Tasting Notes: Wilsons Winery

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.