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December 2007 Featured Story
Over the river and through the woods,
Indiana’s wineries embody holiday cheer
 Indiana now has 34 wineries with 40 tasting rooms all around the state where visitors can sample locally-made vintages. Now’s a great times to visit them if you’re looking for the perfect special wine to serve with your holiday meal, a special gift for that wine lover on your Christmas list, or a festive way to celebrate the holidays or the gray days of winter with friends and family.
Dan Adams, right, holds a bottle of Winzerwald Winery’s “Schweizer Spice,” one of the two wines Winzerwald is bottling this holiday season in special Christmas tree-shaped bottles. The northern Perry County winery is served electrically by Southern Indiana REC.
 Special Christmas labels, left, featuring a dancing Santa Claus and Santa and Mrs. Claus under the mistletoe, adorn the holiday versions of French Lick Winery’s popular French Lick Red and French Lick White wines. The winery, situated midway between the grand French Lick Resort and the domed West Baden Springs Resort in a former Kimball Piano factory, features a tasting bar, gift shop and Italian restaurant. The winery’s vineyards are served electrically by Daviess-Martin County REMC.
Find holiday spirit at Indiana’s wineries this winter
’Twas two weeks before Thanksgiving, and at the French Lick Winery the Schuetz family was in a jovial mood. Adult sister and brother, Joy and Jarrett, and parents, Jerry and Joyce, had driven over from Washington to sample wines and dine at the winery’s Italian restaurant and shop for Christmas gifts.
Though located between the area’s two newly restored historic resorts, the splendiferous French Lick Springs and the wondrous West Baden Springs, the winery was their sole destination. In the winery’s gift shop, French Lick’s basic red and white table wines — bedecked with colorful illustrations of Santa and Mrs. Claus — especially caught their fancy. “They’ve already got the Christmas label on them,” said Joy, after they had purchased a case of the red and white wines. “I don’t have to wrap them. I can stick a bow on them and go.”
All around Indiana, the state’s 34 wineries will be serving up special labels, special vintages and special memories at their 40 tasting rooms this holiday season. Many offer unique gift items in their gift shops. Dining and banquet facilities are a part of some of the wineries as well.
Large and small, the wineries together have made Indiana a wonderland for wine lovers to wander. They embody more than just the varieties of handcrafted potables they bottle and cork. The wineries represent some of Indiana finest agritourism. And, they are entertainment venues offering folks the chance to venture into rural and small town Indiana, admire the vivid sunsets and starry night skies, and enjoy the spirit of the season with family and friends.
“People are festive and want to get out and enjoy Christmas,” said Jeanette Merritt, marketing director for the Indiana Wine Grape Council.
She said many of the winemakers release special wines this time of year, like mulled wines to be warmed in crock pots and served up in coffee mugs, or cranberry wine that can be paired nicely with turkey.
“We’ll start to see new wines or labels come out on wines they’ve already had,” said Merritt, a consumer of Miami-Cass REMC. And most all the tasting rooms, she noted, will be festive with Christmas lights, decorations and seasonal music.
Merritt said visiting a winery and talking with a winemaker is also a great way to learn more about wines, especially when it comes to planning wine for the Christmas dinner. At a large grocery store or a liquor store, she said, a person might come across hundreds of bottles. It’s hard to know what to choose. She noted the folks at the winery tasting bars are there to help. “In addition to getting all that pairing advice,” she said, “it’s just fun to visit the wineries at Christmastime.”
Christmas in the air
At one Indiana winery, Christmas is in the air year-round. The Winzerwald Winery, located on a hilltop overlooking rolling countryside and Interstate 64 in Perry County, uses a nutcracker in lederhosen on its bottles. The labels emphasize the German and Swiss-inspired wines produced by its winemakers and owners, husband and wife Dan and Donna Adams. Both have German winemakers in their family heritage.
Dan’s great-great-grandfather brought grapes with him when he immigrated to the United States from Germany in the 1860s. He settled on a farm near the Ohio River town of Tobinsport where the Adamses now live and grow grapes.
Dan grew up just down river from Tobinsport in Tell City, which was founded by Swiss and German immigrants and named after legendary Swiss hero William Tell. Donna grew up Beaver Dam, Wis., in the heart of Wisconsin’s German country.
The name Winzerwald is German for “winemaker of the forest,” since the winery sits on the fringes of the Hoosier National Forest.
The nutcracker, of course, is a centuries-old folkart that originated in the rural German forests. It has been forever linked to Christmas because of the ever-popular Christmastime fairy tale “The Nutcracker Ballet.” All around Winzerwald’s tasting room and small gift shop, a muster of nutcrackers of various sizes and styles stand at attention.
Dan and Donna, consumers of Southern Indiana REC, said they once were concerned about their label design when they opened the winery five years ago.
“We thought it was too Christmasy at first,” said Donna. “But we get people coming here year round because of the label.” She said they come back again because they like the wine behind the label.
 This holiday season, Winzerwald is selling two of its popular wines in special Christmas tree-shaped bottles to add to the festive feel of the wine inside each bottle. Their Glühwein, a red spiced wine designed to be served warm in mugs, comes in a clear tree-shaped bottle, and the Schweizer Spice, a sweet white designed to be served chilled, comes in a green tree-shaped bottle. The bottles are made in Germany.
Gary and Jeanne Schurz purchased six bottles of the Glühwein during a visit in mid-November. They were looking ahead to the holidays with their adult daughters who live in Chicago.
“When the kids come, Jeanne will have a little bit of it simmering in a pot with some cinnamon sticks,” said Gary. “It just smells like Christmas.”
Though they now live in southern Illinois, both Gary and Jeanne grew up in nearby Ferdinand. They visited Winzerwald with Jeanne’s mother, Mary Lou Fritz, a Dubois REC consumer. The couple lives near a wine trail in lllinois, and enjoy traveling to different wineries around the country. But, they said, they like the wine from southern Indiana.
“They have a good variety of wine. All the winemakers are very friendly people,” said Jeanne.
In the summer, she noted, many of the wineries also host festivals with live music. “It’s a great way to spend the weekend. You can get away from a lot of the day-to-day here. It’s very relaxing,” she said.
Happy holiday ‘trails’
Winzerwald is one stop along the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail which includes eight south central Indiana wineries. The others are: Brown County Winery, Butler Winery, Carousel Winery, French Lick Winery, Huber Winery, Oliver Winery and Turtle Run Winery.
The Uplands trail is one of three clusters of Indiana wineries promoting one another through passport programs and special events. The other trails are: the Indy Wine Trail, a group of seven wineries encircling and including Indianapolis; and the Indiana Wine Trail, a group of six wineries in the southeastern pocket of the state.
The Uplands wineries are hosting their third “Winter with the Wineries” event. The special holiday program began last month and runs through Jan. 27, 2008.
The event offers a complimentary gift for ticketed guests who visit each winery on the trail. Upon visiting the first winery, each will receive a basket and the first gift. As travelers continue to visit the other seven wineries, they will continue to collect winter goodies, while supplies last. The completed gift basket has a retail value of $100.
Tickets for the winter event can be purchased for $40 at any of the wineries on the trail. The ticket also may be used in conjunction with the Uplands passport program. After visiting all eight wineries on the trail, visitors will receive an artist’s print signed by the winemakers. Each participant will also be entered into a grand prize drawing which will be held at the 2008 Vintage Indiana Wine Festival in Indianapolis in June.
The Indy Wine Trail also offers a special holiday passport package. The seven wineries on the trail include: Buck Creek Winery, Chateau Thomas Winery, Easley Winery, Ferrins Fruit Winery, Grape Inspirations Winery, Mallow Run Winery and Simmons Winery.
The Indy trail’s program takes place Dec. 1 and 2. Each winery on the trail will have hors d’oeuvres, a Christmas ornament and a glass of wine or non-alcoholic beverage for ticketed visitors. Adult tickets are $15 in advance and $18 the days of the event. Tickets can be purchased at the Indy Wine Trail wineries.
Currently, the Indy Wine Trail also features a passport program where visitors receive a free wine glass after visiting all seven wineries.
The Indiana Wine Trail, “Down the Lazy River,” includes six southeastern Indiana wineries: Chateau Pomije Winery, Ertel Cellars Winery, Lanthier Winery, Madison Vineyards Estate Winery, Ridge Winery and Thomas Family Winery.
The Lazy River trail’s current passport program for a wine glass runs through Dec. 31.
Many of the state’s wineries also offer special holiday activities and winter events along with special vintages.
Merritt at the Wine Grape Council noted that winter’s unpredictable weather makes the holidays and post holidays yet another good reason to visit the state’s wineries. “Folks don’t want to travel far from home, especially if they’re driving,” she said. “Winter is a great opportunity to be a tourist right in your own hometown and a tourist right in your home state.”
Winter in vintnerland
After the holidays are past, the wineries are still open and offer visitors a chance for even more one-on-one contact.
Merritt said the wineries may become very busy as the holiday season progresses, especially on weekends, and those pouring the wine across the tasting bars might not be able to give visitors as much time as they’d like. She encourages wine lovers and folks who want to spend some time with the tasting experts and the winemakers themselves to come back out in January and February.
“It’s a great time to visit because it’s not going to be as crowded,” she said.
“That’s what people like about the rural wineries,” said Donna Adams at Winzerwald. “You get to talk to the winemaker. That’s the cat’s meow.”
And along the interstate, Donna noted, she and Dan get to meet interesting people from all over the world who’ve seen their signs and pulled off to visit.
“People all come in here having fun,” said Dan. “Everybody here is happy. That’s a great environment to work in.”
The Adamses said they welcome the opportunity to talk to customers. That’s one reason they love their jobs — despite the long hours and hard work. “The pay off,” Dan said, “is having somebody across the counter enjoying something you have made. Somebody’s having a Thanksgiving meal — and our wine’s on their table. Somebody’s enjoying your wine with their family. There’s nothing better than that.” — Story by Richard G. Biever, senior editor
Tasting tips
• Enjoy your wine responsibly in order to provide a safe and pleasant experience for yourself and others.
• Bring your ID.
• Select a designated driver for the day if you plan to do more than taste. Make sure you reward your friend with a bottle of wine or other gift to enjoy later.
• Call ahead to verify directions and business hours.
• Don’t feel obligated to finish a sample. Most wineries have dump buckets on or under the counter. If they are not visible, ask the server to pour out the wine.
• If you’re planning to visit several wineries in a day, you may wish to spit out the samples you are tasting rather than swallow them. That’s how professional wine judges keep their senses while tasting hundreds of wines!
• Children are allowed in every Indiana winery. However, there’s limited entertainment for children at some of them. Please bring items to keep them occupied while you taste, and remember to watch them carefully around equipment and glassware.
For more info
To learn more about each of Indiana’s wineries and for direct links to their Web sites, visit the Indiana Wine Grape Council’s Web site: www.indianawines.org,
or call 800-832-9463.
 Alex Hisada, manufacturing coordinator at Hisada America, samples the aroma of a wine while Simmons Winery’s Walter Babbs pours a glass for others. Hisada and a group of fellow Japanese co-workers from the Edinburgh auto parts plant ventured to the Nortonburg winery for tasting as part of an English class. The winery, served electrically by Bartholomew County REMC, also has a banquet facility with room to host company Christmas parties, wedding receptions and other events. Simmons also has a tasting room at the Premium Outlets Mall in Edinburgh and just opened another tasting room at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood.
 Shane Christ, assistant winemaker at Satek Winery in Fremont, checks the flow of “infant” Pinot Noir from the winery’s final pressing of the season last month. Red wines, he noted, are fermented with the skins and then pressed to separate the wine from the skins. The wine should be ready for consumers in April or May. Just in time for the holidays, however, the winery has just released several new vintages. Served electrically by Steuben County REMC, Satek has grown in its first six years to become one of Indiana’s top 10 wineries by volume of sales. Still, much of the work is done by hand, and all of Satek’s sales go through its tasting room. The winery sits near the well-traveled intersections of Interstate 69 and the Indiana Toll Road, bringing in visitors from all over North America. This time of year, Satek is also a place where adults, enjoying the popular toboggan run at nearby Pokagon State Park, can come in for a warm respite. Owner and winemaker Larry Satek said winter visitors often are bundled in snowsuits and have been at the park.
 One of Indiana’s newest wineries, Ertel Cellars, is just entering its second holiday season but has already earned multiple medals for its wines. The winery, in the rolling countryside south of Batesville, includes a tasting room and a restaurant. Windows along one wall of the restaurant allow visitors to look down on the winemaking process. The facility is served electrically by Southeastern Indiana REMC.
Written By: eceditor
Date Posted: 11/21/2007
Number of Views: 336
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