

I don't know how many wineries have confirmed-I have heard anywhere from 18-25. We can argue semantics, but there are few times in this state where one can get this many Indiana wineries pouring samples in one place, so I am very grateful for that opportunity. I am also happy to be able to taste a few wineries I have yet to experience. I also know what a good day, sales wise, this can be for some of the more remote wineries. Expect plenty of posts coming my visit.

Hope to see you there. If you think you recognize me, say hi!

A Grand Tour

2009-04-19T20:06:00.003-05:00

I am back, tired but happy, from my whirlwind winery tour this weekend. KeeKee and the Silver Fox joined me in visiting 11 wineries this weekend. Stay tuned for lots of features from our trip. Some snippets:

-Tasting notes for all 11 wineries
-A head to head blackberry wine competition
-A head to head port competition
-Are locally grown grapes making headway?
-Wineries that elated us and wineries that disappointed us

All of this and more. The season is just heating up. On Saturday, don't forget the Indiana Wine Fair in Story (more on that later this week). Life is good.

Mallow Run News

2009-04-17T18:19:00.000-05:00

Mallow Run Winery is bringing back their popular Market Club promotion this summer. This allows you to receive a monthly basket of local produce, cheeses, breads and meats. $240 for six months, or 3 months for $120. Items are also in stock at the winery, and being a member of the Market Club gives you a 15% discount on the items (not the wine, though).

In my recent posts, I discussed my desire to be more environmentally friendly. The winery is likewise seeking to do the same by rolling out an Earth Day promotion of reusable wine bags. Buy four or six bottles, get a carrier free. Bring them back for refills, and get 5% off your purchase.

Mallow Run is also releasing their new Riesling. A sweeter style, it comes out on April 18th.

Finally, on Friday, May 1, from 7-10pm, the winery is hosting a fundraiser for Relay for Life. Tastings, appetizers, live music, and prizes. $20 a person, $30 a couple. Call Brooke at 317-697-7326 to buy tickets or stop by the winery.

Book Review: Passion v. Arrogance

2009-04-16T19:36:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I had the chance to wrap up Passion v. Arrogance: A Dana & Goliath Story of Wine, Women and Wrong! by Margaret E.J. Broderick.

This book tells the story of Gaia Wines, the first solely female owned winery in America, located in Indianapolis on Mass Ave. The book is told from the author's point of view, and tells the story of her relationship with domestic and business partner Angee, their decision to start Gaia Wines, and their struggles to keep the business open. However, the bulk of the book is consumed with what happens after the couple makes the decision to close Gaia. Wranglings with the bank and the courts lead to the utter destruction of Gaia, it's inventory, and it's legacy, and the the emotional toll is devastating.

The book was a pretty quick read-I read almost all of it in my downtime visiting family this weekend. It flowed pretty well.

The book does a great job of explaining the process of forming a winery-the financing, the constant meetings, having to sign your life away multiple times to buy the basic equipment. The book also does a good job of explaining the travails of what happens when the winery launches-the constant inventory struggles, having to pour cash into the future stock as soon as the register rings up your current stock, and the constant struggle to hire good help. Anyone thinking about starting a winery would be well advised to pay close heed to these sections, especially the income figures. For those who think a winery is a quick way to strike it rich, think again.

I was bemused to see how much of the current banking crisis was foretold in this book. The arrogance demonstrated in the book is a reason this industry is having serious problems.

Some of the complaints I had was the whirlwind courtship of Margaret and Angee. One day, they meet, and it seems like almost instantly they decide to start a winery. There wasn't much of the process-what led them to form a winery. Sure, they both liked wine, but one gets the sense that there wasn't a passion to start a winery, just a passion to start a business, make a lot of money, and retire to Florida. At least in my career, when the going gets tough, the passion and love for what you do sustains you. Without that passion, the book made it seem that giving up the business was like quitting any other job. Ironic, given the title of the book.

The biggest complaint I had were issues I have with all books of this type. Written with benefit of hindsight by the author, Broderick writes with the tone of one who always, no matter what the situation, knows what is correct, and since she has the pen, she makes sure you know it. The book, especially the second half, seems to be little more than a rant to prove this. Lots of documentation, some recorded conversation transcripts, and lots of lots of digs, all told from the author's point of view, who always gets the last word in. No one, including Angee, is safe from the wrath of omniscient Margaret. I found the discussions regarding the legal issues faced particularly troubling, since it was pretty clear to me that the author knew just enough about the situation to be dangerous, not enough to actually understand the nuances involved. Although they did get hosed by the bank, it seemed clear to me the bank had some pretty valid complaints as well.

Another thing that annoys me in writings such as this is the refusal to call people by their real names. Even the bank is never identified, even though, in the book's lowest point, the author gives us nearly 10 pages of bone dry FDIC complaints against the bank. We also find out at some point after the story concludes the bank shuts down. Who's going to say anything? Who's going to sue you for libel? I can see the need for some caution, but still, I always wonder about the veracity of "tell-all" books that don't really tell all.

Still, overall this is a worthy read. The connection to Indiana wine alone makes this noteworthy, and it was interesting to see how many characters I could figure out by the author's description (I even think I figured out who a couple of the attorneys were). There were also several passages about the ins and outs of owning a winery that were particularly compelling.

Wine on Tap, Part 2

2009-04-14T18:32:00.003-05:00

In follow-up to my recent post about a Michigan winery serving wine on tap from the tasting bar, the New York Times has an article asking if this is becoming a trend or is just a phase.

Let's hope so. As someone who is aggressively trying to reduce my environmental impact, I am getting increasingly discouraged by seeing the quantity of bottles wineries go through just in the tasting room. I can't imagine the waste makes them happy either.

A question I have been meaning to ask, and hopefully one of the winemakers who reads this can answer-are the bottles consumed at the tasting bar recycled by the winery?

Hope for Wine Lovers Yet?

2009-04-09T23:28:00.000-05:00

The Indianapolis Star reports (that's becoming an oxymoron fast, isn't it?) that the push to double the tax on alcohol statewide is losing momentum. That's the good news. The bad news is that there will be an amendment to the legislation to allow Marion County to impose it's own local excise tax.

Apparently, Senator Kenley is surprised the proposed tax hike raised controversy instead of support. Who'da thunk it?

If this passes, the battle shifts to the City-County Council, who will then vote on the proposed tax increase. The Democrats will presumably vote against it, because, well, the mayor is a Republican. The Mayor will secretly support it, but pretend like he doesn't, and foist it all on the Republican majority in the CCC. The Republicans will presumably vote against it because they want to keep their jobs.

I think if this proposed bill makes it out in the present form it will not pass the CCC-yet. But, just you wait until times get better, and the furor dies down. Then, look for this tax hike to pass while our backs are turned.

A Promotion to Make You Laugh

2009-04-08T20:18:00.004-05:00

I received Easley Winery's monthly newsletter today, and they were showing the support for firefighters by running the following special:

The week of April 20-25, Easley Winery in downtown Indianapolis is running a special promotion just for Firefighters. Everyone with ID will receive 20% off wine and gift purchases. An additional 5% off will be awarded if anyone (usually the rookie) in the squad is willing to don our grape suit. Green tights optional.

I assume the annual firefighter convention is in town that week. Clever.

Michigan To Become a VQA?

2009-04-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Mich Wine asks if the time is becoming ripe for the state to do what Ontario has done and form a Vintner's Quality Alliance (VQA). Wines with a VQA stamp are guaranteed to be completely from the appellation, and undergo a screening process, including a taste test, to ensure they are high quality. Considering where Michigan is in their development process, it makes perfect sense.

Indiana is nowhere near considering a VQA, but I do find myself frustrated by the inability to find the origin of many Indiana wines. I found this passage from the Mich Wine article particularly telling:

"This is the Michigan wine industry's dirty little secret: how many wines made and sold by Michigan wineries contain, in whole or part, juice from non-Michigan grapes. And how many wineries go out of their way to blur the distinction."

Amen to that. I agree there are plenty of wines not suitable for Indiana's climate, and juice must sometimes be imported. But why blur the distinction? I have never been outright lied to about the source of the grapes, but have seen plenty of obfuscation. Why?

We know all the grapes didn't come from your vineyard-and trust us, we're okay with it.

Tasting Notes: Wilsons Winery

2009-04-03T07:09:00.003-05:00

Sunday, I headed east to Wilson's Winery. I headed to Wilson's specifically because I felt a little sorry for them. I mean, just look at this map. Wilson's is pretty isolated, without benefit of a wine trail (not that obscene amounts of distance ever stopped anyone from creating a wine trail, but more on that later), a large urban center, or placement near an interstate. The winery closest to Wilson's is actually in Ohio.

So, I was pretty curious. How does a winery without the benefits I mentioned survive? What kind of crazy folks would put a winery in a place where churches outnumber people? How does a winery in the middle of nowhere pull customers in, let alone establish a unique identity? So, to see what is happening at this outpost, I hopped in the car for an hour and drove to tiny Modoc.

Wilson's is a working farm, but only 3/4 of an acre are devoted to grapes. The rest is devoted to the more standard Indiana crops. The winery is in a non-descript building behind the farmhouse.

Due to the weather, I was alone on the roads, and was the only customer the entire time I was there. Sad for the winery, but I appreciated being the sole customer for purposes of this post.

When I arrived, I was greeted by Darin. I later learned that Darin is the son and nephew of the co-founders of the winery. Darin is also chief winemaker.

Darin is just what one would expect from someone from Modoc, quite simply, a pure country boy. As a fellow country boy who sometimes wonders how the hell I ended up in the big city, I both recognize and appreciate this. I further enjoyed the friendliness and enthusiasm he displayed in showing me the wines. His attitude was more blunt and open than most people I see behind a wine counter, and I appreciated his candor.

I ended up tasting most of the wines in stock at the time. Here are some of my notes:

Seyval Blanc ($12) Mineral notes, apples and pears dominate. Not as dry as I was expecting. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, as I usually find Seyval pretty bland.

Autumn White ($12) Locally grown. Vidal, Diamond, and Vignole blend. Average semi-dry Indiana white.

Riesling ($13) Moderately sweet, lots of honey and flowers on the nose and in the mouth.

Marechal Foch ($13) Red wine with no real tannins, but not much body either. If a light body red is what you are looking for, this is fine, otherwise, look elsewhere.

Modoc White ($11) A sweet Niagara with lots of honey and citrus notes. I haven't enjoyed Niagara for a while, but liked this wine. It does need to be filtered, as I saw a good amount of tartaric crystals in the bottle.

Richard Red ($10) The biggest seller, named after Darin's grandfather. Sweet Concord that taste just like every other sweet Indiana Concord. If you like that type of wine, you will love this one. If you don't, you won't. (Now, that would be an interesting wine challenge. Put everyone's sweet Concord in a blind tasting, and see if anyone can tell them apart.)

Elderberry ($10) Described as port style, but I don't see that, unless you count the 16% alcohol. An interesting variation, and kudos for going outside the normal berry route, but something was missing.

El Concor ($12) This wine is 80% Elderberry and 20% Concord. The sting of the high alcohol and tartness from the Elderberry was softened by the sweetness of the Concord. The sum was certainly greater than the parts here, and what was missing from the Elderberry solo was clear once I tasted this. I would encourage some more experimentation with this-it could be a big seller.

Blueberry ($14) My ongoing battle with blueberry continues. Unlike my previous experience with Butler's Blueberry Wine, I didn't enjoy this one. My ill will towards blueberry wine continues.

Cabernet Sauvigon ($22) The highest priced wine on the list. Darin made it clear that if no one wants any, he doesn't care, he is proud of it, and he is fine drinking it all. In fact, when he poured me a sample, he got a glass for himself. I was surprised at that, but hey, I guess he means what he says.

The wine does have potential. Good cherry, leather, anise, and earthy berry notes. A little young for my taste, but some aging could make this wine a keeper.

I must say my trip to Modoc was worth it. Darin talked my ear off, gave me some wines to sample, most of which I enjoyed. And as our conversation developed over the course of the tasting, I could see how Wilson's had managed to make an identity for itself out here.

It's pretty simple, really. Host it, and they will come. Wilson's is always getting people to come in from the community. They have "Bring Your Own Meat" dinners where they provide the grills, you provide the meat and pot luck side dish, and everyone comes out for a big cookout. Depending on the weather, they get 20 to 70 people on a Friday night. They have concerts outside, one of which brought 750 people to the winery last summer. Cooking contests, writers coming in and reading their material, and an amateur wine making club are other activities the winery hosts. It gets people in, and most importantly, it gets people buying their wines. For it's size, Wilson's seems to have the busiest social schedule of any Indiana winery, and is yet another great business model at work.

I'll post more about Wilson's summer schedule later, but here's hoping you get a chance to go out east and see what is happening at Wilson's. They do have limited hours, so check the website first.

What Did You Expect?

2009-04-02T21:48:00.002-05:00

As was pretty much expected, the Senate voted 10-2 to advance the CIB bailout measure, that would among, other things, double the state excise tax.

Color me surprised. Did you really expect the state legislators to dare piss off the Irsays or Simons and miss out on primo box seats?

Around and About

2009-04-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

Two great posts discussing Indiana wines:

First, the Lastinger Wine Review reviews another Indiana wine, this time Creekbend's Catawba. Creekbend is Oliver's top shelf wine, and unlike Sky Dog, their "introductory" wine series, it is a noble effort. I tasted this wine pre-blog and enjoyed it, but thought it, like most Indiana Catawba I have seen lately, was overpriced. I wonder if there is a reason for this? I must say, the color of the wine, as evidenced by Stacy's photo, is certainly striking.

I also am quite intrigued by Stacy's photo of her and her husband making wine. I only ask that if she decides to start her own winery, she tells me first.

Second, Good Grape has a great post talking about Whyte Horse Winery, it's backstory, and a quick review of two of their wines, including their Traminette. As I mentioned before, I am big fan of Traminette, believe it is highly suitable for Indiana's climate, and am glad to see so many estates starting to grow it. Also great is for Whyte Horse to get some attention from a blog with the pedigree of Good Grape.

Vote for Vevay!

2009-04-01T20:41:00.001-05:00

Budget Travel magazine is doing a feature on America's Coolest Small Towns. The only Indiana city in the running is Vevay, home of The Swiss Wine Festival. Right now, Vevay is on the bubble in 5th place, so show some support by voting here. Polls close Friday and are open from 10am to 8pm.

Hearing Scheduled to Double Indiana Excise Tax

2009-03-31T08:30:00.004-05:00

I received the following email about the hearing scheduled on doubling the excise tax. The email was written by Lisa Hays Murray, attorney with Hays Murray Castor.

Please see the email below that Jim Purucker, representing the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers, sent out this afternoon. Since Jim does an excellent job in summarizing the alcohol tax amendment and shoring up calls in opposition, I have taken the liberty to send his email to you and ask that you and your employees join in on the calls to legislators opposing the tax.

“This Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will be considering an amendment to HB 1604 which increases the excise tax on Alcohol by 100% to help fund the Marion County Capital Improvement Board shortfall caused by the Pacers, Colts and Convention Center operating losses. In and effort to gain support for the idea, the anticipated $42 million increase in alcohol taxes would be distributed statewide to cities and towns throughout Indiana on a population basis for economic development initiatives. Only Indianapolis’ portion ($8 million annually) of this increase would go to the Marion County Capital Improvement Board. Here is the membership up of the Committee. Please have your employees and customers contact their legislators to let them know what a bad idea this is. I have also attached a flyer which you can feel free to distribute to members, employees and customers. This will reach the Senate Floor sometime next week. “

Senate Appropriations Committee

Senator Luke Kenley, Chair R - Noblesville

Senator John Broden, R.M.M. D - South Bend

Senator Gary Dillon, R.M. R - Pierceton

Senator Lindel Hume D - Princeton

Senator Phil Boots R - Crawfordsville

Senator Earline Rogers D - Gary

Senator Brandt Hershman R - Monticello

Senator Karen Tallian D - Portage

Senator Teresa Lubbers R - Indianapolis

Senator Patricia Miller R - Indianapolis

Senator Ryan Mishler R - Bremen

Senator Tom Wyss R – Ft. Wayne

House Switchboard:

800-382-9842 317-232-9600

Senate Switchboard:

800-382-9467 317-232-9400

Edit: I wanted to get this post out as soon as I could, and could not write comments due to having to go to work, but can now. As the commenter notes, this bill would result not only in higher costs for consumers but in greater costs for our fledgling wine industry. This is especially true if the rumors that this will apply only to bottles of alcohol sold and not to drinks sold in taverns bears out. I hope people would take this into consideration and take the time to call their representatives to let them know their feelings about this proposal.

Reader Mail

2009-03-30T21:06:00.000-05:00

Back for an another episode of reader mail. As always, please write me with any questions you have about Indiana wines at indianawineblog@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for clarity or length. As always, please don't ask me for legal advice.

Which Indiana winery is the most influential?

I hate to pick a doctor over a lawyer, but this question is easy. Chateau Thomas. Oliver may be bigger, and it is certainly the one the casual Hoosier wine drinker knows, but Dr. Thomas and his crew have the influence. His commitment to European techniques and blends have made many serious oenophiles who would not have given Indiana wines a second thought converts. And no matter what you were saying about those diet wines, you were saying something. He got people talking about Indiana wines in a way no has before. If Indiana has a Robert Mondavi, it is Dr. Thomas.

I would note that if one talks to other Indiana winemakers, both Mr. Oliver and Dr. Thomas have been selfless in their mentoring of aspiring winemakers. Without their help, many successful wineries would not have made it.

What are some good spots in Indy to buy wine? Not necessarily Indiana wine, but wine in general.

Another easy question. Mass Ave Wine Shoppe and Cork and Cracker are two in Indy proper. Both have great customer service and a very knowledgeable and fun staff. In both you can walk in, tell the staff what you want the wine for, and instantly get a great recommendation. Both also specialize in wines under $15.

I would give Mass Ave the edge because it also has tables where you can order a light meal or a cheese tray. You can also buy a bottle of wine there at retail, open it up with no corkage fee, and drink it with friends. A great (and dare I say cheap) way to enjoy wine and some food. They also have wine tastings, psychic reading, and language lessons.

Cork and Cleaver doesn't have the dining space, nor the tastings (they have them at an off-site restaurant), but I like their near Broad Ripple location as well as the things I mentioned earlier.

Kahn's is also close to me, and I generally go there when I buy liquor (and they have the best selection of Indiana wines), but I find their customer service to be spotty at best, though this has improved somewhat after the recent corporate shakedown. I've noticed that when I ask for for wine recommendations at Kahn's, instead of specific wines, I tend to get varietal selections. When I do get a specific recommendation, I've noticed they tend to steer me towards the higher priced selections. Understandable from a business perspective, but not from a customer service one.

I know there are some good ones on the Northside, but I rarely get that way.

What do you do when the one you love doesn't love wine?

Love someone else. Seriously, I can relate to this perfectly. It gets particularly frustrating when you end up pouring wine out not because you didn't enjoy it, but because you simply couldn't finish it all before the wine petered out.

But look at the bright side-you don't have to share!

Review: Butler Winery Blueberry

2009-03-29T10:08:00.001-05:00

In the ongoing agony and ecstasy I feel in my battle with fruit wines, I opened my bottle of Butler Winery's Blueberry this week. This retails at the winery for $11.95, but I managed to get it in a closeout bin at Kroger for $5.50. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have tried this wine otherwise, since I am not a big fan of blueberry wine. In fact, of all the more common fruit wines that pop up on Indiana wine lists, blueberry is my least favorite, by a considerable distance. I have gone so far as to say it is pretty much unsuitable for even a dessert wine. Still, I am not one to pass up a bargain, especially one I can make a blog post about it.

I served the wine slightly chilled, and noticed a nose of currants and cocoa. Upon tasting, the wine was surprisingly dry and did not have the cloying factor I anticipate when I taste blueberry wine. It reminded me of some of the lighter bodied reds. Blueberries are on the palate, but this wine does not adamantly betray its source, instead giving snippets of multitude of berries, plus plums. And I have never tasted a blueberry wine with tannins, but this one has it, though the quantity is pleasant and not overwhelming.

On the second day, the wine mellowed some under the Vinvac, but the differences in taste were marginal. The tannins mellowed slightly, making the wine as good as, if not better than, the second day.

One rave I can give to this wine is that I finished the whole bottle, something I struggle to do with fruit wines. The other I can give is that this is not only the best Indiana blueberry I have tasted, it the only blueberry wine I have tasted from anywhere that does the berry any justice.

In writing this article, I went to the website, and learned that the blueberries come from Northern Indiana. I also learned this is Butler's biggest seller. I can see why.

The Banning of Chateau

2009-03-26T20:11:00.000-05:00

By now, everyone who follows wine has heard about the boneheaded idea by the EU to ban the use of certain words on foreign wines sold in EU member countries. The words that would be banned are "chateau, classic, cream, crusted/crusting, fine, late bottled vintage, noble, ruby, superior, sur lie, tawny, vintage, and vintage character."

Well, what do Indiana wineries think about this? Who better to ask than one of the deans of Indiana wine, Dr. Charles Thomas of Chateau Thomas Winery for his thought on the proposal. Dr. Thomas emailed me his thoughts:

My opinion is that I was not upset by the EU’s move several years ago to set aside names of places, regions, etc., such as Burgundy, Chablis, Port, etc. because these are places with unique identity that should be respected. But I think attempts to ban the entire French language is taking it too far. So, I can’t have a ”rendezvous” with my wife, or put “mayonnaise” on my sandwich, or have “hors d’oeuvres” before dinner, or keep the name Versailles, IN or study American “cuisine.” If the United States Government started banning French businesses whose names or products contain English names, we would have a real trade war on our hands.

My choice of the name “Chateau” as my winery name 25 years ago was intended to be complimentary to the French as well as to suggest the style of wine I produce. I have been to France more than a dozen times. I currently have a French oenology exchange student working at my winery. I love the French people, although the government has problems (as does ours). I draw the line, however, with this proposed ban."

I couldn't have said it better than the good Doctor.

Are You Going to the Indiana Wine Fair?

2009-03-25T19:02:00.002-05:00

If not, why? The summer wine festival season is heating up in just a month, and this promises to be a good one. Even better, there shouldn't be any awful Indiana humidity that early.

The basic facts, from the website:

Who: Nearly every Indiana winery

Doing What: Doling out one-ounce pours to an appreciative public

When: April 25, 2009 – 12:30-7:00 pm

Where: Under three tents at the Old Barn, Story Inn. 6404 S. SR 135, 13 miles south of Nashville, IN. Click here for directions.

Admission: Only $15.00 in advance BUY TICKETS HERE! $20 at the gate. Admission also buys a Story Inn wine glass keepsake, several gifts and a chance to win prizes!.

Parking is free, dress is casual, and the event will go on, rain or shine!

WEATHER IS NOT A FACTOR. All tasting will be under shelter.

For more information call (800) 881-1183

This promises to be another great event. I could write more, but there is already this great article written by Barbara Keck over at WineBizNews.

A New Appreciation for Hoosier Hospitality

2009-03-23T17:29:00.004-05:00

Things are getting back to normal here after my Florida vacation. I went to visit my sister, who lives in the Keys. The weather was perfect, and a great time was had.

One thing that was disappointing to me was my visit to The Key West Winery. They specialize in "fine tropical wines" which made me curious to taste some. Their wine list was interesting, and included some unique, if perhaps inappropriate, selections. But really, how often does one get to try carrot wine? Or tangerine champagne? Or tomato jalapeno?

When I arrived one afternoon to taste, there were two ladies being assisted, so I browsed around first. After the ladies completed their tastings, I went up to the counter and asked for the wine list.

"We don't have one. Just look around, find out what you want to taste, and come back. I'll pour it then."

Really? Whoever heard of a winery not having a list for customers? I've been to wineries with four wines, and even they still had a printed list. Still, I looked.

Upon looking, I was even more frustrated this winery did not have a wine list. If I was browsing the racks of a regular winery, I could keep the Cabs and Rieslings straight. But this winery, with its guava, watermelon, and banana offerings, made that impossible. Still, I managed to find three varieties I thought would be good to try.

And that is when I realized why there is no wine list, because now there was a line at the counter. It was a clever and subtle way to get you to cut back on your tastings by feeling rushed. This was a new concept to me. I've been to wineries in tourist traps before, but those tourist traps are tourist traps because of the wine industry. This was a winery built to satisfy tourists looking for something exotic (and many of the tourists were on shore leave from the cruise ships). In this place, the goal is not to encourage contemplation on the wine, but to encourage you to plunk down money for some fruit wine you've never had before and get the hell out. The fact they had only one person behind the counter, and an unfriendly one at that, only made the experience less pleasant.

Still, I persisted, and upon getting to the front, selected only three wines for tasting, since there were people behind me. I can't remember what I tried, but think it might have been banana, orange, and lime. The wine was served in the tiniest plastic cups I have ever seen. The pour was so small one couldn't get a second sip. When I tried to smell the wine, all I could smell was the plastic from the cup.

And the taste? The wines I tried tasted like watered down Schnapps, and were not pleasant at all.

I should also note than none of the wines retailed south of $18.

However, what irritated me the most was the advice the counter help gave to customers on how to break Key West's open container law. While many people think you are able to carry a drink down the street like one can in New Orleans, Key West forbids this, and has started to become more aggressive in enforcing it. This should have been carefully explained, but was not. Instead, the customers were advised to keep the bottle in their purse and "just be discreet."

After hearing that, I was done. While this put a crimp in my plans to buy several souvenirs for those back home, I was fine with it.

On the flip side, I am even more appreciative of the hospitality I encounter each and every time I go into an Indiana winery. I don't feel rushed, I don't get shorted on tastings, and I don't hear winemakers encouraging old ladies to risk arrest.

One final, amusing, note. When I toured the bottles, what did I find around nearly every wine? A medal from the Indy Wine Competition. I guess I should be thrilled, but this only reinforced my earlier thoughts about these medals.

Lastinger Wine Review on Brown County Red Raspberry

2009-03-15T15:04:00.004-05:00

I'm here in sunny Florida, whiling away a few hours outside while everyone else takes a nap. In the meantime, click this link to read Stacy's take on Brown County Winery's Red Raspberry over on The Lastinger Wine Review.

I have never tasted this particular wine from Brown County, but I agree generally with Stacy's observations. I love a good blackberry wine, but for some reason almost always find myself disappointed when it comes to raspberry. Windy Knoll down in Vincennes and Mallow Run south of Indy are two notable exceptions.

Another problem I have with fruit wines is finishing the bottle, even with a great fruit wine. I have no problem drinking a glass, and even can usually want a glass the second night, but find it difficult to finish the whole bottle. I don't have this issue with most varieties of grape wine. That is why I usually just bring fruit wines to dinner parties.

Stacy, great review! When I am back, I will try to figure out how to actually cross-post, instead of merely linking your review. Also great to see you writing about wine on a more regular basis.

Fresh Air and Sunshine

2009-03-12T19:05:00.002-05:00

I'm off to Florida for a vacation. I will return again the 23rd, refreshed and rejuvenated.

Cheers,

Charles

Living in the Past

2009-03-07T21:25:00.003-06:00

When I first moved to Indianapolis for law school, I remember seeing a winery on Mass Ave, next to the theatres and restaurants. That winery, Gaia Wines, closed down in 2002.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this article, dated January 20, 2009, talking about the wonderful things Gaia Wines is doing in the heart of Indianapolis.

Ouch. Anyone familiar with the back story of that winery will appreciate how cutting this article truly is.

I also noted with amusement this passage:

"Although often not widely recognized outside the state, the Indiana soil and climate provide great growing wine conditions, especially for the ever popular and dependable Cabernet Sauvignon grape varietal."

There are some great wines being made in Indiana, but to say our climate is great for Cab is pushing it. The Indiana Cabs I have tasted have been at best average. But facts are not in the writer's arsenal.

I did attempt to write the writer and offer him/her/them a correction, but they weren't interested.

Look for another post on Gaia Wines in the next month or so.

Review: New Day Meadery Semi-Sweet Plum Honey Wine

2009-03-03T18:53:00.000-06:00

Instead of me being the sole reviewer, my thoughts will be blended in with others gathered at a dinner party tasting.

I purchased this bottle on my earlier visit to New Day. I thought it would be a great treat for the next dinner party I attended.

The directions on the back of this bottle said to give the bottle plenty of time to breathe. The bottle was in my cold car all afternoon, in the fridge for an hour, and open for thirty minutes. It was meant to be enjoyed after a great dinner (which was enjoyed with a very good DonnaFugata) and some dessert.

Everyone enjoyed the mead, and everyone seemed to be surprised by it. Oliver's Camelot Mead has been everyone's sole experience with mead.

The overwhelming amount of flowers in the nose was noted by everyone. The fruit was also noted, but most said it did not smell too much like plum. "It smells very sweet," was a common note.

Upon tasting, all were surprised by how much less sweet the mead was in the mouth. Still sweet, but nowhere near Camelot Mead. "I was afraid this was going to be syrupy enough to put on pancakes, but it is actually very pleasant and great for dessert" was one reply. Again, there was some confusion over the plum-the taste wasn't that plummy. All were happy with the taste, but one person noted an off note with the finish. One person wished the mead had been served ice cold.

When I revealed the price ($22) there was a little shock. However, given the expensive artisan process used to make the mead, no one could find too much to quibble with. Most agreed this would be a great unique gift, as well as occasional treat. "I can't imagine myself drinking this unusual wine on a regular basis" was one remark.

I normally like to review the wine on the second night, but it didn't last that long.

If you are an avid wine drinker who likes an occasional treat, you might like this. I will probably stick mostly to port for my wine splurges, but will certainly add New Day's products to the mix.

Around and About

2009-03-01T13:00:00.004-06:00

Latest news and observations:

Was in Kroger looking for a King Cake (late I know, but hoping against hope) and saw several carts full of wine half off. Got some great deals, including a few Indiana wines. I heard several of the area Kroger's are also clearing out their stock, but I am not inspired enough to go all around. It takes a lot of effort to even get me in the door of a Kroger, especially one with such poor service as the one at 65th and Keystone.

In other retail "bargain" news, I also saw this weekend that Meijer is now selling Oliver's Sky Dog for $3.99 a bottle. This is on the heels of several other deep retail sales and price drops I have noticed over the past several months. Having previously been less than enthusiastic, I can't say I am surprised. Still, that price point can't be a good sign, especially since I saw the wines debut in some places at $8.99. Can a reformulation be far behind?

The Indiana Uplands Wine Trail is hosting their very popular March Gladness event the weekends of March 14-15 and 21-22. This event offers VIP tours, tastings, and hors d'oeuvres at each of the eight wineries on the trail. Tickets are $30, and can be purchased at each of the eight wineries. After visiting all eight wineries, you will be entered into a grand prize drawing at the 2009 Vintage Indiana Wine Festival.

Will you be at Vintage Indiana? I'll be there with KeeKee and the Silver Fox. June 6, 2009 at Military Park in downtown Indianapolis from 11am-7pm. Sample a boatload of Indiana wine, as well as food, art, and entertainment. A hotel package is available, but details have yet to be forthcoming despite the website saying they would be available by now. Looks like a few other updates need to be done to the site as well, and I would not rely on the site for anything other than the date for now, but hopefully that can be taken care of soon. Any Hoosier winery that doesn't make their way to this festival is missing a huge marketing opportunity.

Make plans for this weekend! Grab a great lunch somewhere downtown (save your money for your wine purchases and not on overpriced fair food) and amble over. One of the best things about this festival is that it is one of the few of the downtown fests that doesn't allow people to bring their pets. Sorry, but pooch has no place with thousands of people in the middle of a wine tasting. I would highly recommend you either have a DD pick you up or take advantage of the overnight package, you will be tipsy at the end of your tasting.

10 days after that , we have the Indiana Wine Competition. June 16-18th. Despite my previous post, this might be something worth seeing.

And further in the future, don't forget the Swiss Wine Festival in tiny Vevay. Looks like they have their website up and running. August 27-30th, 2009. Hopefully that time will work for me, and I can head down there.

Judging the Judges

2009-02-26T18:54:00.003-06:00

Since I started this blog in November, I've wobbled quite a bit on what topics I want to cover. I've tried to move away from posts I think are too "press-releasey" while still reporting on Indiana wine and wineries. Strangely enough, one thing I haven't been interested in covering is that of wine competitions.

Anyone who has been to a winery has seen them. Look up, because the bottles are usually placed on a high shelf, wearing three or four necklace-like medals the wine managed to win at some competition or another. What regulars at wineries tend to notice now are the wines that have no medals, sad and stooped like the child who received no valentines.

Those who wish to immerse themselves in local wine culture quickly learn that just about any winery can win a medal for a wine they made. Those who immerse themselves in local wine culture learn pretty soon after that that medals are not really indicative of quality.

Now, a study in the Journal of Wine Economics confirms what a lot of people already knew. As the abstract puts it:

Wine judge performance at a major wine competition has been analyzed from 2005 to 2008 using replicate samples. Each panel of four expert judges received a flight of 30 wines embedded with triplicate samples poured from the same bottle. Between 65 and 70 judges were tested each year. About 10 percent of the judges were able to replicate their score within a single medal group. Another 10 percent, on occasion, scored the same wine Bronze to Gold. Judges tend to be more consistent in what they don’t like than what they do. An analysis of variance covering every panel over the study period indicates only about half of the panels presented awards based solely on wine quality.

The article has lots more goodies and stats that show wine judges are all over the map in grading wines, which explains why just about any wine can win an award.

I understand medals are valuable PR tools. I would submit, however, they are only paid any mind by beginners. I think just about every wine fan can remember the first time they bought a wine because of the award it had "earned." This is usually followed shortly thereafter by said wine fan drinking said wine and realizing the medal should be melted down and sold for scrap.

Ignore those medals on the shelf. Try everything you can sip the next time you visit a winery. Expand your horizons, and you will be surprised at what you like.

Find more about this topic at the wonderful "sister" site Michigan Grapevine, as well an article in Wines and Vines.

PS: Think I have any chance of getting media passes to the Indy Wine Competition?

Want to Write for the Indiana Wine Blog?

2009-02-25T21:14:00.000-06:00

Do you have a blog and post occasionally about Indiana wines? Email me so I don't miss it and can cross-post or link your article.

Do you want to write about wine occasionally but not want the hassle of a blog? Email me at indianawineblog@gmail.com about writing guest columns. No commitment necessary!

PS: I am toying with the idea about having a editorial board instead of just myself. Let me know if you would be interested in joining. I would request you have no financial interest in an Indiana winery.

50 States of Wine Blogs

2009-02-24T21:08:00.000-06:00

I have a few links on the side here for wine blogs, like mine, which focus on wines from a particular state. If you have a current wine blog whose main focus is the wine industry within a certain state, or if you know of one I don't list, let me know. I would like to form a list of them. All that I ask is that they be regularly updated. I would prefer them to be from non-biased sources (that is, not written by people with a financial stake in the state's wine industry), but will consider all sources.

Wine on Tap?

2009-02-23T19:55:00.002-06:00

Mich Wine reports that new ( but already very popular) Michigan winery Left Foot Charley is offering some of their most popular wines on tap at the tasting bar. Customers will also be given the option of receiving 1 liter "growlers" or bringing their own bottle for filling. European wineries have been doing this for years, and by allowing customer to draw popular wines for sampling and purchase straight from the tanks, the need for bottles is reduced. Also reduced is the frustration winemakers feel in spending time and expense bottling their wine, only to take those bottles a few feet away to the tasting room to be opened, sampled, and thrown away.

The only concern is shelf life, as these wines should be consumed within 2 weeks.

This is an idea I am surprised has not taken root elsewhere. I can think of several Indiana wineries who could market this very well.

Tasting Notes: Oak Hill Winery

2009-02-22T19:05:00.001-06:00

In part two of my winery adventure two weeks ago, I stopped by tiny Converse to visit Oak Hill Winery. The journey from Elwood to Converse was around 23 miles up Indiana 13 to IN-18, full of winding paths and some nice scenery. It was the perfect opportunity to see a part of Indiana I don't get to see often, as well as reflect on my just completed visit to New Day Meadery. If you were planning on leaving from Indianapolis directly to Oak Hill, it is 15 minutes east on US-31 at the IN-18 turn. You will see a sign off of 31.

Oak Hill's website says "our specialty is the fact that we make our wines to appeal to new wine drinkers more so than wine enthusiasts." I thought that was a little unusual and welcome, both for the mission itself, and for not having a mission statement that says "our goal is to make great wines at an affordable price" like nearly every other winery. It is also yet another example of Indiana wineries tweaking the business model just slightly to find their niche.

Another business niche is the prominent advertisements about Oak Hill's commitment to using as few chemical preservatives as possible. The flyer I picked up says the wine "does not contain any excessive sulfites, any fining material, or chemical preservatives, with one exception." That exception is a small amount of potassium sorbate to prevent yeast production. This results in some of the wines being cloudy and a good amount of sediment in some of the bottles, so decanting or a strainer top is recommended. Still, this is as close as it gets to organic wines in Indiana.

Oak Hill is on what I assume is Converse's main drag, IN-18, right in the middle of town. I parked on the street and came up the steps of the two-story Victorian style home. The winery itself is on the bottom floor and you must go up a long set of stairs to get to the upstairs tasting room.

The upstairs is heavy on the wood with low lighting. There was only one other customer who was drinking a glass at a table. I sidled up to the long wood tasting bar and was greeted by Sherry (what a great name for someone who works at a winery!). In all the Indiana wineries I have visited, I have always been treated courteously and made to feel welcome. This one was no different, but I will say that Sherry was certainly the most colorful salesperson I have met. She had me in stitches as various points in the tasting.

Sherry is also a trickster. Oak Hill had 20 wines available for tasting on the day I arrived, and Sherry had me talking so much and asking questions while the next pour was being made so effortlessly that I took me 10 tastes or so before I realized she was intending on having me taste the whole flight. Not to worry, there's a "junk bucket" as Sherry put it, for leftovers. Furthermore, if you are not the type to swallow, there's a special test. Remember that long flight of steps? Sherry said those were the "sobriety steps" and if you stumble in any way going down, you're sticking around for a while. Regardless, this is one winery where spitting is certainly highly recommended.

Oak Hill has no vineyards, so therefore it must buy all of the juice it needs. One trend I noticed was that a dry version of a wine would often be on the list opposite a sweeter variety using the same grapes.

Thanks to my recent drive in the countryside, I was able to pick up that the wines are named after local small towns. From Jalapa to Sweetser to Fairmount, they're here. Nice local homage. Sadly, a bottle I greatly wanted to try, Oak Hill's mead, Mead Marion, was out of stock. I was interested in the comparison having just come from New Day. I must also confess that it took me a week before I got the pun. I got the Maid Marion reference immediately, but didn't realize it is also a homage to the local town of Marion.

Here's my tasting notes highlights. Oak Hill has a standard pricing system, with 1 or 2 bottles costing $9.99, 3 to 6 costing $8.99 each, 6 to 11 $8.49, and one dozen or more costing $7.99. Special Release wines are $12.99.

Mississinewa White-a Sevyal Blanc that is just about bone dry. Crisp, with good mineral notes. Not much else, though that is typical of Sevyal Blanc.

Roann-The description asked the taster to guess which fruit the wine was made of. This dry peach wine was surprising, and the confusion some have is evident. It could easily be mistaken be plum or even apple cider. A unique twist resembling a very dry Riesling.

Hanging Rock-Made from Chambourcin grapes, a red quickly and with good reason becoming one of the prominent grapes being cultivated in Indiana. My favorite of Oak Hill's dry wines, this wine is dominated by cherry and spice, with good balance of tannins. At this price, it's a value.

Peru Peach-This tasted very thin, like the bottle has been opened too long. I did notice the bottle was nearly empty, so I am going to assume the wine was past the recommended shelf life.

Bunker Hill-Oak Hill's Concord offering. It's Concord, and if you like Concord, you will enjoy this offering. If you find Concord too sweet, you won't. I didn't find it be cloying like some other Concords I have tasted, but it is still pretty sweet.

Borderman-Diamond and cranberry blend. I have never tasted Diamond wine before (yet another to get to my Wine Century Club). This variety is a cross between Concord and Iona. It does have the sweetness of Concord, but is a little mellower. The cranberry gives it a little kick, and the blend is pleasant. Again, if you don't care for cranberry wine, this is not for you. Would be a perfect wine around holiday time for those who like sweeter wines.

Kokomo Cider-My favorite taste of the flight. Served slightly warm, it is everything I look for in a cider. Great apple flavor and spice that radiates and warms the body. One of the best Indiana ciders I have tasted.

Wawpecong-apple and blackberry blend. It was fine, but I didn't appreciate the blend of the two fruits as much as I thought I would. As a fan of blackberry wine, I missed the richness of the blackberry standing alone. It's hard to do blackberry well at a low price point, so why try? Do it solo and make it a limited release at a higher price.

I also purchased another bottle, and will do a group review later.

What is also unusual about Oak Hill are the labels. They are black and white drawings appropriate to the name of the wine. I wish I could find a picture of them, but I can't. They remind me of a set of illustrated Dickens novels I had as a child. I wish I would have taken the time to look at all of them.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with this winery. Oak Hill is clearly on the upswing of it's trajectory, and there is still lots of growing to do. Some of the wines were very good, and even some of the average wines get a bump up because of the value their price point presents.

I would hope that some who enjoy wines would make a point of seeking out the northern Indiana wineries. Sadly, due to geography, they can be so easily ignored. I myself haven't been able to get to all of them. I know there are plans in the works for a trail linking some of them, and hopefully the creation of that and some great product will make them as popular as their southern cousins. In the meantime, they have to work twice as hard to distinguish themselves. Oak Hill is doing that by value, the great staff, commitment to more "natural" wine, and the wine club (I have previously wrote about that here-it's a great value).

Reader Mail

2009-02-20T21:13:00.002-06:00

Got a few more questions in the mailbox in the past few weeks, and thought I would answer them for all. Here they are, perhaps edited for length and clarity. As always, please write me with questions at indianawineblog@gmail.com. However, I must request that you not solicit me for legal advice.

Do you only drink Indiana wine? If not, what wines do you prefer to drink when you are not drinking Indiana wine?

I drink any wine I can get in my glass! I enjoy Indiana wines and like to write about the industry, but they are certainly not the only wines I drink.

I will try just about anything, but prefer semi-dry whites and whites with a touch of sweetness. Riesling and Gewurztraminer are my favorites, but I also enjoy Chianti, Cabernet Franc, and Traminette.

I enjoy your tasting notes. What is your procedure when you visit? Do you identify yourself?

Thank you. Tasting notes are fun to do, but time consuming. I still have one outstanding which I have told myself I will get to this weekend.

When I visit a winery, I want to be treated just like any other guest. So no, I do not introduce myself as the writer for this blog. However, I don't lie about anything either. If someone introduces them self to me, I introduce myself by my real name. If someone asks what I do for a living, I tell them my real job, but I don't mention this hobby of mine.

I try to remain somewhat anonymous for a few reasons. Like I said before, I want to be treated just like any other guest. I don't want special treatment. In order to be write from the guest experience, you do in fact have to be treated like any other guest. If a winery has a tasting fee, I want to pay it (so I can write if I thought it was worth it). If employees are rude (something I have never experienced in Indiana, but have other places) or inattentive (something I have experienced here, but not since I began writing this blog), I want to experience it. Also, due to my job, when I can visit a winery is usually peak traffic time for them, and I don't want extra attention paid to me at the expense of other guests. I don't want salespersons to hover over me, allowing me to write my notes and sip in somewhat quiet contemplation (which can be an advantage of visiting during rush hour-the salesperson can't hover if he or she has other customers to serve) . Somewhat to my disappointment, nothing gets extra attention at a winery like a customer taking notes.

I think some employees have figured out that there is something strange about the person they are serving. I have introduced myself a few times after the tasting and purchases have been made, but only when I have communicated previously with someone via email or phone and want to introduce myself. I wait until after the purchases have been rung up so no one attempts to give me a discount. I usually don't introduce myself though, because I also don't want to answer questions about what my review might entail.

What are your qualifications to write about wine? Do you have any education in this area?

I have neither qualifications nor wine education. I have experience drinking wine and genuinely enjoy it, but I am no sommelier.

I have been frank in previous posts that I think others could do a much better job than myself writing this blog. However, no one had done so, so I decided to try. I wanted a method to improve my writing that was not work related, and thought it would be a great experience. So far, it has been.

As far as education, I knew a good amount about wine before I started this blog, and believe I learn more everyday. I read books, other blogs, magazines, USDA and university reports about viticulture, attend wine tastings, visit wineries, and seek just about any other outlet to learn about wine. It's been great fun!

What's your biggest wish for Indiana wine?

A Great Lake! Since we are not going to get that (besides the few miles of industrial wasteland, I mean, shoreline, we have of Lake Michigan), I hope that Hoosier wineries continue to realize their potential and limitations and strive to be the best that terroir and their skill allows them to be.

Tasting Notes: New Day Meadery

2009-02-15T19:45:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, I drove to Elwood to visit New Day Meadery. I've seen their meads at the Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, as well as a couple of the farmer's markets, but never got the chance to either taste any or visit the meadery itself. The weather was nice, and I thought it was the perfect excuse to visit Indiana's only meadery.

I must admit, my experience with mead is limited. The only one I can recall tasting is Oliver's Camelot Mead, which KeeKee and I often drank while trying to survive law school. A few Indiana wineries have a mead on their menu, but they tend to be limited reserves and are often out of stock. I knew that New Day is an artisan meadery, and specializes in drier meads and fruit blends, but knew little else. So, I educated myself a little before I drove to Elwood.

New Day's website is a great help, and this page here includes a link to pdf file that gives a great condensed version of the history of mead. I also found some excellent information here.

The drive was pleasant enough, and the directions were fine (the website is smart enough to have a Google Maps link so you can plug in directions without leaving the page). However, unless I missed it, there was no signage off of IN-37. Not a good idea, especially since impromptu foot traffic is a great source of sales.

As I arrived and came in, the sales person was sitting in the small tasting area waiting for someone to come in. I was surprised there was no one else there, though if there were, it would be difficult to find a spot, since the tasting room is one of the smallest I have visited. I was greeted immediately and very heartily, and as the conversation progressed, the enthusiasm he had for the product was evident. He had me so caught up in conversation, I totally forgot to get his name! He did mention he was not the owner, so I know that much.

Unlike most Indiana wineries, New Day does charge for tastings. The fee is $5, but the pours are generous and you get the full flight, so it is well worth it. I even asked to taste one twice, and there was no hesitation.

My notes:

Dry Hard Cider ($12) When they say dry, they mean it. Didn't dislike it, but it was not what I look for in a cider. Your milage may obviously vary. Mineral and flint notes which seemed to overwhelm the apple flavors. It was noted this was made from five different apple varieties.

Dry Mead ($16) Great color and bouquet, of honeysuckle, clover, and ginger. On the tongue, it struck me as a very dry Reisling, and really did remind me of a summer meadow, a theme which would present itself again and again. I liked it, but would not drink it alone. Would be perfect with cheese.

Dry Peach Honey Wine ($20). My notes say "EARTHY!" The peaches come from Laporte County, and the honey, like most of the honey used, is from Indiana as well. I could smell very slight peach notes, with vague floral and pear notes. No residual sugar in this wine, and it shows, again, unlike much of what I was used to, but pleasant.

Dry Blueberry Honey Wine ($20) I dreaded this one, because I tend to despise blueberry wine. Nice deep rose color. This is the one I tasted twice, but even then, I would have not guessed there were blueberries in there unless told. I tasted cherry. Think of a cherry wine (a good cherry wine) bolstered with a great floral underpinning, and you get this wine. Crisp and solid. One of my favorites, and I was very happy to see blueberry used in such a way.

Dry Red Raspberry Honey Wine ($24) The best bouquet of the flight. I smelled my mom's razzleberry cobbler when I put my nose in this glass. That, and that wonderful meadow aroma so prevelant in these meads. Slightly tannic, which surprised me, and I was also surprised by how hearty this wine was. Would compare this wine in heartiness to Pinot Noir. Good finish.

Semi-Dry Mead ($18) There is residual sugar in this mead, but it is still very dry. I would hesitate to call it semi-dry just by mouth feel. Minerals and cloves dominate. It was more warming than the Dry Mead, and more enjoyable.

Semi-Sweet Black Raspberry Honey Wine ($25) Says semi-sweet, but again, comparatively speaking to other Indiana wines with that designation, I would consider this to be much drier than those. Rich and deep, and would be great with chocolate. Very smooth and enjoyable.

I also tasted and purchased the Plum, but will be bringing that to a dinner party later this month for a group review. It was the only mead I purchased, not because I wouldn't want to, but because I am already getting lectures over my burgeoning wine rack. Besides the mead, New Day also sells some products made from local honey. I did purchase some honey infused with peach, and will use that for baking.

I was very impressed with this unique Indiana winery. Great, great products unlike anything else in Indiana. The prices are higher than other Indiana wines, but honey produces less mead than grapes produce wine. Also, the limited quantities produced factor into the cost. Every bottle purchased lists the quantity produced (for example, the plum I purchased notes that only 91 cases were made).

If you frequent Mass Ave Wine Shoppe or the Winter's Farmer Market here in Indianapolis, treat yourself and purchase one of New Day's fine meads. Better yet, journey up to Elwood and purchase one yourself, while enjoying a full flight of unique mead. Note New Day is only open Friday-Sunday from 1-6, except during the holiday season.

EDIT: Co-owner Tia writes me to tell me the gentleman who helped me is named Gary. He started out as one of New Day's customers and is now selling the mead. He's obviously good at it!

Odds and Ends

2009-02-09T19:13:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone is doing well. Work has been riding me hard, so there's been a little bit of a posting drought. However, I did manage to visit two wineries yesterday, and will post tasting notes soon. In the meantime, here are a few odds and ends that have caught my attention in the past week or so:

Indiana Taste of Elegance Competition

Renee at Feed Me/Drink Me was a judge at the Taste of Elegance Pork Competition. Seems part of the competition included wine pairings featuring Indiana wines. Things did not go well, with the wines not being served at the proper temperature, and one bottle being corked and served to judges. Some pretty harsh words, comments of rebuttal by the Indiana Wine Grape Council, and then a harsh (but justifiable and deserved) retort. As Renee says "if you're going to compete with A-level chefs, you've got to bring your A game to the competition."

Slender Sugar-Free Wines by Chateau Thomas

Word is spreading far and wide about Chateau Thomas' Slender line of wines. Only problem, it turns out there may be such a thing as bad publicity. These sugar free wines are drawing nearly unanimous jeers from the online forums. Fellow Hoosier blogger Good Grape has some pretty harsh things to say about this project by the venerable Indiana winery. Dr. Vino is similarly scathing. The comments to the posts aren't pretty either. Besides the fact the science behind them is junk, I can't imagine they taste good. Maybe I can force myself to review them, but I am not sure I can be impartial.

Indiana in the top 10

Indiana makes the list of the Top 10 Wackiest Wine Laws That Still Exist. We make the list for not serving alcohol on Election Day while the polls are open. We are one of seven states that still have these laws. I remember this well from my days as a waiter. Some people became downright hostile when told they could order a drink on Election Day. While I think the law may be due for repeal, a nod in the article to the very good historical reasons behind this law would have been nice.

I'll be back this week with tasting notes from my winery visits.

IATC Raids an Indiana Winery

2009-01-29T20:26:00.005-06:00

Hoosier Wine Cellar reports that several Indiana wineries were the target of an Excise sting right after the "face to face" requirement was reinstated by the 7th Circuit. The caller would implore the wineries to send a bottle to the caller's mother through the mail, despite the fact the caller had not completed the required application to ship wine.

Sadly, one unnamed winery failed to follow the statute, and sent a bottle. This resulted in the immediate search of the winery, and the suspension of the winery's license. The matter was quickly settled with a substantial fine, and now we all know the Excise Police are serious about enforcing this law.

I tend to be very pro-law enforcement, and don't much care of the "where are our priorities" argument when it comes to enforcement of statutes. So don't expect that here. But when various Federal Circuits, appellate courts, and just about everyone else has trouble interpreting the current state of the law, (or, at the very least, has concerns about the current constitutionality of the law) is prompt enforcement wise?

I would have recommended a memo sent to all wineries by IATC's legal counsel clarifying the current state of the law, complete with a note of IATC's commitment to enforcing the statute. Several government agencies routinely do this, and counsel's secretary only has to make 37 copies.

Then again, one might say this should have been done by the Indiana Wine Guild. I suppose, but I am not sure if they are in a position to afford to retain an attorney on a consistent basis, though apparently they did finance the quick settlement of the above action.

One thing is clear-there are no winners in this. The IATC looks like a heavy handed Gestapo, and the winery has a massive fine to pay in the midst of a recession.

Let's hope the other 36 wineries in Indiana got the message.

PS: I did find this warning from The Wine Institute dated December 2 warning shippers of the return of the face to face requirement.

Tasting Notes: Grape Inspirations

2009-01-25T14:55:00.004-06:00

I was up in the Carmel area this weekend, and found time to check out Grape Inspirations Winery. Those of you familiar with Grape Inspirations know it not only as a winery, but a place where you can make your own wine. Better than that, Grape Inspirations will actually store the carboys for you while the wine ferments. Great little niche and a nice business model perfect for an urban winery.

The winery is tucked into a Carmel strip mall and is nondescript from the outside. The inside has a pretty small tasting bar and then an area to the right to sit and enjoy a glass of wine. I was also immediately struck by something that was missing-the overwhelming amount of wine related merchandise every winery seems to stock these days. While there were Vinvacs and a few other essentials, missing were the massive amounts of grape pattern potholders, trivets, and toilet paper (okay, I made that last one up) present at every other winery.

As I sidled up to the tasting bar, I was greeted by a courteous staff. I was then handed the wine list. It stretched 3 pages, and listed 45 wines. That's 10 more than Oliver. The sheer breadth of that list is something to admire. As to whether it is wise from a business standpoint is a decision for the owners and their accountants. As a customer, even someone fairly knowledgeable, it was overwhelming and a touch frustrating.

I also noticed the relatively high price point for an Indiana winery. Almost every wine retails north of $15. The lowest priced was $14.50. The Carmel surcharge, I suppose.

I did manage to taste several varieties, and here are some quick impressions.

Chardonnay/Semillon ($15.99) Nice blend that highlights the buttery notes of the Chardonnay well. I also noted light honey. The taste was sharp but reasonably rounded. Good wine, but a little pricy for the quality.

Showcase Pinot Grigio ($15.99) Light aromatics of peach and apple. I enjoyed the finish on this and it would make a good sipping wine.

Classic Riesling ($14.99) Great orange notes, but the orange aroma overwhelms everything else. Noted honeysuckle and pears on the tongue. Good finish.

Bella Bianco ($15.99) I meant to ask what variety this was, but I couldn't get the splinters out of my mouth from the excessive oak. Not pleasant.

Showcase Chianti Reserva ($15.99) The last vintage of this wine, as it was not selling well compared to others. I enjoy Chianti, but could see why it has not been selling. A somewhat bland blend with slight raspberry notes that falls apart even further on the tongue.

Tropical Blue ($14.99) This is a blend of blueberry, pomegranate, and white merlot. I don't know of another Indiana winery that is making pomegranate wine, which I suppose should be commended. Regardless, the wine tasted of watered down pomegranate juice or a light blend of pomegranate and vodka. It also reminds me of those cocktails that have alcohol, but you don't realize it until you've had three or four and you're drunk.

Ruby Divine ($14.50) This is a pink grapefruit blush. Again, grapefruit wine is unique to this Hoosier winery, but I was not impressed. But then again, I dislike grapefruit. I suppose if you do, and think that grapefruit is appropriate for wine making, you might like this.

Passporte ($16.99) This winery's version of standard port is indistinguishable from other ports at lower price points.

Showcase Old Wine Zinfandel ($17.99) Blackberry and pepper, but the pepper doesn't overwhelm you like some Zins. Nice and full-bodied. The wine tasted like it has been aged, but the staff told me it was bottled 3 months prior. Nice cherry and currant flavors as well. One of my favorite tastes of the afternoon.

There were numerous others I would have been happy to taste, but the sheer volume of the list is truly overwhelming. The samples I did taste were uneven, but I suppose that is to be expected with 45 wines. I did enjoy that the winery is using grapes that others are not, but I also question some of their fruit choices. I will say that everyone can something they like at Grape Inspirations.

EDIT: In the comments, Stacy notes that unless things have changed, most of the wine comes from juice kits. This makes a lot of sense. I wasn't able to get a tour this weekend, but did notice on the wine list that nearly every wine Grape Inspirations stocks can also be made by amateur winemakers. While again, this is a nice business model, especially for aspiring winemakers, I can't imagine the quality of the juice is on par with what some of the other wineries in the area buy.

As always, I welcome anyone at Grape Inspirations to correct any of the assumptions I have made.

Bringing Children Into the Winery

2009-01-20T19:23:00.010-06:00

Should children be allowed in wineries? Is it tacky to bring your child along for wine tastings? Should Indiana wineries make themselves more "family friendly?"

When I addressed reader mail a few days ago, I didn't address these questions, wanting to leave it for a separate post. It is actually something I have been thinking about for several months, after seeing some parents bring their children to a local winery. I must admit, I was shocked to see children in the winery.

I'll try to address this question on the merits and not the fact the children I saw acted like heathens while their parents sipped their wine in oblivion. I always think of my mom in situations like this. She's the one who says, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I am so glad you never acted like that in public. Well, you did once, but all it took was a good whipping and that solved that." Oh, how times have changed.

I don't believe in sheltering kids from the existence of alcohol. There's nothing wrong with drinking. In my experience, early, consistent exposure to the presence of alcohol makes children less likely to abuse it later. Part of reducing temptation is to reduce the forbidden allure, if you will. I didn't taste hard liquor for years after my uncle saw my curious looks and had me take a big swig of whiskey when I was 14.

Wineries can also be a fun and educational experience for kids, especially ones drawn to science. While a winery is not a bar, there is drinking going on, and I do find something distasteful about making your child your drinking buddy.

There is also the question of whether bring your children is fair to others? Let's face it, a lot parents these days don't own up to the misbehavior of their children. There also seems to be a sense of entitlement that others must tolerate the misbehavior of children in public, under the guise of "kids will be kids." (These people have never met my mother.)

I also like to think that people who go wineries have a little more sophistication and class so as to not act like a clod, and not acting like a clod includes making sure your kids don't act like heathens. But as parents sip more and more wine, it is also harder to keep a careful watch on the kids.

I suppose another question becomes if wineries can afford to ban kids. Would it become such a distraction as to cause the winery to lose business? Or would people enjoy the assurance of a "kids-free zone?"

I do think it is imperative for staff to quickly and firmly tell parents of offending children to calm their child or please leave. There should be no excuses or worries about offending someone or losing sales. I, for one, have left businesses that won't control their environment and know others who do the same.

Finally, I have to question just how fun it would be for a kid to spend all day going to wineries. How many hours can you spend watching your parents sip wine? No wonder kids would act up in a situation like that-there's little else to do.

In case you haven't noticed, I am trying to walk the middle ground here, though I do lean against bringing your kids to the winery. However, I am also against a blanket ban.

As for being tacky, I think it is fair to say most find it disconcerting. I wouldn't say tacky, though.

As for making wineries more "family friendly," what the hell does that mean? Making a Champagne Slip-n-Slide? I fail to understand the point of the question. It's not like they are doing lap dances on the bar (though that might change if the HoseMaster of Wine got his way). Plus, from my experience, making things more family friendly tends to make them more popular, but less fun. See Times Square and Las Vegas for examples. But that's just me.

Thoughts?

Review: French Lick Winery Catawba

2009-01-19T19:50:00.003-06:00

As you can see from my past two reviews, I have been in search of some sweet Indiana wine. Since my travel opportunities outside of Indianapolis have recently been limited, I went again to Kahn's to pick up this bottle. I paid $10.99 for it, but the website says it is $9.81 at the winery.

Catawba was one of the first varieties propagated and planted in America. It was also the centerpiece of the thriving 19th century Ohio wine industry, and the suitability of the variety for the Midwest climate makes it a staple on Indiana wine lists. Some criticize it for being too sweet (and foxy, but I have never noticed that in any Catawba I've tried), but I took at this as an opportunity to review one of the sweeter Indiana wines.

The color is rich peach blush, and the bouquet gives up honey and apple blossom. I tasted grapefruit, peach, and honey. It was sweet, and certainly some would find it too sweet, but I was fine with it. It actually moderated for the better the second night, with a more mellow sweetness and more peach undertones.

One thing I also noticed about this wine was the thickness it presented, both in the glass and in the mouth.

I would quibble with the price, and would not consider this a value wine for this variety. A reduction of two dollars would have made me happier, and increased the QPR. Still, if you are looking for a sweet Indiana wine, this is a nice change of pace from the few who currently dominate the market.

Reader Mail

2009-01-17T20:33:00.005-06:00

These questions have trickled in over the past several weeks, and I decided to combine them all into one post. Questions may have been edited for space or clarity.

What is your favorite Indiana winery?

I don't have just one. I have several wineries I admire for various reasons, and can find something to enjoy in each one of them I have visited or tasted. I have yet to visit a winery in Indiana and not find something I could enjoy.

Which Indiana winery is the most innovative?

I am getting some loaded questions here! Again, I can't pick just one, and sadly, I have yet to visit all wineries in this state to make a truly qualified opinion. However, based on what I have seen, heard, and spoke of, I would consider Buck Creek Winery and Turtle Run Winery as just two I certainly am keeping my eye on for their future projects.

But the field in Indiana is pretty level- at most we have two top tier wineries, and lots of others fighting to get there. It will be interesting to see whose business model wins.

Will Indiana soon reach a saturation point for wineries?

Fair question. With Indiana soon to have 40 wineries, how many is too many? The smart-aleck answer would be "as many as the market can bear." But with quality juice increasingly expensive to get from the coasts, perhaps a waning market for sweet wines, not to mention the current economy, could we go from boom to bust? More restrictive shipping laws could also toll doom for some.

I can't answer your question yet, but thanks for giving me a topic to explore in the future!

I really enjoyed your interview with Jeff Durm at Buck Creek Winery. Will you be interviewing more winemakers?

Absolutely! I really enjoyed my interview with Jeff, and that interview gets a lot of search queries. The weather and my busy calendar have prevented more interviews, but certainly look for more in the future!

What do you think of the Indiana Wine Grapes Council?

As the Magic 8 Ball would say: ask again later. All I know about them is from their web site, the press releases they send me, and what some have told me off the record. I hope to interview someone from the IWGC soon, and will discuss this in a future post.

Do you accept samples?

Ah, the ultimate loaded question for a wine blogger. Every prominent wine blogger has dealt with this question, and it has all been said before. I would note the person who asked this question wasn't actually offering a sample, but my answer is the same. I would probably accept a sample; however, I would disclose in my review the item was given to me for free. It's no big deal though. One of the joys of reviewing Indiana wine is that I don't have to spend too much out of pocket for my wine.

That being said, I take the 2 Days Per Bottle approach: I will review your wine, but you may not like what I have to say.

Have any other questions? Just ask. indianawineblog@gmail.com

Review: Madison Vineyards Black Dog

2009-01-12T19:17:00.003-06:00

Are my taste buds malfunctioning? For the second time in a row, what I get from a wine is way off the description on the bottle.

I again tried to taste an Indiana sweet wine, and thought I was doing so when I picked up Madison Vineyard's Black Dog ($10.99). The bottle notes the wine is "a rich, sweet red wine produced from French hybrid grapes grown in our Madison, Indiana vineyards." The description seemed a little incongruous to me, which turned out to be my first clue.

The color is dark garnet, and the bouquet reveals black currents and cherries of medium intensity. At this point, I get my second inkling that something is not quite right, since this smells like many a dry red.

Upon tasting, my suspicions were confirmed. The wine reminds me of a blend of Chianti and Cabernet Franc. There is nothing sweet about the wine, and in fact, tannins are quite present in the wine. To verify, I handed the wine to Eric, who puckered up, and said, "too many tannins!" Not a big fan of dry reds, that Eric.

However, this is not to say the wine is unpleasant. Cherries and blackberries abound in the mouth, and it lingers nicely through the finish, which wasn't too long. Unlike Eric, I did not find them unpleasant in the moderate quantities they were present.

The wine held up well through the second night with the aid of the Vinvac. Some deterioration in aroma and taste, but merely marginal.

Sucker punched again. But just like with the Butler Indiana White, the label misidentification was not unpleasant for me. Let's only hope other unsuspecting customers are as forgiving.

Let's also hope this mislabeling is not a trend.

New Indiana Winery

2009-01-06T20:27:00.004-06:00

Indiana has another winery! Wildcat Creek Winery joins 36 other Hoosier wineries. It is, along with Whyte Horse Winery, the only winery in the Lafayette area. Their website is only a title page now, but I am sure they will update it soon. They are currently only open on the weekends.

The winery is operated by Rick and Kathy Black. Rick has been making wine on an amateur level for many years, including a win for Best Amateur Winemaker at the 2002 Indy International Wine Competition. The wine list is only four wines right now, and from the picture on the website, they appear to Riesling, Lafayette Blush, Lafayette White, and Lafayette Red. More wines will be coming later this year.

The winery is located in a restored farmhouse right off I-65. I will be traveling to Chicago tomorrow, and hopefully will see a sign on the interstate.

I called and left a message asking the Blacks to let me know when they update the website. I will pass that information on to you.

According to the Indiana Wine Grapes Council (where I got most of the above information), four more wineries are scheduled to open before the end of the 2009.

In No-Brainer News of the Week...

2009-01-03T14:55:00.005-06:00

The Indiana Legislature will not be acting on Sunday alcohol sales this session.

You don't say?

According to the article, the newly formed Hoosiers for Beverage Choices wanted to push for an update of the state's alcohol laws, but legislative leaders don't want to deal with any alcohol legislation this session.

There are many reasons for this, but I can't blame the Legislature. There are much more important issue facing our state. First, the reps need to ensure that ethics reform doesn't even make it out of committee, let alone come up for a full vote. Then, we have to make sure all those township employees on the public tit stay there.

Besides, those "Hoosiers for Beverage Choice" people are hacks. I bet they haven't even bothered to bribe a legislator yet.

Review: Butler Winery Indiana White

2009-01-02T20:53:00.002-06:00

I picked up this wine from Kahn's a couple of weeks ago ($11.95, the same price as listed on the winery's website) . The bottle describes this as a "light, fruity, semi-sweet wine made from Indiana grown grapes. This is a great wine for entertaining on the deck or patio. Indiana White goes well with fruit, cheeses, fish, and poultry dishes. Serve chilled."

I expected this wine to be of the stock semi-sweet white wine that nearly every Indiana winery has. I was shocked when I tasted the wine-I couldn't detect any sweetness at all in the wine. In fact, it seemed to be quite dry. I actually read over the bottle description again to make sure I wasn't mistaken about what my recollection was. In fact, the wine tasted of a Chardonel or Traminette. When I looked at the website to verify the price, I read that in fact those grapes make up the wine, along with Vignoles.

Besides the confusion over the bottle description, I enjoyed this wine. I could detect the slight aroma of peach, perfume, and a little cucumber. The bottle indicated the alcohol content was 10.5% but the alcohol content seemed to be higher. Good finish, with no unpleasant aftertaste. I was originally planning on simply sipping this wine, but after tasting it, decided to drink the wine with a few bites of cheese, and enjoyed the wine more.

Surprisingly, the wine, unlike other semi-dry whites, held up well the next day with the help of the Vinvac. I could taste just a touch more sweetness the second day, but this wine was still very much not semi-sweet. The wine didn't even break down the third day.

Despite the label confusion, I recommend this wine for its pleasant taste and for actually holding up for longer than a day, unlike other semi-dry whites.

More than Corn in Indiana?

2009-01-01T12:58:00.005-06:00

If any of my readers are still here, I hope you had a safe and happy holiday season. I have been resting and relaxing the past several days, gearing up for a big push at work in the New Year.

Anyway, talk of the New Year always leads to articles of trends and resolutions. I don't have a worthy list like some others, but I was reading an article on one of my favorite local wine blogs, Michigan Grapevine (written by an actual professional journalist, Cari Noga, and not some hack like me) , and her article called to mind some discussions I have been having with others.

Cari recalled her 2008 predictions to see how accurate she was (always a brave, and often humbling, thing to do), and talked of her prediction of more farmland currently devoted to cherries (Michigan's star crop) being turned over to vines. She was correct, vine plantings are increasing at a rapid rate and cherry plantings are at best flat. She also points to an article that says much of the same.

In Indiana, there's not a huge orchard industry. Sure, you find small pockets of non-traditional crops (by traditional, I mean corn, beans, and wheat). The melon fields around Knox and Gibson Counties come to mind. But there is nothing that compares to the huge patches of land devoted to tree crops like apples and cherries so prevalent in Michigan. I almost ran off the road this summer when I passed by a field of sorghum, which I hadn't seen in Indiana in at least five years. The statistics are pretty clear, as well (but who knew we planted so much peppermint and spearmint?).

But is that changing? Slowly, yes. Wine grape production requires a large cash investment that takes several years to break even, which is not tempting when corn prices are going through the roof. Furthermore, farmers tend to be a conservative lot. You have to be when your livelihood depends on what you can bring forth from the ground, not to mention seasoned farmers know a new "next big crop" comes around every five years or so. Corn may not be glamorous, but it usually pays the bills, and driving a combine to harvest corn is a lot less backbreaking than harvesting a field of grapes. On the other hand, grapes can yield more money per acre than corn or beans, and let's be real, there's a certain something about growing wine grapes. Or is that just me?

Recently, I was talking to my boss about his farm. The usual crops, rotated as economics and agricultural practices call for. He does a lot of the work himself, but needs to hire out a lot of it also since he works full-time off the farm. I asked him why he didn't consider turning over five acres or so of his farmland to grapes for wine. He farms in a good microclimate that might produce some interesting results. He quickly batted away the idea. The usual suspects, too much investment, too long for a return, uncertainty. But then he leaned back in his chair, and said, "but you know, when I pass the farm on, I wouldn't be surprised or upset if that happened. Something has gotta give, and I think grapes would be an excellent crop in the right hands."

That sums it up. Wine will never come close to upstaging the current leaders in Indiana agricultural acres. But the acreage is and will continue to increase.

As a final note, I would note my sadness that probably the best wine grape growing land in Indiana, along the Southern Lake Michigan shore, is now and probably forevermore in the hands of vast, polluting, oil companies.

Stupidity prevails in Michigan, bound to spread south soon.

2008-12-19T19:46:00.002-06:00

What, Michigan worry? That little deal about the collapse of their most important industry is of so little import, they have plenty of time to deal with truly vital matters as interstate wine shipping.

Reacting like only ineffective state legislatures can, both houses have now passed by overwhelming margins a measure that would completely ban wine shipments by third-party shippers.

It could have been worse, since the original version banned all retail deliveries. According to Michwine:

"That [new] wording appears to allow out-of-state retailers to hire Michigan-based employees to make deliveries on their behalf, or to drive their own delivery vehicles into Michigan.

Unlike the 2005 law on winery shipping, the Senate-passed bill does not specifically require out-of-state retailers to obtain a Michigan license or collect Michigan sales and excise taxes on wine they deliver to state residents."

Well, that makes perfect sense. Leave it to Michigan to kill the goose that is laying one of their biggest growth industries.

Next month, the equally ineffective Indiana legislature will begin a new session. Given the spate of new case law and the bribes (or political contributions, it's all the same) the liquor wholesalers give legislators I am sure they will find time to screw up our shipping laws even further.

Let's just hope it doesn't create any more fatalities amongst Indiana wineries.

Review: Winzerwald Cranberry Weisser

2008-12-14T17:10:00.004-06:00

I have a secret love affair with fruit wines. However, I freely admit there is good reason for their poor reputation. Certain fruits should not be made into wine, for instance, strawberry. Whenever I taste strawberry wine, it feels like I am chewing on a leather strap. While some lovers of reds may enjoy that note, I do not.

However, I think some fruits can make perfectly serviceable wines, among them blackberry, cherry, and cranberry. Certain fruit wines can also be pleasant if blended with grape wine. So when I was at Kahn's last week, I just had to pick up Winzerwald's Cranberry Weisser. They also have the Strawberry Weisser, but for the reasons stated above, I stuck with cranberry. This was also a nice chance to review this winery's product before I have a chance this spring to get to the winery near the Ohio River.

This semi-sweet tart blend of grape and cranberry wine (I paid $14.49 at Kahn's, but it is $11.99 at the winery) is part of the winery's Wilhelm Tell Collection. This, according to the label, "celebrates the Swiss heritage of Perry County with fruit and Swiss-style wines that commemorate Wilhelm Tell's historical feat when he shot the apple from his son's head." I don't know what the hell that means. The Weissers come in cranberry, strawberry, blueberry, and cherry. Shouldn't they have cider? What does wine have to do with the legend of William Tell? The lawyer in me also wants to know if we should be combining alcoholic beverages with legends involving shooting fruit off a loved one's head.

Despite the confusion with the wine's backstory, this is actually a pretty good wine. The color is ruby, or rather, cranberry, and the liquid is of the proper consistency. Nice,if slight, bouquet, and a nice balance of tart and sweet. I believe that in order for a fruit to be a good candidate for wine, it needs to have significant tartness to combat the cloying effect, which is why I can enjoy cranberry wine. The wine is simple, but enjoyable.

The wine held up very well the second night after being preserved by the Vinvac. No noticeable difference in quality or taste.

I only wish I could find more information about this wine. What is the percentage of grape to cranberry? What variety of grapes are used? And again, that whole Wilhelm Tell tie-in is really bugging me. Alas, nothing I could find could shed any light on these matters, but hopefully, I can find out one day. In the meantime, if you are looking for a sweet yet tart fruit wine that would be good for the holiday season, give this Weisser a try.

How much is too much for a bottle of Indiana wine?

2008-12-10T18:37:00.004-06:00

Post idea shamelessly stolen from Michwine.

I have previously wrote about my experience at Kahn's last month here. I have already noted the shabby condition the Indiana section was in, but while I was there, I also noted something else-the price on the bottles.

The price of Indiana wine at Kahn's ranged from $6.99 to $22.99. Only two wines dared break the $20 price point-Chateau Thomas's Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, both at the aforementioned $22.99. 7 others were $16.99 or higher. Most settled in the $9.99 to $12.99 range.

Just like in Michigan, if you go to an Indiana winery, you will see many wines north of the $16.99 price point. From what I have seen, customers don't seem to hesitate too much to buy wine at that price at the winery. Sure, cheaper wines are more popular, but to lovers of dry reds in particular, the prices are acceptable. Of course, the winemaker also profits more from sales at the winery.

So why don't we see more of these wines in Indiana liquor stores? Just like in Michigan-it's a pricing issue. If, as many wine writers like to say, we are in a golden age for wine and you never need to pay over $15 for a bottle of great wine, why pay more for an Indiana wine? I myself will rarely pay that much for any bottle of wine unless I actually go the winery. Even then, I have to really enjoy the wine (and even then, the salesman needs to be pretty good).

I do disagree with one point in the Michwine article. In Michigan, the retail sweet spot is described as between $11.99 to $15.99. I think Indiana's is lower-around $8.99 to $12.99. That's not all bad news-a few years ago, I would have said that asking above $10 or $11 was pushing it.

As quality goes up, so will acceptable prices.

Review: Easley Traminette

2008-12-09T20:04:00.004-06:00

I make no secret of the fact I enjoy Traminette, the cross between Gewurztraminer and Johannes Seyve 23-416, a close relative of Seyval Blanc. Part of the reason is that semi-dry whites are my favorite demographic. The other part is that Traminette is a variety that is well-suited for Indiana’s climate. There’s versatility with Tram as well, you can run the range from sweet to dry. I find that sweet Trams can sometimes be cloying, but the varietal really hits the spot in the semi-dry category.

Therefore, imagine my delight when I was gifted with two bottles of Easley Winery’s Traminette. I had not yet tried Easley Winery's Traminette, and I just know the giver didn’t expect to me wait until Christmas to open one!

Color is that of pale straw, and the nose does not give up much. Slight apple and apricot notes. The palate showed moderate mineral tones with a nice fruit and floral balance, and the finish was crisp and smooth. Trams can clear the palate, and thus would be appropriate with spicy Asian food as well as seafood. I enjoyed it with a big pot of ham and beans I cooked up. A little unorthodox, and while I usually prefer a hearty red on a cold winter night, the combination of comfort food and comfort wine hit the spot.

The second night, the downside of Traminette happened-the wine lost much of its luster. Ironically, the nose was much fuller, with fruit giving way to floral notes, particularly honeysuckle. However, the taste was barely there, with the mineral tones dominating, too much in fact. I could taste what was, but it was only a flabby shadow of itself.

Overall, I enjoyed this wine. You can not really blame the wine for petering out after the second day when most semi-dry whites do. Perhaps something to spice up the frame to give it a little staying power would be welcome. I would certainly recommend this wine-but would make sure it was going to a function where it would be consumed that night.

Happenings at Oak Hill

2008-12-08T19:10:00.004-06:00

Oak Hill Winery, in Converse, Indiana, has several new releases in this year's vintage. Oak Hill has rapidly expanded its offerings and now has over 20 varieties. Some recent additions include:

Windfall ($9.99)-a Rhine style semi-dry Seyval Blanc. A touch of residual sugar is left in to allow the slight fruitiness to come forth.

Whitewater ($9.99)-a Riesling style wine fruitier than Windfall. Production is limited to 50 cases.

Sweetser ($9.99)-Catawba, spicy, semi-sweet.

Swayzee ($9.99)-made from Chancellor grapes, food friendly, semi-sweet red.

Bordermen ($9.99)-semi-sweet cranberry grape blend. Delayed due to the cranberries taking their time fermenting.

Mead Marion ($12.99)-limited release, smooth and sweet. Limited release.

The wine club is also growing by leaps and bounds. Membership in the wine club is $149 a year and comes with two bottle of wine up front, your choice. Every month after that, bring your card back and pick up two more wines. If you miss a month, you can catch up three months at a time. Membership also allows you to buy bottles at the lowest price of $7.49 each, as well as a 10% discount on most of your non-wine purchases. You also get first chance at limited releases and special productions, and invitations to special events throughout the year.

Promotions such as this wine club are what's setting apart some Indiana Wineries. Let's hope other wineries follow suit.

The End of Free Pours in Michigan?

2008-12-07T21:11:00.004-06:00

Michigan Grapevine reports that free pours may be on the way out at wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula. There is currently a local ordinance that prevents wineries on the trail from charging for tasting. There were also proposals submitted to allow wineries to hold events such as receptions, to broaden the sale of food at the wineries, as well as allow the sale of wine by the glass.

I noted a few things interesting about the article:

-A claim that if sampling fees were permitted, only some of the wineries would institute them.
-The owner of Black Star Farms (which also makes their own cheese and some excellent fruit brandies) says that free tastings cost the winery between $50,000 and $100,000 annually.
-Some winemakers claim there is an issue with freeloaders sampling.
-No matter how crappy Hoosier wine laws are, at least we're not Michigan. I read of all the oppressive legistlation and proposed legislation and wonder how this industry has managed to thrive.

As for Indiana, a few wineries do currently charge sampling fees. I think more are going to follow suit as they become more established. The fact is, free samples of wine drive foot traffic to a new winery, and there's really no other way in Indiana to build your business. However, I wouldn't be suprised if sampling fees became standard in as little as a year or two. What I suspect will happen is a wine trail as a whole will institute sampling fees.

As for freeloader sampling, I haven't noticed much of it in Indiana. There will be freeloaders everywhere, but for every person who walks out without a bottle, there's a person who walks out with six. Wine poured for free is money walking out the door only if the winemaker failed to build the sampling costs into the margins.

That being said, I am not opposed to sampling fees per se. The concern I have is they keep interested patrons from sampling the full range of a winery's output. If there are twenty wines on the list and you paid to sample five, you will stick to what you know and expect to enjoy. This discourages samplers from broadening their horizons and could reduce sales. I particulary fear for wines at the top of the list (the dry reds) since Hoosiers seem to gravitate towards the sweeter wines.

Of course, there is a sensible middle ground-institute a modest sampling fee but make the price refundable upon the purchase of a bottle or two. Your free rider issue disappears and you encourage sales. Let's hope that winemakers looking to institute sampling fees will consider this. Let's also hope this is done in such a way that doesn't destroy the unique atmosphere of Hoosier wineries.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-12-06T10:42:00.002-06:00

It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.

Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

I love days like today. Mostly undisturbed snow on the ground and in the trees, birds and squirrels at the feeders. This afternoon is a quiet time in a busy month.

Several of the ideas I have for this blog have been going slower than anticipated. I have taken a new position at work, and the transition is one of stress and exhaustion. Factor into that the holiday tumult, and there is no time for winery visits and road trips.

All is not lost. I have recruited two sassy and brassy dames who will join me in some visits after the New Year. More may join us as schedules allow. We are going to travel to some of the more distant Indiana wineries and see what we have been missing.

More Indiana wine reviews are on the way as well. My opportunities to go out and taste Indiana wine have been limited in the past few weeks. If I go out, Indiana wines have not been available. The Indiana wines I have been drinking lately have been bottles from recent trips to already reviewed wineries. Wanting to shake things up a bit, I've decided against reviewing those.

I have also been emailing some players in the Indiana wine industry and have received some committments for interviews.

While certain aspects of the blog are moving slowly, other things are picking up just fine. Readership in one month has been much higher than I anticipated-quickly averaging over 20 unique visitors a day and showing a steady progression upwards. This proves there are people eager to learn about and experience Indiana wines and wineries.

I have also found myself a small part of the wine blogging community. Much like winemakers, they are a gracious and sharing bunch. I encourage you to read other wines blog, especially those whose links you will find on the right. I would especially recommend a fellow Hoosier wine blogger and his two well-respected wine blogs, The 89 Project and 2 Days Per Bottle. Not only are his blogs innovative, you will never drink a glass of wine again without wondering what the Wooden Guys would think.

Whyte Horse Winery Happenings

2008-12-04T21:27:00.004-06:00

Abby Franks at Whyte Horse Winery let me know the crew just finished bottling their holiday wine, Jingles ($12.62). Abby describes this wine as a semi-sweet red fruity wine with a smooth finish. It is a great wine to bring to a holiday party. It also makes a great holiday gift, and comes complete with a festive red and green label and jingle bell around the neck. This is the first time this newer winery has put out a seasonal wine.

Whyte Horse's biggest seller this time of year is their Traminette ($15.89). Abby says this is a semi-dry, fruity wine that most people enjoy, and goes great with turkey or some of the sweeter items on the holiday table such as sweet potato casserole or cranberry sauce.

I plan on getting to Whyte Horse sometime next year. Right now, it's all by itself in the Lafayette area. If the vineyards are as pretty as the winery is in the picture above, I am in for a treat.

*Picture taken from Whyte Horse website.

Easley's 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Reserve Release

2008-12-02T22:05:00.011-06:00

Meredith and Mark Easley, owners of Easley Winery.

Winemaker Jeff Martin guiding a tour through the fermentation room.

Guests gathered in the Arbor Room for a picture before dinner began. Joan Easley, seated in the center, founded the winery in 1974 with Jack Easley who played lead roles in passing the Small Winery Act of 1971. This change in Indiana law allowed wineries to sell directly to the public.

Easley Winery celebrated their newest release, a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Reserve ($24.75), a few weeks ago during a winemaker’s dinner. Only seventy cases were crafted. This will be the fifth time Easley has released a Reserve, but it is the first winemaker's dinner.

Owners Mark and Meredith Easley, along with winemaker Jeff Martin, invited members of the Case Club as well as leaders in the local wine industry to this premiere event. Stories regarding winery history and winemaking techniques were discussed during the dinner.

Dinner was preceded by Champagne, then three courses being served, followed by a dessert of fruit and ice wine. Other Easley wines were served during the meal. Live music was also provided during the meal. After dinner, a tour of the winery was conducted by Martin, and guests were able to barrel taste the 2007 Governor's Chardonnay currently aging in French oak barrels.

As for the wine itself, it is described as medium bodied, with a smoky nose followed by subtle floral aromas. The palette repeats these flavors, followed by notes of blackberry, pepper, and nuts. The wine is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Chancellor Noir harvested from Posey County, near the Ohio River.

The richness of the flavor is due to the wine being barrel-aged in American oak for 10 months. The barrels were grown in English, Indiana, and coopered in Kentucky.

Drink between now and 2017.

Meredith indicated this dinner was a way to reward their most loyal customers as well as listen to feedback they have about the wines. Meredith said, "If they love it, we know we have a hit." She also indicated plans to make the dinner an annual event.

In order to become a member of the Case Club, one merely has to purchase a case of wine (at once or over several visits) from the winery. You will then be added to this preferred customer list, allowing you to receive special notices regarding special events, sales, and new releases.

Indiana Wine in the Big Box Stores

2008-12-01T20:16:00.007-06:00

This weekend, I was at Kahn’s looking for special deals and just to browse. I like to slowly walk up and down the aisles at places like Kahn’s because I always find that I learn a few things. Plus, I like to find cheap wine (what, you don’t expect me to drink ONLY Indiana wines, do you?). For this opportunity, I forgive the downsides of big box wine shops like this, such as the lack of personal service (Kahn’s cannot hold a candle to Cork and Cracker) . Luckily, while the deals were so-so, I noticed the customer service has much improved at Kahn’s, though still miles below Cork and Cracker. Perhaps the recent split in the company has served some purpose.

Anyway, while looking, I came across the Indiana section. You might have missed if you have never explored Kahn’s before. It’s in the back, next to the Missouri section. That’s right-the Missouri section, which consists of around 6 wines. If you look on the other side, you will note the big cardboard boxes of Franzia.

I noted the following wineries represented at Kahn’s: Brown County Winery, Butler Winery, Chateau Thomas, Easley Winery, French Lick Winery, Madison Vineyards, Oliver Winery, Simmons Winery, and Winzerwald Winery. Of course, Oliver had the most varieties, at 17 (including Sky Dog for $8.99-the highest price I have seen anywhere). Simmons and Chateau Thomas were also well represented.

I couldn’t help but feel sad at the display in front of me. The section was unkempt, which I could chalk up to a busy sales period before the holiday and this weekend. However, I could not excuse the obvious fact the bottles were not rotated. Bottles with lots of noticeable dust were in the back. Some bottles of one variety were buried behind a lot of a different variety. Given the short shelf life of most Indiana wines, especially fruit wines, this is bad news. I am sure that Brown County Winery would agree with me-those bottles of Cranberry Apple can’t sit on the shelf forever.

I wonder if Indiana wineries should be asking themselves what the benefits of these placements and displays are. Will this bring more sales? Will this bring more people to your winery? More importantly, does this help your brand? Does this help your reputation?

If you are like Oliver, a winery that is becoming firmly established as a regional player, you have no choice but to sell at venues such as these. But what if you have Oliver like aspirations? Is there another way to accomplish this volume that might be more brand friendly? If you are Winzerwald, and reside deep in Southern Indiana, is there any other way to get your wines to Indianapolis? Is this because we are all prisoners of Indiana’s unconstitutional shipping statute?

I don’t have answers for these questions yet. I may be silly in even asking them. But over the course of this blog, as I talk to winemakers and others involved in the Indiana wine industry, I will keep these questions in my mind and try to gather some thoughts from others.

Butler Winery Case Sale

2008-11-29T19:37:00.003-06:00

Amy Butler at Bulter Winery asked that I announce that in celebration of the winery's 25th anniversary, Butler is having an open house and case sale on Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th. This will be held at all three locations (Intown Bloomington, the winery itself, and Chesterton). Sales of up to 30% off, depending on varietal. You must buy at least a case, mix or match, to take advantage of this sale.

The sale pamphlet can be found here. This a great chance to get many of Butler's wines for under $10! I would recommend the Chambourcin, as well as the Black Currant if you are in the mood for a fruit wine with a (slight) twist.

However, if you can't make it this weekend, you can still obtain the special price by stopping in and placing your order no later than Sunday, December 14. You can also place your order and have it shipped to you, if you have already completed all the requirement of Indiana's unconstitutional wine shipping statute.

When you are stopping by, make sure you check out the new cellar addition and the other improvements at the winery. If you go, take some pics, and I will post them here.

Any Indiana winery that makes it to 25 years is to be celebrated. Cheers!

Turtle Run Happenings

2008-11-28T22:35:00.007-06:00

Due to traveling, Turtle Run Winery owner Jim Pfeiffer didn’t receive my email asking for holiday wine recommendations in time to post. However, he did want everyone to know about two new releases from his vineyard. How could I refuse someone who is not only owner of Turtle Run, but also the “Chief Bottle Washer?”

Jim is a self-described “blend-o-holic.” He’ll blend varietals that can stand on their own until he finds the perfect combination to put in the bottle, proving that sometimes the sum is greater than the parts. For instance, in Max’s Small Batch Red ($15.00), Cab Franc makes up 50% of the blend. Jim told me he previously sold plenty of Cab Franc on its own. (I believe it: Cab Franc is one of my favorites, and I wish it got more respect solo.) However, Jim experimented and eventually settled on adding 33% Zinfandel and 17% Syrah to finish. An excellent blend that highlights the positive attributes of all three varietals and it is selling well.

Speaking of Syrah, Turtle Run just released Turtle Run's latest vintage ($15.00). Already barrel aged for nearly a year, Jim notes the bouquet of blackberry and blueberry, a bit of pepper and a finish of butter. Lots of Indiana wineries are making good Syrah lately, and I can’t wait to taste this one.

Speaking of trends, Jim is ahead of the curve on another trend in Indiana wine: port. His third vintage of port, Pop’s Port ($25.00) is a six grape blend with a lot of depth. Jim says, “I simply wouldn’t know how to string the Christmas lights without a glass of Pop’s Port in hand.” I adore port, and am glad so many wineries are blending it.

I have not visited the grounds of Turtle Run yet, but I have tasted their wines before. Good things are happening at this vineyard.

Holiday Wine Recommendations

2008-11-25T09:38:00.011-06:00

This post is a little closer to Thanksgiving than I would like, but due to the recent start of this blog, late is better than never. These wine selections go equally well with Christmas, so consider it early for that. Plus, you could even make the point that holiday wine lists are silly to begin with, as someone with a great deal more wine knowledge than me does here. I somewhat agree, but think that certain Indiana wines just beg for consumption this time of year and should be highlighted.

The wineries selected to answer this question were done by blind draw. I asked more , but some did not respond to their emails before post time. I also included Buck Creek Winery, since I asked Jeff Durm this question during my interview.

Anderson’s Winery, Valparaiso:

I spoke with Sheila, who said that the Vineyard Blush ($10.99) goes great with turkey and is their top seller this time of year. The rhubarb ($11.99) would also go great, and seems to be enjoyed by everyone. The Vidal Blanc ($13.99) has undertones of grape and pineapple and is great with ham. Finally, the Vineyard Blue ($10.99) is a Concord Blend that is enjoyed by those who are not typical wine drinkers.

Best Vineyards, Elizabeth:

Owner Wilbert said their Strawberry (no price yet) comes out this Wednesday, and does not last very long. The Catawba ($10.95) is the biggest grape wine seller this time of year and goes great with everything on the holiday table. The Red Raspberry (13.95)is a great dessert wine, especially with chocolate cake.

Buck Creek, Indianapolis:

As Jeff Durm said in our earlier interview:

Our Christmas wine is our Christmas Cherry, if you like a little bit sweeter. We only bring it out the first part of November through Christmas. We sold out last year prior to Christmas. We made a little bit more this year. Our buck actually has a red nose like Rudolph on the label. It is very popular.

Our Cabernet Sauvignon just came out, and I think it is one of the best dry reds we have ever made. Forget Me Not, which is our Traminette, would be a wonderful wine with turkey, because it has that Alsatian kind of spiciness that would match very well with turkey. Our Dew Drop is Muscat Canelli, and it really has that tropical flavor, like pineapple and citrus, and would really go well with baked ham. We just brought out a sweet wine called Trilogy that is a blend of three native American grapes-Steuben, Concord, and Catawba blended together. I basically had so many gallons of these left, and it was a test and see what it was like. It was out of necessity due to lack of tank space that we came up with this wine, and it has been by 30% our biggest seller since it came out two weeks ago. So out of necessity sometimes, good things happen.

Easley Winery, Indianapolis:

Meredith Easley told me that something with some sweetness is the best seller this time of year, to appeal to people who don’t usually drink wine. The Barrel Red and Reggae Red are hot sellers now.

Also popular is the Cabernet Sauvignon, which was judged Best of Show at the Indiana Wine Fair, as well as Gold at Indy International. It is selling by the case at the winery. The new Limited Reserve Cabernet was released last Friday and is also expected to be a huge seller and may rival the previous Cabernet in acclaim.

For the holidays, Easley makes a sweet red mulled wine. It has been the same family recipe for 34 years. Do not boil the wine or you will lose the alcohol. (I always use a crock pot.)

For the holiday meal, Easley’s recommend Governor’s Chardonnay or Reggae White with Turkey, or Pink Catawba with ham. With crown roast, the Governor’s Riesling is best. Mulled wine goes great with pumpkin pie, Cabernet or Merlot with apple pie.

And for holiday parties, Easley’s Champagne (around so long the use of the name is grandfathered in) is always a big seller.

Mallow Run, Indianapolis:

Bill Richardson and I played phone tag before this story posted, so instead of writing what he says, I will substitute my thoughts on Mallow Run wines that would be great with holidays meals. Their Traminette ($12.95) is one of the best Indiana Trams I have tasted and would go great with Turkey. I would also recommend the Seyval Blanc, but it is sold out. The Finale ($14.95) makes an excellent pairing with chocolate, and I think the Blackberry ($9.95) is unbeatable at the price and excellent with berry dishes. It is very rich though, so pour yourself a small glass!

Sorry for the Indianapolis-centric recommendations. That was not my intention, they just responded in time to be included.

I am leaving the state soon and will be back late Thursday. I will be taking two wines with me from recent purchases, Buck Creek's Der Champion and Windy Knoll's Apple. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

Interview: Buck Creek Winery

2008-11-22T20:41:00.010-06:00

This Wednesday, I had the pleasure to sit down for an interview with Jeff Durm, co-owner of Buck Creek Winery. Jeff owns Buck Creek along with his wife Kelly and mother-in-law Josette. In the four vintages Buck Creek has produced, they have won numerous awards, including four gold medals at this year’s Indy Wine Festival, not to mention numerous silvers and bronzes. I’ve discussed before how friendly these folks are, but Jeff was gracious enough to give forty-five minutes of his time to an internet blogger to discuss Indiana wines, for which I am grateful. Even better for him, his winery is doing such great things that mere word of mouth is bringing people in, and he needs no help from me. For my tasting notes from Buck Creek, please click here.

When I sat down with Jeff, Josette watched the counter in case someone came in. She also added a few words when she needed to. I also had the pleasure of speaking with her a little afterwards, and wish we could have talked more. A delightful lady, who reminds me of a stereotypical kindly grandmother with the heart of gold.

Here are the highlights of our interview:

Can you tell us what you did before you entered the wine business?

I was a police officer with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department for twenty-three years. My wife, who is co-owner, was also a Lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Department. My mother-in-law is co-owner as well.

So you used your pension to fund the winery?

Exactly. I wanted to wait-we planted our vineyard 18 years ago. We could have started our winery earlier, but I wanted to get a pension so that if we didn’t sell any wine, or if no one liked our wine, then I would still be able to put our kids through school and survive.

How many children do you have?

I have two boys, one is 18 and one is 14.

What led you to winemaking?

(Laughs.) Um, there is my wife’s version and there is my version. My wife’s version is that she bought me a winemaking kit twenty years ago and then molded me out a lump of clay to be the man that I am today.

My story is that my relatives were farmers in the Elwood, Indiana area. I always liked going up there, visiting the farm, as a kid, and I thought, boy, it would be neat to have some land and a pole barn and a couple of cats running around. We don’t have the cats but we have the pole barn now.

Based on what I have seen, winemakers tend to be a pretty collegial bunch, but it seems to be even more so in Indiana. What kind of support did you receive when you said you wanted to start a winery?

Oh, yeah. I basically went to all of the wineries and talked to the winemakers. I went to Château Thomas part-time. Actually when I went in there, they said they weren’t hiring. I said I wanted to learn how to make wine and work for them, and they gave me a look, like “that’s very nice.” But then I said, “I’ll work for free.” And they said, “You’re hired.” And that is when I started my internship. I worked there a couple of days a week, whenever they needed me. They would give me some bottles and corks, maybe some juice, ten gallons or so whenever it came in. I learned a lot about the tanks, pumps and barrels and running some tests. Just the little things that really helped me out.

In the wine industry in Indiana, everybody is extremely helpful. I could name twenty names of people who’ve helped me. I’ve bought stainless steel tanks from Ted Huber at Huber’s. I bought a really nice older press from Bill Oliver, who is extremely helpful. In fact, we still buy juice every once in a while. He buys it by the tanker load and brings it in, and we buy 500 gallons of it every once in a while. Things that we can’t get with our connections now. Dave Schrodt from Brown County has helped tremendously when I’ve had questions. With all of the guys, there’s really not what I call competition with each other. We try to help each other out, and I try to help out the new guys if I can. I’ve got a guy working for me now, part-time, who wants to start a winery on the west side. (Laughs.) For some reason I’ve got to pay him. I don’t get the same internship with him. But he gets to watch me, and the mistakes that I’ve made, he won’t make. So, it is an industry where we do help each other out a lot.

Starting out, what mistake did you make that you would tell an aspiring winemaker never to make?

As far as the vineyard, my goal was to try twelve or fourteen varieties on four acres of land instead of concentrating on four or five varieties. What happens is you end up with a hundred vines of this and a hundred vines of that. The situation we were in, a winery doesn’t want to buy a quarter ton of grapes, they want a minimum of a ton of grapes. Otherwise, it’s not worth it to fire up their press. I would say concentrate on a smaller number of varietals.

There’s a lot of money involved in the wine business. Go into it knowing you are eventually going to spend a pretty substantial amount of money to get it going. So be prepared for that.

How many acres do you have out here?

We have four and a half acres of vines, and we have twelve acres of property here. My mother-in-law and father-in-law and my wife and I together own twelve acres. My mother-in-law is part owner, and my father-in-law helps out and is a great help.

And you also source your grapes?

About 25% of our wines are made from our vineyard. A little over 50% of the wine we make is from Indiana fruit. We do buy apple cider from Peru, Indiana. The remaining 48% or so comes from California vineyards and the Finger Lakes in New York. So we are a nice 50/50 blend of Indiana versus the rest of the country.

What varieties do you have in your vineyard?

We have fourteen. We have Stueben, Concord, Catawba, Chancellor, Chambourcin, Seyval Blanc, Traminette, Cayuga White, Vidal Blanc, and Chardonelle. We have two varieties that were just named; they were test varieties with Cornell’s Geneva Test Station. For years they had numbers. We planted them about sixteen years ago, and they now have names. They are Noiret and Corot Noir. {Me: For more on these varieties, check out this article.} We also have Cabernet Franc, which is actually the first vinifera we’ve ever had. It’s a test plot of fifty of those vines. We are going to blend that in with our dry reds. We are hoping we can grow some good vinifera here as well, but we will see.

{Me: I miscounted and told Jeff he had named fourteen varieties. I will edit the article if I can find out what the other variety is.}

You’ve discussed this a little bit, but tell me about the evolution of the vineyards and your future plans for them.

We started eighteen years ago with an acre and a half. We’ve planted a half-acre here and a half-acre here every few years, and we are now at four and a half acres. We may have a few more varieties, but just being myself, my sons, and my family, we don’t want to get too much bigger. What we are trying to do is create a really good relationship with some vineyards around the state and in California and New York so we can get quality fruit. It’s great to grow it but there is a point where it gets to be a little too much. So I think that right in that five acre range is about where we want to be.

How many cases do you produce a year?

Last year we produced 10,000 gallons, this year we produced 12,000 gallons, so around the 4,000 case range.

So you are expanding by around 20% a year?

It’s been a bigger jump than that, since we’ve only been open 2 ½ years. We started out with 1850 gallons our first vintage, and this is our forth vintage. You actually have to have a vintage before you can open the winery. The second year we did 6800 gallons. Last year, 10,000. This year, 12,000.

Do you have any estimates about your plans for next year?

I’m not really sure with this economy. We definitely plan on growing. In the back of the building, in our production area, we plan on adding about 1600 square feet. Hopefully next fall or in the year after that, we can add on to the front of the building, increase our tasting room. We want an oak tasting bar like we have now, but we want a 360º tasting room, and have tables that go down the sides of the room for at least 50 people to seat for events, and maybe a fireplace on the far end.

So keeping the same shell?

Yes, just moving forwards and backwards. We will be putting a loading dock on the back of the building so it will be easier for the limited amount of semis we have that bring in glass and such. We are in the process right now of building a 20x30 shelter, with a cedar roof and the 10x10 oak beams and a colored concrete floor. We will have a patio on the backside to have tables and chairs. That is what we are trying to complete before Christmas, slowly but surely.

What are the advantages Indiana has for growing grapes?

As far as climate, I don’t know that there are any great advantages. There are advantages and disadvantages. There tend to be higher acid wines here, but in California, because they have so much heat and solar hours, it depletes the acids so the wines are flabbier. They are a lot more maybe richer in some respects, but you also lose some of that acidity. So the sweeter wines we have here really match well with the acids. That is why a lot more sweeter wines are produced in this area of the country.

One the advantages we have is that we don’t have 600 wineries, just 35, so there is not that competition I spoke of earlier. It’s not a physical advantage, but surely it helps us.

What about the challenges you face every year growing the grapes?

Our challenge is that this is a family run business. There are only so much of us to go around. We are at that point where we need to look at finding quality people to help us. Trying to find the income to hire some extra people to delegate some of the jobs that I have. Our demand is up this year over last year, but our physical limitations make it really tough. Harvest was really tough this year, but we got it done. 12,000 gallons is a lot of wine to make with just a couple of people. But as we grow, we will be able to have some good people help us.

Besides what you have already mentioned, where do you see the winery at in a year?

I just want a steady growth, more room in the manufacturing area, and more space would be extremely helpful. The one thing we are really lacking is a space for people to come in groups and a facility for people to have events here. Bridal showers or events like that. Our wines are really good; we just need the space to accommodate more functions.

What about in the space of 5-10 years, do you see any future expansions?

In the space of 5-10 years, what I would love to do is to get my kids involved. My oldest son is going to Purdue next year to study business and food science. We are going to try to fashion a degree in those areas, because the enology department is part of the food science department. I would love to see them come in and help and maybe one day have the desire to take over eventually. We want to keep making good wines and remain a family business.

What do you see as the trends in Indiana wine?

I think the trend we will see will be more away from the sweeter wines and to the semi-dry to drier wines. That will come because everything moves from the West and East to the middle of the country, and as palettes evolve, they’ll like the drier wines. I think now we are around 75% sweeter wines, and I think over the next ten years that will shift more towards the 50/50 range.

I noticed that compared to a lot of other Indiana wineries, sweeter wines don’t make up as high a percentage on your list. Is that personal preference?

My preference is to make what people like. There are a few winemakers in Indiana that I have a lot of respect for, and they believe in making wines that they like, and that is pretty much their goal. If people like their wines, great, but if people don’t like their wines, then, so sorry. My goal is to make wines that people enjoy, and we will evolve as people’s palettes evolve. We will be able to gauge that. We are coming out with more and more drier wines, and it takes time to be able to source vineyards that produce quality grapes for dry wines, and we are doing that.

Do you think fruit wines will continue to play such a prominent place on Indiana wine lists?

There will always be a spot for fruit wines. I think that what we will do is eliminate the ones that don’t sell as well and have one or two that are really our standards. Our blackberry has been a great seller. Our red raspberry apple, which we mull this time of year, has been a great seller. I think those two we will always have, and others will evolve.

Any new wines on the horizon?

We made Merlot a couple of years ago and sold out very quickly. We didn’t make it last year, and I regret that, because we had a lot of people come in for Merlot. In this harvest, we brought more Merlot grapes from two different vineyards that we are going to blend together. I think it will be really good.

We are also coming out with a rhubarb wine that is on the sweeter end. That is a big seller at several of the Indiana wineries, and after tasting it at some of those, it has a very interesting flavor and mouth feel that I think will be enjoyable. That will be introduced in the next couple of months. I am really happy with our Traminette. We just started making it last year. That is a Gewürztraminer hybrid, cross between that and Seyval Blanc. I think that is a really good grape to grow in our vineyard and other Indiana vineyards. The Traminette we have now is a blend from three other vineyards. It’s from Oliver’s Creekbend vineyard, we bought some juice from them, from our vineyard, and there is a beautiful little vineyard in Lafayette that we bought grapes from as well. I think it grow well all across the state. It is probably one of the top two white grapes for this part of the country.

If climate wasn’t an issue, which varietals would you dream of growing?

Oh, I would love to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Chardonnay of course. I would love to be able to grow a Bordeaux blend here, but it’s not happening. Down in Southern Indiana, Huber does a good job of growing some of the viniferas, but it is very questionable here. But as I told people before, this is where I was born and raised, and this is where I am going to make my stand. That’s just the way it is.

Do you keep track of what percentage of your sales come from inside the state or are local?

I would say 99.8% comes from inside the state. There are only a few states we ship to. We ship very little wine at all.

Is that mainly due to the shipping laws?

Shipping laws are the primary reason, but people also like to visit wineries and buy while they are there. We don’t get that many requests, and quite honestly, we just kind of try to stay away from it [shipping] if we can. We can barely keep up with the sales we have now. People ask us about retail and where we sell our wines. We just sell what we can out of here. We run out of wines all the time, so there is no reason to go through a wholesaler and do that at this point. Now, as we grow, that will change.

Do you see any relief in sight from the shipping laws as they currently stand?

I don’t know. I surely hope we get some relief, but with lobbying and all that, and all the money that is poured into the industry, it is just going to be a mess for years to come. I just hope the laws don’t get worse.

What are your thoughts on sampling fees?

That’s an interesting point. I’m the President of the Indy Wine Trail. We just had a meeting a week ago and there was talk of whether we should implement some tasting fees. One of the wineries, Chateau Thomas, does charge a fee, I think, after four or five tastes. My opinion is that we should not be the first wine trail in Indiana to charge fees. There are a couple of wineries in the state that charge fees, but I just think we should not be the first to go down that road, because there will be some resistance. Now in Ohio, it is the law that you have to charge a fee. It is a token fee, but you have to charge some fee, you just can’t give wine away.

I just think it is the perfect fit to be able to come to here or any other of the Indiana wineries, taste the wine, and see what you like. When you go to the store and see a pretty kangaroo on a label, take it home and you can’t drink it, then you are not doing yourself a service. I think the atmosphere, being able to go back and check out the tanks, get a tour if people want to see, and being able to see how we make the wine- I think being able to taste the wines, and buy what you like is a big part of our success. It is a perfect fit for our industry.

Are there any future plans or hopes for a distillery?

I don’t think so. Now, my son, if he takes over in ten years, that might be something that he would want to do. There is only one distillery in the state right now, and that’s Huber’s.

Do you think distilleries will continue to expand in Indiana?

I think so. There will be several more come in the future, but we are happy where we are at.

Any thoughts or plans for organic wines?

No. Not that I wouldn’t love to, and we’ve had a lot of requests for it, but the things you have to do to make wine organically make it tough to make a quality wine that is going to last.

Who designed your labels?

That is an artist from Brown County by the name of Bill Zimmerman, pretty famous nature artist. He did some Oliver labels, and we contacted him probably twelve years ago, long before we had the winery. We knew we wanted to do the winery, and he actually painted a picture the size of our label. We didn’t think of it at the time, but the animal, our buck, has been a good fit for us, and he did a great job for us on that label.

Any inspiration for the label besides the fact you are next to Buck Creek?

We had originally thought-there were two names that were finalists. One was William Lloyd Cellars. William and Lloyd are actually my son’s middle names, but as we thought about it, it just seemed like it was somewhat pretentious. And then it was Buck Creek, and we thought there is Buck Creek Playhouse, Buck Creek Nursery, we sit on Buck Creek, and a big part of our business is going to be local.

People will come to us as opposed to going to Oliver or somewhere distant with gas prices and whatever. If we make good wines and we are nice to people, and we treat them well, our business will grow. In fact, I watched an interview on one of the FYI stations, and they were interviewing Magic Johnson. He owns 130 or so Starbucks and movie theatres in LA and the Bronx. His one comment was “you just have to treat people the way they need to be treated, and with a good open heart.” I thought that was very interesting, because that is our business model as well. Treat people like they’re family every day. My mother-in-law treats people a little better than I do though (Laughs).

Who maintains your website?

My father-in-law and Jason Sisk. He was the webmaster at IUPUI for several years and now he is out on his own. He does a great job.

How important is your website to your overall business plan?

I think it’s real important. We have people in all the time that state it was the website that brought them to us. I am not very web savvy, but my father-in-law is very good at that, and he makes sure we maintain that the proper way. I think our website needs a little improvement, but it’s doing very well.

Josette: We communicate with people through our website. They always want to know when certain wines come out, and we just tell them to keep an eye on the website. When we run out of wine, we let them know. When we have something new, we let them know. It’s updated whenever it needs to be.

Me: I hoped you enjoyed this long interview. I also had the pleasure of speaking with the pair for a few minutes afterwards. I do have to relate that Josette, right as I was leaving, leaned in close to me, and said, “You know, we get people in here from California every once in a while a little skeptical about our wines. They leave here loving our wines and our atmosphere.”

Of that, I have no doubt.

Tasting Notes: Buck Creek Winery

2008-11-19T19:01:00.012-06:00

I sat down this evening for an interview with Jeff Durm, co-owner of Buck Creek Winery. We discussed a variety of topics concerning Buck Creek and Indiana Wines. I will bring you that interview later this week.

In the meantime, I have organized my tasting notes from my visit Saturday to Buck Creek. When KeeKee and I arrived, the place was packed. The tasting room is not the largest, but there are plans to remedy that situation, details of which will be forthcoming. We simply walked around for a little bit and looked at the wine related merchandise they offer for sale and did a little conversation dipping to see how the staff interacts with the customers.

The staff is friendly, certainly one of the friendliest I have encountered in a winery. There was an older gentleman behind the counter at first, whom I later learned was Dick Randolph. He was soon joined by Jeff and Kelly Durm. One server did not stick with certain tasters-they moved amongst everyone and seemed to have great chemistry together. They were insistent on trying certain vintages, but they were never pushy. It was obvious there was great pride in the product. If they thought it odd that I was taking notes of what they were telling me, they didn't show it.

KeeKee and I mostly agreed on the wines, and even though we were in a different mood that day (I wanted semi-dry whites, she wanted dry reds), we went far down the scale, tasting several wines.

Our recommendations:

Syrah-described as "a full bodied wine with ripe berry aromas and chocolate overtones. Finishes with raspberry, black pepper, and spice."

Accurate description except neither of us could taste any chocolate overtones. The others were there in abundance, especially the black pepper. I also noted "light coffee, maybe leather" on my sheet. Finish just a little harsh, but this would disappear if drank with food or perhaps some aging. Kelly did not have to tell us this wine is great with steak-the pepper flavor begs for it. Thanks to this wine, I still can't get my mind off of steak. $17.95

Cabernet Sauvignon-sheet said "a rich full bodied dry red was aged in American oak barrels." Kelly said it was bottled 10 days prior. It's youth was evident, but it also showed great promise. Smoother than the Syrah, and no detectable aftertaste. They recommended a month more in the bottle, but I would like to cellar it for a year. Great potential, one of the best young Indiana reds I have tasted, especially at this price. Expect several medals hanging on this bottle this time next year. $18.95

Forget Me Not-"Spicy white Alsatian style wine made from Traminette grape has a lovely floral aroma with honey, apple, and grapefruit flavors." Jeff said some of the Tram comes from the estate, the rest from Indiana sources. It was a touch drier than I prefer my Trams, but your mileage may vary. I wrote "mellow" on my tasting sheet. The grapefruit was evident, and to a lesser extent the apple. A fine semi-dry white, but I preferred the reds. $13.50

Der Champion-"A Riesling white wine which has wonderful grapefruit aromas, with melon and ripe peach flavors." I figured with the last name Durm, I should get some good Riesling here, and I was not disappointed. My favorite taste of the day, and you just read my rave for the Cab. Everything the description said, especially the melon flavors, which were soft and ripe. I also noted rose and pear. $13.50

Trilogy-"A blend of three native American grapes. Steuben, Concord, and Catawba make this sweet wine full of ripe berry flavors, with a wonderful floral aroma." Jeff told me that this wine is 70% Steuben, and 15% equal parts Concord and Catawba. A great wine for by the pool. Sweet, but not cloying. A good way to finish the tasting session. $11.50

We tasted a few more, but I am limiting my review to five. Between us we bought six bottles, and I would have bought more but I made a vow to cut back until my wine rack clears up a little.
A very impressive selection from a very young vineyard. As my interview will note, the crowd I saw Saturday arrived via highway traffic, word of mouth, and the net, since Buck Creek has no outside retail sales. This winery is one to watch.

Image from Buck Creek Winery website.

Review: Sky Dog Red

2008-11-18T18:20:00.012-06:00

Ah, what might have been.

As I mentioned earlier, I was in a grocery store this weekend when I saw Oliver's Sky Dog Wine on sale for $5. Having heard these discussed in the media and amongst friends, I decided to take advantage of this low price to see what King of Indiana Wineries is up to now. For the first time in over two years, an Indiana wine truly disappointed me.

Sky Dog is supposed to be Oliver's attempt to create a low-priced entry-level wine for the 21 to 35 year old demographic.

The article also claims that younger wine drinkers are increasingly sophisticated and seeking wine adventures. I agree, but Sky Dog is not the wine to provide either.

Most of us remember our first taste of wine, and the memory often is not a pleasant one. Odds are the bottle was an inexpensive white (or, less likely, a red), probably drank at a wedding with a free wine bar. The "pucker effect" was instantanous, as the basalmic bitterness overwhelmed every nuance those grapes probably never had to begin with. If you were like me, you struggled through it anyway, because you were younger and poorer, and it was free. However, the odds were good you avoided wine for quite some time after.

There is not much to be said for this wine. It is a blend of Merlot and Zinfandel, with a touch of Concord. It is bitter and sharp, with no undertones except the Concord finish that wants to get out but is prevented from doing so by the overwhelming acidity of the initial taste. The website speaks of its "soft acidity" but there is nothing soft about this wine. The taste does not improve with a slight chill and it becomes even sharper the second day. The taste reminds me of Mad Dog 20/20. I want to make clear how sad typing that last sentence made me.

Oliver is the leader in sales in Indiana for three reasons. One, it's head start as Indiana's first winery gives it experience and wisdom. Two, the labels and marketing of the bottles are first rate. Finally, it appeals to the masses and connoisseurs alike with a wide variety of wines. At every station along the sweetness continuum, Oliver has a wine, and most of them are at least above average.

I want to be clear: Sky Dog winery is a noble experiment. However, is it necessary? IU students already make a regular pilgrimage to Oliver's once they reach legal drinking age. When I was in law school, Oliver had its fair share of devotees. It still does among my age bracket and colleagues. There are plenty of wines on their list, both sweet and dry, to appeal to the taste of younger drinkers. I agree, price may be a problem, particulary among drier wines. But what happens when that dry wine your brand puts out as "entry-level" is exactly the type of wine that often turns people away from not only dry wines but wine period?

I find it telling that the name Oliver appears nowhere on the bottle. Speaking of the bottle, the mascot is the best part of the wine, but I must confess it reminds me when the tobacco companies were sued for enticing children to smoke via their cute mascots.

On the bright side, Oliver takes delight in winning over critics, and never resting on their laurels. This is why it is now Indiana's only regional winery. Will it improve Sky Dog as well? Let's hope, or we may chalk this one up to good intentions gone awry.

Coming up this week

2008-11-16T19:30:00.003-06:00

Winter has seemingly come early to Indiana. It was the perfect weekend to put a hot pot of something on the stove, and bundle up with a hot plate, a good book, and a great glass of wine. I managed to do two of those three, but work commitments meant I couldn't get around to reading a book this weekend.

Saturday, KeeKee and I did manage to visit Buck Creek Winery. The staff was very friendly, in fact, one of the friendliest I have encountered in a winery. I will write more on my tasting notes when I get a chance. I have also made arrangements with owner Jeff Durm for a tentative interview. If my paying job doesn't preclude it, I hope to do that this week.

I also have a few things to follow up on from my upcoming topics feature from last week and will hopefully find the time to manage that as well.

Finally, I was shopping for groceries last night and noticed a bottle of Oliver's Sky Dog wine on sale for $5. Having heard a little bit about this wine from others, I decided to spend the minimal amount to taste the brand for myself. I ended up trying the red variety, and will give a short report on that wine as well.

Until then, enjoy the rest of your week!

Review: Windy Knoll Peach

2008-11-14T20:15:00.012-06:00

I have been drinking Windy Knoll's Peach Wine for the last few days. Windy Knoll, just outside of Vincennes on Highway 50, makes a wide variety of wines, but does trend towards the sweeter and fruit varieties.

Before getting to the review, I would note the wine pictured is not Windy Knoll's peach, but their Cayuga. They have no mention of their Peach Wine on their website, probably due to the fact that it appears the website hasn't been updated since 2005! A wretched business decision that does great disservice to what is otherwise a fine winery with an owner who seems to take delight in introducing wine lovers to his creations. I will certainly discuss this winery more in the future.

The color of the wine is vibrant, that of a luminous wheat. I noted no sediment in any glass I poured.

The bouquet was strong-almost overpowering in it headiness. The smell of peaches overwhelmed me, so much so that I could not pick up any other notes. And make no mistake, it is the smell of tree-ripened peaches that hits you. There is no confusing this with any other fruit wine. While this may seem self-evident, not all fruit wines have such clarity of purpose. But that can be both a blessing and a curse.

Upon first taste, I realized I had left this wine in the fridge too long-it bit back more that it should have. This is not a wine to leave in the fridge, pull out when wanted, and drink immediately.

After fifteen minutes, a second taste was much improved. Upon that taste, again, no mistaking this for anything other than a peach wine. This is not a subtle wine, the only flavors I could taste in this wine were peaches and the nuances of cinnamon that become somewhat more evident when the wine warms. The sweetness was strong, but not too cloying for one who likes fruit wines.

The finish was lasting, the sweetness lingered on the lips and could be remembered for some time, and was not unpleasant.

Other than that, my impression of this wine on it's first night was pretty bland. Just fine as far a peach wine goes, but nothing spectacular. Eric, who prefers somewhat drier wines, took a sip, and his reaction was short, "That's really sweet and really strong!" He did not ask for a glass.

On the second night, this wine took on an unexpected metamorphosis. The bouquet is not nearly so pronounced, in fact, you have to strain to really get a nose on it. When one does, you can smell fruit blossoms, though I won't go so far as to identify the blossoms as peach.

The sweetness and sharpness in the taste has mellowed and is much more appropriate. The wine has taken on a heavy, almost mead-like quality on the tongue, and the finish is much smoother to savor. It still is undeniably peach wine, but also begins to resemble Traminette.

I was much happier with this wine after the second night. On the first night the wine IS dessert, on the second night, it could simply be drank with dessert.

I would even cook with this wine, and can picture now a recipe for a peach mango reduction to top some high-quality vanilla ice cream.

An above average peach wine. Let's see if Windy Knoll can build on the foundation of this wine and bring some nuances to future vintages.

A Taste of What's to Come

2008-11-11T10:32:00.004-06:00

As you can see, things are coming along here. I am slowly adding links and essential blogs. Slowly, because I don't want to do much rearranging if I change my mind on the layout. I'll share a little about some of my favorite wine blogs later, but rest assured, the blogs that you see now are excellent choices if you are looking for some great reading about wine.

But who wants to just read about wine? I don't. So I need to plan my first winery visit as blogmaster. I would like to do so this weekend, but am not sure if my trial calendar will allow it. I should know by Thursday. It will also depend if I can cajole a friend or two into joining me.

Future topics have also been circulating in my head. Among them:

Are certain wines a benchmark for overall quality?

State wineries always seem to have one mandatory fruit wine they MUST have on their wine list. You can't go to a Michigan winery without being offered a sample of their cherry wine made from local fruit. I have tasted over a dozen, and my favorite, in fact one of the few I actually enjoyed, came from the father of a very famous pop star.

In Indiana, the fruit of choice seems to be blackberry. While evaluations of one particular type or varietal only gives you a narrow view of a winery's overall range and quality, I find that a winery's blackberry wine can serve as an useful benchmark to determine indicators of note for the rest of the wine list. If a winery’s blackberry is bland, the other offerings tend not to be robust. If the blackberry is cloying, it might be a bad omen for those who dislike sugar bombs. Over the course of my winery visits, I will be looking closely at Indiana blackberry wines to see if my hypothesis is correct. It may not be-but I am always willing to try.

Similarly, certain regions are known mainly for one or two grape varietals. Think Ontario and Eiswein or the Finger Lakes and Riesling. Does Indiana have a varietal that stands out yet? Why not? Will it? I will also turn over some thoughts to what grape varietals to use for the same benchmark.

Sampling fees-Are they on the horizon?

We have been pretty lucky when we visit wineries in Indiana. I can't remember paying a sampling fee at any Hoosier Winery except for New Day Meadery, but that is understandable given their specialized product and limited availability. Contrast this to Ohio, which actually legislates a mandatory sampling fee.

But are sampling fees coming to Indiana? I have heard rumors they might be coming to certain wineries. This rumor makes sense; wineries in other states have instituted sampling fees once they felt their popularity would allow them. I'll talk about sampling fees, their future, and also discuss with vintner's their thoughts on them.

The Sympathy Bottle

Who hasn't visited a winery, found nothing to their liking (or in a few instances, anything palatable), but come out of the store with a bottle anyway? Was the owner pouring for you and making sad eyes? Was the person serving you just so nice and knowledgeable that you felt compelled to buy? Is it because you got to sample several varieties for free? Or was there some other reason?

And then, what did you do with the bottle when you got home? Gift? Dinner party? Space-filler on the wine rack? I'll discuss sympathy bottle stories and encourage you to tell your own.

Are More Distilleries in Indiana's Future?

Besides Huber's Starlight Distillery, no winery in Indiana (to my knowledge) has announced plans to form a sister distillery. Will this change? Is the industry in this state simply not mature enough yet? I'll discuss the future of distilleries in Indiana with various vintners.

Seasonal favorites

What else should we discuss this time of year? What Indiana wines will go perfectly with your holiday meal or dessert? I'll give a few selections next week.

Mulled Wines

Another seasonal topic and a niche that seems to grow every year. What's the latest in mulled wines?

Kapp Winery, Where are You!

2008-11-09T15:27:00.003-06:00

I don't mean for my first post about a specific winery to be negative, but here it goes.

I was putting the links for Indiana Wineries together so I could add them to the blog. You will find them on the right. I pulled them from the Indiana Wines website, which you will also find in a link to the right.

Creating this list made me even more excited about this blog. It brought back some memories of past visits, brought me up to date on what I have been missing, and gave me some ideas on where to visit soon.

It also let me know who pays attention to their website through regular updates, and who doesn't put much thought into the whole picture. I would also note that if your website has music that scares my sleeping cat, you might want to reconsider the tune.

I was also thrilled to note that every winery also had a website. Well, except one. Kapp Winery in Jasper is the sole exception. Looking at the awards they have won, they seem to be successful at making some interesting varieties of fruit and grape wine (any winery brave enough to try persimmon wine grabs my interest and is almost enough to guarantee a future visit). So why no website? Are the owners not Internet savvy? Surely the owners have a young relative who can whip up a decent site in short order?

Not wanting to leave question marks in the air, I called the Kapp Winery. I kept my questions brief because the owner had some customers tasting. I believe that those at a counter should receive precedence over those who call a business. The owner stated a website is under consideration, but the only employees are her and her husband, and it is just not feasible right now. She said that the winery will be closing after Christmas until April, and they will try to work on it then. She did seem surprised when I pointed out Kapp is the only Indiana Winery with no website.

The answers were not a surprise to me, but I have to ask are they acceptable in 2008? Kapp has been winning awards since 2003. Websites are not difficult to start nor particularly expensive. And the wine industry in particular has been able to take advantage of the Internet to increase knowledge and sales. The only excuse I find acceptable is that Kapp is not interested in building their business-they only want to make wine. I find that difficult to believe.

I have also put in an email to Indiana Wine Grapes Council, asking if they provide website start up support. I will report back when I get a response.

I mentioned in my welcome post that one of the items I would be discussing is the websites of wineries and whether they enhance or detract from the winery's image. Much worse than having a poorly designed or never update website is having none at all.

Welcome!

2008-11-09T13:24:00.002-06:00

Why this blog?

First, there isn't a place on the web devoted to Indiana Wines. If there is, I haven't found it. By "devoted to Indiana Wines," I mean a place where people can discuss impartially the pros and cons of Indiana Wines, not simply a place such as the Indiana Wine Grape Council. The IWGC, while great for tourist information and a great resource for wineries, is not going to give you impartial information about what to seek out and what to avoid.

And that absence is a shame. Because I think Indiana is making great strides in viticulture and vinification. Are we at Napa's level yet? No, and there is a great argument to be made that we shouldn't try to be. Are we better off than we were ten, five, or even one year ago? I say yes.

Here is what I promise with this blog:

I will try to post two to three times a week.

I'll post about wine events that I attend or become aware of. If you know of an event, please let me know, and I will be happy to publish it.

I'll review wines and wineries in Indiana. I might even review a bed and breakfast or restaurant if I combine it with a winery visit.

I'll occasionally review wine books.

I'll try to visit every winery in Indiana. I have already been to many, but I don't want to leave others out. I don't know how long this will take, and if you are a vintner and think you are being ignored, don't hesitate to let me know!

I'll discuss (usually as part of my visit) the website of a winery and whether it helps or hinders the winery.

While Indiana Wines will be my focus, I will occasionally discuss wines from neighboring states. It would seem a shame to ignore the great things Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky are doing in wine, especially since many Hoosiers will be much closer to some of these wineries than many Indiana Wineries. If I am in their neck of the woods, I will probably give a shout out.

I am a lawyer by trade, and will post about trends in the law regarding wine and wineries. Obviously, shipping is the big issue right now in the wine legal world, so expect some discussions about that. However, I freely admit that business is not my area of practice. Don't expect a learned treatise from me. In fact, I may simply refer you to the wonderful Indiana Law Blog, which has covered wine shipping laws in an excellent manner since this issue came to the forefront.

What one shouldn't expect from me:

I am not going to be a cheerleader for Indiana Wines. I enjoy them, and many of them are great. But some are also not good, to put it lightly. Some varietals have no business being grown in Indiana. Some vintages are unworthy of adulation. I will be impartial in my reviews. However, I will strive to be respectful and appreciative of the efforts put into the wine.

I don't like point systems. I understand their value, but I believe they over simply the appreciation of wine. A wine can be so much more, or even so much less, than their total numeric score. I also think that giving numeric scores can mean giving huge preference to a one point difference in score. For example, Wine Spectator gives one wine that sells for $15 eight-nine points. It gives another that sells for $30 ninety points. What happens? The wine that sells for twice the price outsells the wine that, probably, is in fact the better value. I am not the only one who thinks this is dangerous thinking, and there is even a blog devoted to this very subject.

Therefore, I won't be giving out points, thumbs, grades, stars, or any other similar scale. I will share my thoughts and let the reader draw their own conclusions. It will usually be pretty easy to discern my thoughts.

About me:

I am not a likely person to create this blog. There are many who are more knowledgeable about wine than me. I consider myself pretty wine savvy, and I will do my best to continue to educate myself and others. Isn't that part of the fun?

I don't plan on revealing my identity, but I don't plan on hiding it either. You could have already gleaned a few clues about me from this post alone. If you do figure out who I might be, congrats! I don't plan on writing anything on this blog that I am ashamed of or won't stand behind.

I will note that I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in any winery

My wine palate is pretty diversified, though I freely admit I am not one for bone dry reds. I am lucky enough to have plenty of friends who like these varietals, and I may ask them to give their thoughts in a review of those wines.

So, pour yourself a glass of your favorite Hoosier Wine, sit back, and enjoy! There will be a lot of housekeeping going on to get this blog up and running, and I ask for your patience.