Tag Archives: Kim Doty

Legislature Right – For a Change

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Indiana, Midwestern States, Newspaper Column 2015

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Indiana’s legislature showed a small bit of sanity in getting a shipping law passed for Hoosier Wineries before closing the most recent session. Governor Pence signed the bill into law.

Phil Boots

Phil Boots

Grape Sense LogoSen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, gudied the legislation removing the face-­to-­face requirement for Indiana wineries to ship wine to their customers. At one point, the licensing fee went from $100 annually to $500. That was plain and simple another case of the legislators bowing to the powerful liquor lobby, funded largely by alcohol distributors.

He urged supporters to keep the foot on the gas and in the end the fee structure was set up on a graduating scale depending on production and alcohol shipped. A fair, if not arguably unnecessary, solution.

Kim Doty, standing center, with husband John and family.

Kim Doty, standing center, with husband John and family.

Indiana wineries could not be happier.

“When the law requiring an initial face to face transaction became effective, it literally destroyed our shipments to wine customers,” said Kim Doty, owner of French Lick Winery.

“We lost 95 percent of our wine shipping sales. Our wine sold and shipped to customers in 2004 was about 10 percent of our total sales. Today with the face to face requirement, our shipping sales are less than one tenth of 1 percent of our total sales. This requirement has also had a negative impact on the growth of our wine club with 99 percent of our wine club sales are shipped directly to the home.”

Again, that face­-to-­face requirement was added to legislation in 2008 as a token to the alcohol lobby but crippling, in particular, to small wineries.

Wineries like French Lick were forced to play along but at a steep price. “We have accumulated over 5400 completed verification forms to date. We would have sold and shipped at least twice that if not for the requirement.”

The new law requires age verification but all shipping laws generally do. Wineries can meet the requirement by using an age verification delivery service like FedEx or UPS.

“We are thrilled with having the requirement rescinded,” Doty said. “Age verification will still be performed by the delivery company and we will pay additional fees for this service. We are confident that our wine shipments are properly handled in accordance with Indiana’s age requirement for liquor.”

Jim Butler

Jim Butler

Jim Butler, Butler Vineyards near Bloomington, has long been one of the industries leading spokespersons and advocate for sanity in wine shipping laws and more.

“We are basically back to where we were 9 or 10 years ago,” Butler said. “With the face to face requirement we l lost 90 percent of our shipping business. Perhaps now we can build it back. This is a nice step forward. It is always a battle of the titans at the statehouse about alcohol issues, big money. big players. We are just little guys. It is one small step toward sanity.”

Sanity? That seldom happens with the legislature and liquor laws. Just look at what happened this year with Sunday sales. A simple law was mangled with requirements that would have retailers build walls in existing stores to sell alcohol on Sundays.

Fortunately, the legislature got it right for Indiana wineries, big and small, in 2015.

Odd Couple: Fruit Wines, Food

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2013

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Michigan has long been known for its apples, cherries, blueberries and more. Indiana has raspberries, blackberries, and peaches, and more. Winemakers have been turning those fruits to wines for decades.

While fruit wine often gets the cold shoulder from snooty wine drinkers, those wines remain some of the best sellers throughout the Midwest.

Grape Sense LogoBut what do you do for dinner if your wine rack only has fruit wine choices? It’s just a matter of experimentation and perhaps a little direction from others.

“A lot of people just like sweet wines,” said Kim Doty, French Lick Winery. Many people like it for dessert. There is this mystique that you have to drink dry wines but many people like sweet … people are going to drink what they like.”

And if you like sweet wines just use a dose of logic – like pairing a cranberry wine with poultry.

Another classic pairing is raspberry wine with just about anything chocolate. The sweetness level of the wine will set the bar for sweet, semi-sweet, or a robust dark chocolate dessert. Of course raspberry wine makes a great reduction to use with chocolate desserts, cheesecake and other sweets.

Generally, wine drinkers will think of a sweeter Riesling or Gewürztraminer for spicy Asian food. Why not try a peach wine with a spicy pairing? You might be surprised how well it complements big strong flavors. You can always fall back to grape wines and pair a semi-sweet, Midwestern Traminette.

Huber Winery, with Indiana’s biggest vineyard and acres more of fruit and vegetables, makes Peach, Strawberry, Apple, and Blackberry wines.

Dana Huber

Dana Huber

“We partner one of our semi-sweet sparkling wines with a peach and a graham cracker as an appetizer,” said Dana Huber, Huber Winery, Starlight, In., “But obviously people just enjoy them as a perfect glass of wine independent as dessert in a glass. Certainly brownies or cheesecake can be a great match as far as sweet wines.”

Another wonderful pairing is just about any fruit wine with a salad. It’s simple, just think of your ingredients and if you’d add the fresh fruit to the salad or not. Add the fruit wine as a complement instead of the fresh berries or fruit.

Wine has always been a staple in most kitchens in reductions and traditional food pairings,

“We’ve had some customers marinate steaks in our blackberry wine which it gives it a really nice tenderness and a little sweetness on it,” Huber said. “The sweet wines are definitely something home cooks can use in their recipes.”

Another great fruit-based wine is infusions. An infusion usually is a wine infused with a complementary brandy. “You can take an infusion, and replace some of the water in a recipe and infuse your brownie bites. They’re really yummy and it’s a good addition.”

Doty’s winery produces an award-winning cherry wine that’s great with desserts. “One of the things with the cherry we recommend is to try it with goat cheese,” she said. “It sounds weird, but it’s really a great match.”

“Uncork” Presents Great Food, Wine

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2013

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Grape Sense LogoIndiana’s best wine region is pairing up with some of the state’s better-known artisan food producers for the third annual “Uncork the Uplands.”

Ten Uplands wineries will pour wine beside artisan food businesses at 6-9 p.m., July 27, at the Bloomington/Monroe County Convention Center.

The Indiana Uplands grape growing designation (AVA) was awarded by the federal government earlier this year. The designation adds authenticity to a region for growing grapes and producing wines unique to the geographic area. The Uplands group is capitalizing by moving its young event from near Louisville to Bloomington.

Visitors can tour Bill Oliver's Creekbend Vineyards Saturday afternoon

Visitors can tour Bill Oliver’s Creekbend Vineyards Saturday afternoon

“The Uplands area is very large geographically so we are moving the event to different venues around the trail to be accessible to a larger and more diverse audience,” said Kim Doty, Uplands president and owner of French Lick Winery. “This is our signature event. We want to show people what we can do. We’re making world-class wines.”

The evening features 10 wineries:  Best Vineyards,  Brown County, Butler Winery, Carousel, French Lick, Huber, Owen Valley, Oliver, Turtle Run and Winzerwald. A few of the food vendors include: Fair Oaks Farm, Piccoli Dolci, Peacetree Mountain Truffles, Yours Truly Foods , Maple Leaf Farms, Smoking Goose Meats, Inga’s Popcorn, and Steckler Grassfed (beef).

Butler

Butler

Judy Schad, Capriole Farmstead Goat Cheeses, will be one of the featured speakers. Jim Butler, Butler Winery, will talk about the significance of the AVA designation. A silent auction will be held to benefit the Local Growers Guild, and three chefs will compete in a wine/food pairing competition judged by all visitors.

Bill Oliver, Oliver Winery, is opening his Creekbend Vineyard to visitors as part of the Uncork event. Winemakers from many of the 10 wineries will be in the vineyard Saturday afternoon to talk about grapes grown in Indiana and their winemaking.

Tickets for the evening event are $55, which includes tasting at all of the winery and food tables. The combined evening program and Creekbend Tour is $75. Tickets are available at the Convention Center box office and any of the 10 wineries.

For the winemakers, 2013 has been a very good year.  The American Viticulture Area designation provides legitimacy to wine enthusiasts.

Pfeiffer in his vineyard neary Corydon.

Pfeiffer in his vineyard neary Corydon.

“It’s all about validity,” said Jim Pfeiffer, winemaker and owner of Turtle Run Winery, Corydon. “When you have big events people take notice. I’m a big subscriber to Robert Mondavi’s mantra of promote yourself, promote your industry and get others to grow with you.

“It’s sort of like we’re trying to do things Napa Valley does. We want to be noticed.”

The wine trail has benefited from the publicity. Already this year, the Uplands added a 10th winery after the AVA announcement, Owen Valley Winery, Spencer, IN.

“Indiana Uplands was Indiana’s first wine trail,” Doty said. “We are celebrating our 10th anniversary. With the new AVA designation, we are seeing more wineries take root in the Uplands and the expansion of established vineyards.”

Pfeiffer said the wine trail brings more credibility to each winery’s effort. “Would anyone know of Napa Valley if there were 1-2-3 wineries? You have to partner up with people who are like minded. It creates validity and excitement.