Category Archives: Indiana

Chance to Meet Wine Icon Saturday

25 Friday Jan 2013

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For readers in Central Indiana there is a great chance Saturday (Jan. 26) to meet one of the real icons of Indiana wine. If that was posed in the form of a question many would rattle off the names of Oliver, Easley, Huber, or Thomas – and they would be right.

But Dr. Richard Vine, Purdue University Professor of Enology, Emeritus, deserves to have his name along side those winery pioneers. He helped guide and steer the Indiana wine industry for decades.

Dr. Vine, and you have to love the irony of his last name, has a new book titled “The Curious World of Wine.” It’s a collection of stories, facts, and colorful tales.

He will be selling and signing copies of his book from 2-4 p.m. at Mass Ave. Wine Shop in Indianapolis.  You can stop in buy a book, get it signed and pick up a bottle or two from old friend Jill Ditmire’s “Wall of Wine.”

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Indy’s Tastings Wine Bar Fun

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Food & Travel, Indiana

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The concept of the pay card and two-ounce pours at wine bars isn’t a new one. But it is relatively new in Indianapolis.

Though I had visited Indy’s Tastings wine bar once previously for a winemaker event, I had never had the full experience until Monday night. In summary, it’s fun and a real must-do for wine lovers. It’s not expensive but certainly not cheap either.

The concept is simple enough. Your waitress or waiter will provide you a plastic charge card with as much credit as you wish to put on the card. There are nearly 100 wines available to taste in a two-ounce pour format. Now, two ounces really is a pretty nice, though small, glass of wine. It’s plenty to determine whether you like the wine or not. The photo at right is one I took before writing this post. The smallish glass is sitting with a standard size bottle with about two ounces of wine.

There is a wonderful menu of small plates. I had proscuitto and fresh mozzarella on a crostini for $9 and it was better than good but not great. It was well worth the nine bucks.

I was meeting a young friend who wanted to expand his palate for job interview purposes in the wine industry.

We tasted the following wines:

– A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that was $3.30 a pour and $24 a bottle.
– A French Grenache-Syrah Cotes du Rhone for $4.15 pour or $30 a bottle
– A California Lodi Zinfandel for $3.15 and $23 a bottle.
– A French Chinon, or Cabernet Franc, at $4 a pour or $29 a bottle
… then I splurged and bought my friend the last glass … A prominent California Cabernet from a prominent maker at $9.65 a pour and $70 a bottle.

Now, about those prices. I didn’t have much objection to the pour price but if you consider that there are approximately 25 ounces in a 750 ml bottle, at two ounces a pour they certainly are making some money.

Let’s use the California Cab as an example. At $9.65 a pour, assuming 12 pours to the bottle, you get a nifty $115 gross. That’s not bad for a bottle they’re selling for $70. It’s really profitable when you consider the Cab’s retail price averages $45-$50. The other wines had similar mark ups.

Yes, the bottle mark-up is similar, if not quite, high-end restaurant prices. Tastings is a beautiful place, fully staffed, on the ground floor of Indy’s Conrad Hotel. In other words, for the uniformed, this is not the low rent  district.

Would I buy a bottle there? No, I wouldn’t.

But put $25-$30 on a card and taste 4-5-6 wines with friends and taste new things? It’s is absolutely worth the investment. I’ll definitely go back!

Similar wine bars continue to pop up all across the country.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Deano Back Doing Wine Tastings

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

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I’ve written about the importance of tasting wine, exploring wine, and if at all possible attending wine tastings to expand your knowledge!

Tonight (Jan. 9) I reconnected with one of the people who really stoked my passion for wine – Dean Wilson of Indianapolis.

Dean works now for a distributor, but has worked for restaurants, owned his own restaurant and wine shop, and wine shop alone.

Dean is great at these because he doesn’t just pour the wine. He talks about the winery, country, region, and educates his audience every step of the way.

Tonight, at Augustino’s Italian Restaurant on Indy’s southside, we tasted Proseco, Pinot Grigio, and two Chianti wines.

There are other tastings around the city and a good chance one near you – no matter where you may live. There is no better way to learn than taste, listen to someone knowledgeable, and ask questions.

Thoughts on Great Wines with Buddies

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in California, France, Indiana, Paso Robles & Mendocino

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A big group of wine friends gathered the Saturday before Christmas with some great food items and six great wines. I have notes on five of the six and all five were big winners.

This will be some quick notes on wines you should buy if you see them in your nearest wine shop. I’ll list them in the order we drank them that night.

Craggy Range Kidnapper’s Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay – The Craggy Range Chard really surprised me. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a New Zealand Chardonnay before! Based on this one, I might try a few more.

Any time I’m talking Chardonnay I add the disclaimer that I’m generally not a fan. I liked this Chard second best only to better Chablis wines. It doesn’t have any taste of oak but sees a bit along with mostly stainless steel. I liked the wine’s mouth feel, richness, lime and spice. Not all of the wine dudes agreed, but I also got a rich apple flavor – like apple pie.

It has mild acidity and a pretty soft finish but was still enjoyable. The guys around the living room all liked the wines. I found some online reviews, out of curiosity, that scored the wine well but were rather harsh in description. I didn’t find anything harsh about the wine. If you like Chardonnay in a softer style, try this one!

Craggy Range Kidnapper’s Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay, $18-$22, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended.

Oliver 2010 Shiraz Reserve – Yes, that’s Oliver as in Oliver Winery near Bloomington Ind. Oliver, along with several other Indiana wineries, get lumped into the perception Indiana winemakers only make cheap and sweet wines. There was a time that was an accurate description but not any more.

This is probably the single best Indiana red wine I’ve ever tasted. I poured the wine blind for the dudes and they all loved it. I asked the most experienced wine drinker in the room if he would have objected if I had suggested a Northern Rhone Syrah before revealing the wine’s origin. He thought the French connection made sense after I told the group it was Syrah.

Of course they were surprised but also delighted. Indiana wines have come a long way. Bill Oliver is darn proud of his better bottlings and they sell! And, in the Indy International Wine Competition, tasted blindly as well, this wine was awarded an infrequent Double Gold Medal.

The wine has a great mouth feel with the kind of spice you’d expect from good Syrah. It is very balanced and beautifiul wine.

Oliver 2010 Shiraz Reserve, $26, Very Highly Recommended

Denner Vineyards 2007 The Ditch Digger – This Paso Robles wine is an absolute rock star on any wine rack! I might even be ready to argue that this Denner wine is one of the signature bottles from the Central California region.

This is a big rich red wine with fine balance that’s hard not to like for any red wine fan. The blend is 40 percent Grenache, 33 percent Syrah, 20 percent Mourvedre, and 7 percent Cinsault.

The wine has deep blackberry, cherry and chocolate flavors. It has generally been very highly praised with this vintage garnering 93 points from Wine Spectator and 91 points from Robert Parker.

It’s big fruit with nice balance and even a freshness that is really desirable in many of the big Paso Robles wines. It’s not cheap, but worth every nickel.

Denner Vineyards 2007 Ditch Digger, $50, Very Highly Recommended

Gary Farrell 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir – The Carneros is no Russian River Valley but is a wine you will occasionally find on internet flash sites and special sales. At 50 percent off the list price, this is a great buy.

The wine has a definitely tart cherry if you don’t pick out anything else on the palate. The acidity and finish is very average but this is nice drinkable Pinot. It’s hard for me to criticize a drinkable Pinot with good fruit at $20 Had I forked out full retail of $40, then this brief review would read differently. But it’s good Pinot Noir for $20 it just doesn’t live up to a $40 price point or the Gary Farrell Russian River Valley wines.

Gary Farrell 2009 Carneros Pinot Noir, SRP $40, less elsewhere, Recommended.

Domaine Du Gravillas 2007 Lo Vielh – I’ve been saving this bottle for a special occasion and could not think of any time better than three days before Christmas with my best wine buddies!

This is great wine.

It’s probably a grape many wine drinkers have never even heard of before – Carignan. It is grown in a few spots around the world but most commonly in Southern France.

John Bojanowski and his wife Nicole discovered a now 101-year-old vineyard of Carignan on their Domaine du Gravillas property and have used the grapes as part of the crop that goes into this wine.

Carignan is funky and rich. It’s tart yet very drinkable. Carignan is not for beginning wine drinkers – or wimps. John takes this big funky grape and delivers a wine with soft tannins and full-rich fruit. It is stunningly good.

I have to say I was surprised and I was not that the majority of my seven friends tasting the wines above picked the Carignan as their favorite of the night!

Domaine Du Gravillas 2007 Vielh, $35, Very Highly Recommended.

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Fountain Square Finally Taking Off

10 Monday Dec 2012

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My Coquille St. Jacque

When I find interesting food shops or restaurants I think it’s probably of interest to all my wino friends. If you’re a foodie, there is a good chance you like wine. If you’re an oenophile, there’s an even better chance you love good food.

The near-downtown area called Fountain Square in Indianapolis has been an up-and-coming region for too long. I remember back around the turn of the century (does that make me sound old?), hearing that Fountain Square was the next big thing. Unfortunately, the infrastructure and overall appearance of the area was a mess.

The bar is open to the dining area – note the old typewriters above the booze

Indy’s cultural trail – a walking trail through the city highlighting culture and diversity – finally found its way south of downtown and now Fountain Square is hopping.

A short walking tour Saturday afternoon was delightful capped off with a fabulous dinner at Bluebeard.

A friend and I walked a great antique shop, eclectic home decorating business, tasted mead at the New Day Meadery.

I had visited Pure Eatery on a couple of occasions and we decided to stop in for a drink. We each had a nice glass of Malbec and then decided to split an appetizer. We settled on the pita BBQ chicken pizza and it was fabulous. I suggested we simply order another and forget dinner, but that would have been wrong. Turns out, that would have been very wrong.

I’m one who is always curious and cautious about the greatest, hip, new places. Bluebeard has been getting largely very positive press and reviews on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

We started by sharing the grilled bread appetizer with a small tray of herbed butter, roasted garlic and olive oil and a anchovy spread.

I had scallops (flown in fresh) or “Coquille St. Jacque” – scallops, chanterelle mushrooms, grape tomatoes, leeks, gruyere, and Pea Shoots. It was a medium plate for $18.

My dinner companion had the frog legs in white wine and garlic, parmesan and butter for $15. I thought the scallops were some of the best I’ve ever had, which is saying something sitting in landlocked Indy. My friend loved her frog legs but were a bit heavy with garlic for my taste.

That’s blueberrys between the yummy pudding and rosemary cookies.

We elected to share a dessert and it was really great. We had chocolate and valpolicella pudding with rosemary shortbread chocolate cookies and cocoa nibs. ($9)

With one cocktail and a quartino of Spain’s Ostatu blanc, the total bill was $95 before tip and well worth it for this gastronomical gymnastics meet in your mouth.

The restaurant has suffered some criticism for service in online reviews but we were very well taken care of during our Saturday night visit.

The accompanying bakery offers the kind of hard-crusted breads that are just hard to find in Indiana. I brought home a half loaf of multigrain for $3.50.

The restaurant is beautiful and quirky. It’s decorated with old books and older manual typewriters. They have a small, medium and large plate concept. The smalls are similar to other restaurants and ranged $11-$18. The medium plates are considered a single serving and were $15-$18 Saturday. The large (two portions) plates ran from $25-$35 the night we were there.

Bluebeard also features a very inventive cocktail lineup and one of the best wine lists I’ve seen in Indianapolis.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

R Italian Market Adds Diversity to Indy’s Southside

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

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Indianapolis’ food scene is really evolving and exciting. If you haven’t checked out many of the new restaurants, the farmers market, the winter market, and other food happenings you are missing out.

A friend told me about a new Italian market on the southside near where I used to live. R Italian Market on 135 in Greenwood is a nice addition to the southside.

The market is owned and operated by Dave and Lynn Rodgers who came to Indiana in the late 90s. They missed the Italian foods available on the east coast and opened R Italian.

It sits  on 135, or old Meridian for southsiders, just south of County Line Rd. and accross from a Bonefish Grill restaurant.

I met Dave and sampled a few things. They have a nice range of meats and cheeses. One of the things I immediately noticed was prices. Their Parmesan Reggiano was $3-$3 a pound cheaper than I’ve found on the northside of the city. Even the always-expense Prosciutto was less than I find than the other side of town.

They also featured some wonderful crusty Italian breads, meatballs, and other Italian specialities made on site and pastas they buy from artisans elsewhere.

It’s hard to find places like this. I love sharing them.

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Fall – Christmas Good Time to Visit Uplands Wine Trail

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Southern Indiana’s beautiful roads in late October
 Wine country and Indiana aren’t exactly words often found in the same sentence but neither does it create an oxymoron.  Indiana has several wine trails and more than 60 wineries.
If Indiana has a wine country region, it’s southern Indiana’s Uplands Wine Trail. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other viable wineries elsewhere but several of Indiana’s best wineries are part of the Uplands.
With fall slipping away, a weekend winery visit makes for a great day. Several of the wineries are close in proximity and offer pumpkin picking, live music, or food to draw huge crowds.
Huber Vineyards just a few weeks ago.
The biggest celebration is probably at Huber Orchard, Winery and Vineyards. Huber’s has thousands of pumpkins, live music, food, hayrides, and huge crowds every weekend in all fall. And frankly,
Huber is one of a small handful of Indiana wineries making better Indiana red wine than most Hoosiers have ever tasted in state.
Huber Vineyards set atop the hills overlooking the Ohio River near Louisville. The elevation, old glacial soils, and environment make it arguably Indiana’s best spot to grow grapes.
Just 10 miles away is Jim Pfeiffer at Turtle Run Winery.  Pfeiffer is a blendaholic by nature and takes Indiana’s sometimes eclectic grapes and makes very drinkable wines.
Check out Huber and Turtle Run’s Chambourcin red wines. You will be surprised how Pinot-like these wines can be when they’re well-made. Huber has very nice light style whites while Pfeiffer’s are uniquely tasty. And both winemakers have worked steadily to reduce the natural sweetness of Indiana grapes. If you are into Brandy, Ted Huber has been making and aging award-winning spirits for several years.
Pfeiffer
The Uplands Trail gives the individual wineries marketing power and identity. “Validity, validity, validity,” said Pfeiffer, winemaker and owner of Turtle Run Winery. “When you have event marketing and have big events people take notice.”
A shorter Uplands Wine trip would be to Bloomington to Oliver and Butler wineries. Who hasn’t visited Oliver? The winery made its name with the sweet reds and whites but the Creekbend line of Oliver wine and other bottlings are very solid choices. Try Oliver’s Chambourcin and his Syrah. Bill Oliver makes his Syrah in a lighter French style that’s fruit driven with a hint of spice. I’d challenge anyone to blind taste his Syrah and guess its origins.
Next wander into the colorful countryside to Butler winery. Jim Butler is another of Indiana’s wine pioneers. He got his start at Oliver and then branched out on his own. He owns the unique distinction of winning the initial category first place in the Indy International Wine Competition a few years back with his wonderful Dry Rose’ wine.
Butler
But the Uplands area is more than just marketing. It soon may get validity well beyond good marketing. Butler has put in years of effort to get the Uplands designated as an American Viticulture Area approved by the federal government. It gives the area a unique labeling for its style and quality of wine. It’s an achievement that wine aficionados will recognize as serious winemaking.
“We probably started four or five years ago and we’re in the home stretch,” Butler said. “I’m hoping by the end of the year we’ll have it.”
All nine Uplands wineries have good websites with directions and hours. The wine trail also plans a holiday event Nov. 15-Dec. 31. The state has two other wine trails, another through Southern Indiana known as the Indiana Wine Trail, and the Indy Wine Trail around Indianapolis.
Indiana’s Uplands Wine Trail
Best Vineyards Winery
{Est. 2008}
Brown County Winery
{Est. 1986}
Butler Winery
{Est. 1983}
Carousel Winery
{Est. 2003}
French Lick Winery
{Est. 1995}
Huber Winery
{Est. 1978}
Oliver Winery
{Est. 1972}
Turtle Run Winery
{Est. 2001}
Winzerwald Winery
{Est. 2002}

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Indiana Wines Wins Competition’s Top Honor

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

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A gold medal here or a silver medal there boosts wine sales. Some wine enthusiasts dismiss medals under the ‘too many competitions to count’ excuse.
But one Indiana winery just picked off an historic honor that was unprecedented. River City Winery, New Albany, won the best wine of the Indy International Wine Competition with its 2011 Vignoles.
“This is huge,” owner/winemaker Gary Humphrey said. “This is just not Indiana. Nobody from the Midwest has ever won that honor.”

Now, before you dismiss an Indiana wine competition please note the annual contest is the third biggest in the U.S. and draws 2,600 entries from 41 states and 14 different countries. It was quite the historic moment for Humphrey and Indiana wine.

Vignoles is a hybrid grape grown widely in Indiana, Missouri, and other states. It is often used for dessert wines but also makes a nice semi-sweet wine. It often has hints of peach, pear, or apricot on the palate.

“This was first time we’ve done Vignoles so we nailed it,” Humphrey said. “We didn’t manipulate it very much in the vineyard at all. Actually the birds almost got it and we were in the vineyard picking within two hours of seeing that.

“Once it got into the cellar, we really pushed the envelope keeping it cold and doing very cold fermentations and arresting the fermentation. That keeps all that fruit flavor in there. Halfway through the fermentation I had nothing but a grin. I knew we’d have a wonderful wine if we didn’t screw it up. We spent the next few months trying not to screw up. Once fermentation was complete, that wine was excellent.”

Humphrey with his 20011 Vignoles

Before you go out looking for Humphrey’s Vignoles it’s important to note he doesn’t distribute his wines. He makes more than 3,000 cases a year for his River City Winery and Restaurant in downtown New Albany along the Ohio River. The business opened in the spring of 2009.

“We don’t distribute and we have no plans to distribute,” Humphrey said. “We’re not in the bulk industry. We’re not going to make 20,000 cases to make a profit. We’re trying to keep it small with most of our batches under 500 gallons. We try to experiment and work different tanks, yeasts, strategies, see what works and what doesn’t. Then we blend or don’t blend and then make our changes for the next year.”
The 2011 Vignoles is a lovely wine with a hint of sweetness (2.5 percent residual sugar). Probably the most unique characteristic of the wine beyond the fruits mentioned above is a hint of banana. That surprised Humphrey during the tasting process until Purdue’s Professor of Horticulture Bruce Bordelon said that can be a trait of some Vignole wines.
What jumps out of the glass is remarkable freshness and extremely well-defined balance. The wine sells at the winery for $28. 

Humphrey has no plans to significantly increase his production. His restaurant has become a popular spot in New Albany behind the work of Executive Chef Nicholas Davis. The next door building has been acquired for expansion of the winery and restaurant.

Humphrey also makes two outstanding Chardonel wines, one barrel aged and the other aged in stainless steel. Even his obligatory Concord offering is significantly different getting aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels.
 Selling only from his business and in a restaurant setting allows River City to charge a bit more per bottle. You can buy wines to take home.
Next time someone bad mouths Indiana wine, they just don’t know the facts.

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Indy Champion Vignoles Isn’t River City’s Only Gem

08 Wednesday Aug 2012

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New Albany, In. – Indiana wine as a whole, and River City Winery in particular, made some real history last week. Gary Humphrey was the first-ever Hoosier winemaker to produce the Indianapolis International Wine Competition’s top wine.

River City 2011 Vignoles was judged the best glass of wine out of 2,600 entries from 41 states and 14 countries. Indiana has had a variety win before when Butler Winery claimed the top Rose, but never the best over-all wine in the competition.

For one thick-headed day I tried to figure out how to visit the winery and snatch a bottle of the prize winner. It took most of the day for the fog to clear and remember I had business in Kentucky Tuesday and could easily come back through New Albany to River City Winery and Restaurant.

Humprhey pouring his wines

I have to admit, though River City has been around for about three years, I had seen the name but knew little about it. Humphrey has a unique business model – his winery tasting room is also a full-service, chef-driven restaurant. He does not have any distribution though he does participate in some wine festivals. If you want a bottle of that award winner, you can only get it in New Albany.

That approach allows him to do a couple of things. First, he can charge a bit more per bottle in a restaurant setting than most wineries can charge in a tasting room. But he also doesn’t have any ambition to become a major player state wide, he just wants to make great wine.

Humphrey also honors the community’s history on his labels and in helping lead a downtown revival. I’m going to be writing my newspaper column about River City this week.

Chef Davis’ crabcakes! Yummy!

But the Vignoles was something really interesting. I tasted, tasted again and had a glass with some incredible crab cakes. It has a remarkable freshness you just seldom get from any wine. That had to catch the judges’ eyes. It also had this quirky little hint of banana – yes, banana – that really set it apart from other Vignoles. Now, it has 2.5 percent residual sugar. Some wine lovers will find it a tad on the sweet side. It’s not Frosted Flakes sweet, nor traditional Concord grape sweet, but it is sweeter than a lot of wines. But that said, it was a beautifully crafted wine.

The wine retails for $28 a bottle. Humprhey admitted he learned from others that such a win might be a once-in-a-life-time thing. So he did what almost every big winner always does, he bumped the price pretty good. Let’s just say the wine was under $20 before last week. I certainly can’t find anything wrong with that!

Gary, who maintains his job as a New Albany police officer, recently purchased an adjoining building and has started renovations to expand the kitchen, dining area and add private meeting rooms. The location is downtown with beautiful exposed brick walls and tremendous grub. The winery is in the basement.

Pizza like this Feta/Spinach one has become a signature dish

At one point, Gary disappeared and came back with Executive Chef Nick Davis. Davis is a local who graduated from Louisville’s Sullivan Culinary School. The 23-year-old head chef buys local ingredients and has all sorts of ideas he’d like to try when he gets a bigger kitchen.

I had the best crabcakes I’ve ever had in land-locked Indiana. Davis added a wonderful bed of corn, black-eyed peas, herbs, and a hint of cayenne for a real kick.

The Vignoles isn’t Gary’s only interesting wine by a long shot. He’s working to perfect Riesling he buys from Kentucky and admits his red wine “program” isn’t quite where he wants it yet. He did pour a traditional Bordeaux blend that was “okay” to my palate but showed tremendous potential if he can find a consistent source for Cab, Cab Franc, and Malbec.

As most wine folks know Hoosiers like sweet wines. There is hardly an Indiana winery that doesn’t make a sweet Concord wine. Gary makes one too but he takes the wine and ages it in Kentucky Bourbon barrels for a unique finish. It weighs in at 7.5 percent residual sugar but tastes like much less. It is truly unique.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I will get an update online in the next few days about all of Indiana’s winners from the Indy competition. Oliver Winery won the Governor’s Cup for most wins and title of Winery of the Year. We’ll break down the other awards soon.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Great Little Video About Indiana Wine

06 Monday Aug 2012

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I stumbled across this video today while doing my morning run through Facebook postings. It’s pretty good stuff. I have to say after visiting five Indiana wineries in the last few weeks that quality has never been better.

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