Indiana Wines Improving, Still Room to Grow

Ignoring hard rain in Central Indiana and a Saturday morning two-hour drive, off I set for Story, In. Saturday morning and the 10th Indiana Wine Fair.

Fortunately, the rain ended nearing the small Brown County town nestled in a valley southeast of Nashville. So I knocked out a video interview as guest of Ole Olson, dean of Indiana wine writers, for his Hoosier Wine Cellar Blog which runs in Bloomington and other Southern Ind. papers. I'll note here on the blog when that interview goes up.

Then it was off to taste some wines. I pretty much decided to stick with whites and Rose' wines and avoid the reds. There are a few good dry red wines made in Indiana, usually blends, but when Hoosier winemakers try to bottle a 100 percent Cabernet they aren't doing themselves or other winemakers any favors.

Jim Pfeiffer of Turtle Run Winery.

The state has two wine fairs each year, the other is Vintage Indiana in Indy, but the Story Wine Fair has grown to be a big event. The rain all over the state didn't keep the vino fans away from the Story Inn grounds. The mob wasn't as big as I remember during my last visit but the crowds were good (as you can see from the photo at the top).

Okay, to the wine. The Wine Fair has a judging competition on Thursday each year before Saturday's event. I went straight to Huber Winery's stand under one of several tents to try the Catawba semi-sweet Rose ($11.99). It was the rated the top wine by a panel of independent judges.

I'm a big Huber fan and the wine didn't disappoint. The judges rated it 98 points on a 100 point scale. The wine had a nice tart and fruity flavor, perhaps a tad sweet on the palate for some but not a sweet wine as compared to many other wines on the festival grounds.

Ted Huber knows how to make wine and he knows the Midwestern palate. This is great Rose for less-sophisticated tastes or new wine drinkers. I liked it, but it bordered almost too sweet for me but that's because of the Catawba grape. Catawba more frequently is used in sweet wines.

Huber wines are some of Indiana's best made. Huber's reds are consistently some of the best.

The second-place wine in the Blush (or Rose) category was Brown County's Vista Rose. It was similar to the Huber offering with a bit more pronounced fruit.

For my palate, neither of those Rose wines was the best I tasted. Just a couple of years ago Jim Butler won top honors at the Indianapolis International Wine Competition for his Chambourcin Rose. I tasted Butler Winery's most recent vintage and it's outstanding. It was dry Rose with lovely hints of cherry and delightfully tart. At $13.99, it's an outstanding Hoosier wine.

I tasted several whites I liked and several insipid offerings. Turtle Run's Jim Pfeiffer makes a $12 Dry Traminette that is one of the best wines made in Indiana. Everyone makes Traminette and almost everyone makes it sweet or semi-sweet. Not Jim! He also knocks out a crazy barrel-fermented Traminette that is just as good from the same grape and couldn't be more different because of the oak. You really have to try it.

All three Rose' wines I tasted prove Hoosiers can make great wine.

One of the day's biggest surprises was a Pinot Blanc from Chateau Pomjie, in southeastern Indiana. The $25 Pinot Blanc comes from estate grown Pinot Noir. The nice woman assured me they really grow the Pinot on their property. I've only had one white Pinot before and that came at the highly respected Domaine Serene in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Pomjie's Pinot Blanc showed promise. It was really nice and light wine with the distinctive Pinot flavor. The finish had a wee bit of funk but very promising wine.

I dislike trashing any winery's efforts but some things just shouldn't happen. Back to the aforementioned Cabernet. It's not going to work in Indiana. And why would you want to grow the stuff when consumers can pick up good $10-$14 Cabs from the grocery. Indiana can grow Chambourcin and other reds which can be made into great dry wines.

I read that the top-judged red was a Malbec. Hmmmm?? I went to the booth to see the tasting menu said Chilean Malbec. I asked about the source and a server told me they bought 'bagged juice" from Chili. Now ask yourself, do you want to drink anything called 'bagged juice?'

How the judges missed so badly on this wine is hard to figure out. Perhaps the bottle I tasted from was tainted. The wine was beyond bad it clearly had chemical issues.

I also tasted a Silver medal white that that had a lovely onto-on-the-palate light apricot to dissolve into an off-putting sour (not tart) finish.

Indiana wine has come a long way. Do not let one bad wine or winery skew your judgment against midwestern states' wines. Support the state industry! There are plenty of good ones and still plenty of bad ones. But do your homework and you can buy wonderful Indiana wines!


Here are the judges picks from the 2012 Indiana Wine Fair:

Dry Red - Gold: Harmony Winery, Malbec, NV (89 POINTS); Silver: Huber Winery, Heritage 2008; Bronze: Oliver Winery, Zinfandel 2009

Sweet Red - Gold: Best Vineyards, Concord NV 87 POINTS; Silver: Indian Creek Winery, "Cardinal Red" NV; Bronze: River City Winery, "Colonel's Legacy" NV

Blush - Gold: Huber Winery, Catawba NV (BEST OF SHOW, 98 POINTS); Silver: Brown County Winery, "Vista Rose" NV; Bronze: Monkey Hollow, "Pasture Limit" NV

Dry White - Gold: Huber Winery, Vignoles (88 POINTS); Silver: Cedar Creek Winery, "Butterfly Kiss" NV; Bronze: Turtle Run Winery, Traminette NV

Sweet White - Gold: Oliver Winery, Creekbend, Vignoles 2010 (88 POINTS); Silver: Best Vineyards, Catawba NV; Bronze: Buck Creek Winery, "Der Champion" NV

Dessert - Gold: Chateau Pomije, "Late Harvest" NV (86 POINTS); Silver: Huber Winery, Black Raspberry; Bronze: Cedar Creek, "Harvest Moon Cab" NV

Non-Traditional/Non-Grape - Gold: Winzerwald Winery "Cherry Red" (96 POINTS); Silver: River City Winery, "Market House Elderberry"; Bronze: Cedar Creek Winery, "Peach Paradise"

NV - Non-Vintage.

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Indiana Wine Fair This Weekend in Story

Live music, food, wine make for a big crowd and fun day in Story

You literally have to belly up to the bar to get a taste.

Regional and state wine fairs have become big events across the Midwest. Indiana wineries participate in two major wine fairs each year.

The first is the Indiana Wine Fair this weekend, 12:30-7 p.m., April 28, at Story, Indiana. Story is located in Brown County, east of Nashville. You can find directions and lots of information on the Indiana Wine Fair website.

I counted 26 Indiana wineries participating but there may be more. Admission is $20 and you get a souvenir wine glass from the historic Story Inn. For that $20, you can taste the wines of the Hoosier State. With a designated driver in tow, you can tastes as many as you like.

A lesson on learning to taste and spit is appropriate if you really want to sample a lot of wine.

I like these events. They're fun and exciting. The other big Indiana wine show is Vintage Indiana held each summer in downtown Indianapolis.

Don't miss Huber Winery, Butler, and Turtle Run. Several Hoosier winemakers have really stepped up the quality in recent years. These three wineries are consistent, quality-driven wineries. Also a note of caution on the same topic. Frankly, there are some wineries where the product just isn't up to par. Don't let one bad taste ruin the experience or make you think all Indiana wine is swill. Go visit the names you know or have heard of first, then go exploring.

Take time to visit the Inn. It has a fantastic restaurant.

For fairness sake, I'll share two warnings about Story. It's down a very winding state highway and there is limited parking onsite. The wine fair runs shuttles from Nashville that make things a bit easier. All of that information is on the website linked above.

It's been at least two or three years since I last attended this fair. It's crowded. I mean, it's really crowded. My best advice is to come early or late.

I intend on visiting this year and meeting up with lots of Indiana wine friends. It's a beautiful drive, great scenery, and a wonderful way to taste a lot of Indiana's ever-improving wines.

Just bring some patience with your smile!

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Great Weekend Indy Event, More on Calendar

I like writing occasionaly about great restaurants, food events, and festivals. Indiana, while perhaps not known as a cultural hotbed has more such fun events than many might expect.

Over the weekend the first-ever Indiana Artisan Marketplace was held at the state fairgrounds on Indianapolis' northside. The Indiana Artisan group is a juried group featuring traditional artists but also food and beverage artisans. You can check it out on the link above.

I had a great time Sunday with a friend. We had persimmon-based cookies, several great Indiana wines, fabulous chocolates, homemade noodles, Tell City prezels, fudge, soup mixes and more. And oh, the art was pretty cool too.

I took a few photos you can see here.

I got to thinking after Sunday's event that quite a few of these great shows are coming soon. So if you're a Hoosier, or going to be in Indiana - check these out.

Story Inn Indiana Wine Fair, April 30 - The historic Story Inn annually draws more than 20 Indiana wineries to pour their wines for this one day fest. If you haven't been to Story, it's worth the trip. It is quite an interesting drive into southern Brown County. I've attended this event a couple of times and really enjoy it. A note of caution though, on my last visit two years ago the size of the crowd was a bit overwhelming.

Broad Ripple Art Fair, May 21-22 - This is the first big outdoor art festival of the season in Central Indiana and a good one. It regularly features more than 200 artists along with plenty of food and music. The Broad Ripple Art Fair is sort of the kickoff to summer!

Vintage Indiana Wine Fest, June 4 - It's hard to believe this year will be the 12th Vintage Indiana fest in downtown Indy. I went to the first or second one ever held! I've had a work conflict the past few years which keeps me from attending. I'm hoping to get down before the festival closes out this year. There are approximately 25 Indiana wineries participating this year. It's a great chance to get a good taste of Indiana and appreciate the differences of the state's best vintners.

Talbot Street Art Fair, June 11-12 - Of the three big art fairs - Broad Ripple, Talbot Street, and Broad Ripple - this one if probably my favorite. Talbot Street runs north/south between 16th and 21st, as far as the art fair is concerned. It's just a bit more eclectic than all the others. Besides, it sits in an old, resotred residential neighborhood. And if you like people watching, nothing is better than a good art fest!

Penrod Arts Fair, Sept. 10 - In the words of the late sportscaster Keith Jackson 'this is the granddaddy of them all." First and foremost, the festival is held on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. And they seem to be one of the luckiest festivals I've ever attended. In 4-5 visits over the past few years, they always seem to have the most incredible luck for beautiful weather. Penrod is also the biggest show with more than 300 artists. I'm told it's also the toughest show to buy booth space. Folks attending Penrod seem to buy art!

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com