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Howard W. Hewitt

~ … The "W" stands for wine!

Howard W. Hewitt

Tag Archives: Oliver Winery

Oliver in accelerated growth period

31 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by Howard in Indiana

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big wineries, Bill Oliver, Hoosier wine, Oliver Winery, Sweet Wine

There are many compelling wine stories happening in Indiana including improving wine quality and the explosion of new wineries. There’s never been a better time for Indiana’s signature Traminette and Chambourcin.

The Indiana Wine and Grape Council is now counting 116 Indiana wineries. But there is no more fascinating story than what continues to happen at Indiana’s largest and arguably best-known winemaker, Oliver Winery near Bloomington.

Oliver mug

Oliver talking wine

The iconic Hoosier business has long been known for its Camelot Mead and Soft Red and White wines. In recent years, Oliver’s Creekbend vineyard has produced one of the state’s best Chambourcin, some vinifera, and a Catawba that makes delightful Rose.

But the employee-owned company has big – really big – goals. Bill Oliver has not been shy in recent years to admit the team ownership would like to grow the winery to 1 million cases. Attainment of that lofty figure would make Oliver the USA’s biggest winery not located on the West Coast.

“We were producing 7,000 cases when I took over (from his father, one of the founders of the Indiana wine industry,”) Bill Oliver said. “We’ll be around 460,000 cases this year.”

He acknowledged the 1 million goal and that the company is on track to reach it in a few more years. “We’re in 27 states now. We like to talk about what we sell not just what we produce. It’s a lot easier to make wine than sell it. We have some long-term goals and we would like to be considerably larger. It wasn’t too long ago we talked about being a half million cases. That’s going to happen next year. A million cases would be nice. It seems a little grandiose but it would be nice.”

Oliver is making substantial investments to see that the 100 full-time employees can get there. He dded a 30,000 square foot facility two years ago with a new one for sweet wine production now under construction. He has outdoor tanks which can hold 1.6 million gallons of juice. The production area for sweet wines will add another 1.6 million gallons of capacity.

IMG_1808

On a rainy Oct. day, Oliver stops to check out the fall pumpkins.

Oliver is talking about retail partners like the HEB ops to grocery chain in Texas. The Indiana winemaker produces thousands of cases of Porch Swing for the Texas market powerhouse. Porch Swing is a version of soft red and white with a bit of effervescence.

He has expanded Porch Swing to several other states in the last year accounting for part of the company’s growth.

But two wines really kicked things into high gear. Cherry Moscato is in its second year with 50,000 cases produced while the popular Apple Pie wine, 60,000 cases, has taken even the Indiana icon by surprise. “I didn’t see that coming,” Oliver admitted. “These two wines account for 22 percent of our total production and they didn’t exist two years ago. That’s accelerated growth!”

The other driving force behind the growth is an emphasis on sales and introducing Oliver wines in the southeast. With a stronghold now in Texas, the Oliver brand has swept across the lower states connecting to Florida where Oliver sees major growth potential.

While spreading the Oliver name across the country, the state market isn’t forgotten. Oliver has zeroed in on a couple of wines that have done well in his 50-acre vineyard. The Catawba Rose’ represents the biggest part of his vineyard. He makes, arguably, one of the best Chambourcin wines in the state.

The other quirky wine is Crimson Cabernet, a very soft and delicious wine that doesn’t taste much like Cabernet but is easy to enjoy.

Despite what always seems like a full tasting room, and Oliver welcomes more than 400,000 visitors annually, retail sales amount for just seven percent of Oliver’s total sales.

Oliver admits a personal interest would be an improved and larger retail facility perhaps in the more distant future.

This story was first published in Madison Magazine, Anderson, In. It was then shared with the more than 20 newspapers which carried the Grape Sense column over a 10 year period.

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Bill Oliver leading one sweet life

14 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2018, Uncategorized

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biggest wineries, Bill Oliver, Bloomington, Indiana, Leelanau Cellars, Oliver Winery

Bill Oliver is leading a sweet life. His family’s namesake winery is known primarily for sweet wines Oliver Soft Red and White.

grape-sense-logoHe jokes about world domination when asked about his expansion plans. While world domination might be out of reach, many might be surprised to learn dominating 47 states isn’t out of the question. He’d easily achieve that milestone if he reaches his longer-term goal of one million cases of Oliver wine produced annually.

Few wineries outside of California, Washington state or Oregon produce more than 250,000 cases. St. James Winery in Missouri produces over 200,000 cases annually. Leelanau Cellars and Chateau Grand Traverse in upper-state Michigan are both well over 100,000 and pushing 200,000 cases. Texas has the Ste. Genevieve winery and 200-acre Mesa Vineyard, which produces about 600,000 cases each year.

IMG_0594

Oliver Tasting Room north of Bloomington

Oliver is positioning his Bloomington operation to become the biggest winery in the U.S. not located in California, Washington or Oregon. Wine production reached 400,000 in 2016, and Oliver expects to hit the half-million case mark in 2018.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with saying we want to be a one million case winery,” Oliver said, after being reminded he shied away from sharing that number publicly two years ago. “It might be eight years or so to get there.

“We don’t know what the competition is going to do. We don’t know what the economy is going to do, so we set our sights on that and go for it. All I can ask is we put our best foot forward today, and whatever numbers happen, happen. It’s how we operate I’m concerned about. I judge success by how much we’re trying.”

Longtime Oliver staples Soft Red and White still drive sales. But new products like cherry Moscato and even newer Blueberry create growth. Last year, Oliver introduced Apple Pie wine made from apples and with a distinctive taste of – you guessed it, apple pie. The 10,000 cases made all sold and led production to ramp up to 25,000 cases in 2017.

Those wines accounted for 10 percent of Oliver’s growth last year. Oliver has products most Hoosiers never see. He added a line called Porch Swing that he offers exclusivity to large supermarket chains as his sales force goes state to state. He describes Porch Swing as similar to the Soft wines but with a bit of effervescence. HEB, the largest grocery chain in Texas, was the first to snap up Porch Swing.

FullSizeRender (20)

Bill Oliver

According to Oliver, sales were brisk. Oliver has had his entire line of sweet wines repackaged for the modern consumer’s eye. Even the landmark Camelot Mead has a funky new label. Mead started Oliver’s success in the 1970s.

“That goes way back for us,” Oliver said. “At first we were making that wine in volume, and it really kept the doors open. It was well before this craft mead phenomenon we see now. Back then we were the only ones doing it.

“We made it 45 years ago before it was cool. We’ve gotten good at it. It’s tricky, and we’ve figured a lot of the pitfalls out. We make this really clean, really fresh aromatic pure kind of mead from orange blossom honey.”

Additionally, the winery has four new secret wines in test production. He believes a couple of those wines have potential for huge sales. He’s quick to add that growth is not about ego, it’s about sales. “We’d like to be a lot bigger than we are, but I think we’ll get there,” Oliver said. “It’s more challenging than it once was. There’s a lot more players in the market we play in, which is sweet wine, and a lot more players in grocery stores. Groceries would rather deal with fewer suppliers; it’s just easier for them.”

A new 30,000-square-foot Oliver production facility is the first step in ramping up production and sales. That building has a bottling line and considerable warehouse space for mountains of sweet wines. A second production building of similar size is planned.

Oliver’s wines reach 22 states. The company’s sales focus has been the Southeast, with strong markets in Texas, Florida and Tennessee. Oliver said the sales staff is concentrating now on Georgia and the Carolinas. It could take up to eight years to reach one million cases, Oliver said.

He admits it doesn’t really matter whether they hit it, as long as they’re developing new products, maintaining quality and giving it all a good effort. He denies that distribution in all 50 states is a goal. But if Oliver was the biggest wine producer in 47 of those 50, he’d consider it one sweet deal.

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New faces score at wine competition

02 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Uncategorized

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Buck Creek Winery, Country Heritage Winery and Vineyard, French Lick Winery, Huber Winery, Indiana Governor's Cup, Indy International Wine Competition, Oliver Winery

Indiana wines performed well in the 2017 Indy International Wine Competition at Purdue University. Nearly 2000 wines were entered from 11 countries and 40 states were considered, according to the competition’s website.

The competition has become something of a measuring stick for Hoosier winemakers as they stack up their product against other states not named California, Oregon, or Washington. Wines do come into the competition from the big three but not in significant numbers.

The competition, hosted by Purdue, does have Indiana categories as well as national award winners. Many Indiana wineries scored multiple medals from the 50 judges from across the country. You can go online to look up the wins for your favorite Hoosier winery.

With Vintage Indiana in downtown Indy tomorrow (June 3), I checked out some top winners and whether they’ll be at Vintage this year.

 

country heritage image

Country Heritage wines scored big.

Top honors – or the Indiana Governor’s Cup – went to relative newcomer Country Heritage Winery and Vineyard, LaOtto, In., (near Fort Wayne.) Heritage had won Indiana Farm Winery of the Year the past two competitions. Heritage won three double gold medals (top honor), 12 Golds, 15 silvers, and 12 bronze.The farm winery award is for wineries producing less than 50,000 gallons of wine annually. This year’s Farm Winery of the Year was Buck Creek Winery, just south of Indianapolis along I-74.

 

The Indiana Wine of the Year was won by French Lick Winery for their estate-bottled Cabernet Franc. The Indiana Traminette of the Year (the state grape) was Tonne Winery’s CF2016 vintage. Tonne is located just north of Muncie.

Buck Creek won best dessert wine of the competition with its 2014 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine. Brown County won the contest’s best fruit wine with its 2016 Strawberry Wine.

A few of the usual suspects did well as expected. Huber Winery, which has claimed several Governor’s Cups, won 23 medals. Oliver Winery claimed 28 awards.

The competition also has a category for amateur winemakers. The amateur Wine of the Year was won by David Phillips of Sugar Creek Vineyards (just outside Crawfordsville). Phillips’ winning entry was a 2016 Chambourcin Rose’.

Of those winning awards, Buck Creek and French Lick are the only two pouring at Vintage according to the Vintage website.

Many Indiana wineries won multiple awards. Check out the details online.

 

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2016 A Strong Hoosier Vintage

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2016, Uncategorized

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Bernie Parker, Butler Winery, French Lick Winery, Indiana grape harvest, Indiana Uplands, Jim Butler, John Doty, Oliver Winery

FRENCH LICK, IN. – Learning about wine means spending time in the vineyard. The next best thing is talking with the men and women worrying about rainfall, leaf canopy, and sugars in hot August fields.

Grape Sense LogoThe Indiana Uplands, nine southern Indiana wineries in the state’s only AVA, held its annual Uncork the Uplands tasting event the last weekend in July at the fabulous French Lick Springs Hotel. Muck like plants, flowers or an herb garden in many Hoosier backyards, the 2016 growing season has been a strong one.

“This year everything is growing, growing, and growing,” said Bernie Parker, vineyard manager for the 55-acre Creekbend Vineyard of Oliver Winery. “We’ve been applying some fungicides because of the wet weather. We’ve had more than eight inches of rain in July and we normally have half that.

“We have a great crop out there and as long as it dries out in next five to six weeks, we’re going to be harvesting a great vintage and full crop.”

Easley Winery 1

Traminette being delivered to Huber winery in 2014. The whites come first.

That’s really good news for the Oliver operation. Late frost cut the 2014 Creekbend crop by 70 percent and the 2015 crop by about 30 percent.

The story is very similar regardless of vineyard size. John Doty, owner of French Lick Winery, said the 2016 crop is going to be excellent. “We’ve had plenty of rain but it can rain another couple of weeks. Then it needs to quit raining; if it quits raining last two weeks of August and first of September I’ll be a happy man. We have a beautiful crop hanging.”

Doty’s 8-acre vineyard is actually in Martin County on family property on the hillside of one of the highest points in the area. The vineyard suffered some trunk damage to Chambourcin vines and lost a planting of Tannat over the past two years with the early chill but 2016 appears to be delivering a stellar crop.

Butler Winery also benefit from location during bad weather years. Butler sits atop a hill just north of Bloomington. Jim Butler said his 6 acre vineyard is better suited to withstand a late frost because of its elevated position.

“We have a great crop,” the veteran Hoosier winemaker said. “We’ve had a lot of rain, but if it dries out, and that’s what we look for in August and September, we’re in great shape.”

Times have been good in recent years for most Hoosier wineries despite the two years of frost damage in a few areas. Wine sales across the country continue to rise and Indiana wine quality continues to improve.

Winemakers across the state are now at a point where they’re ready to push the envelope and try new grapes. Butler is experimenting with the cold-climate Marquette. Doty and others are planting the hardy Norton grape. Ted Huber, in the state’s southern-most region, continues his work with traditional Bordeaux-style varietals.

A warm and dry late summer will apparently deliver one of the best crops of recent vintages for Hoosier wine drinkers.

 

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Oliver’s Pinot a Statement Wine

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by Howard in California, Indiana, Newspaper Column 2016, Uncategorized

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Bien Nacdio, Bloomington, French Camp, Oliver Winery, Paso Robles, Santa Maria Valley

Editor’s Note: This piece initially appeared in Madison Magazine, published quarterly in Anderson, ,In. It was recently sent out in a shorter version as my usual newspaper  column. It appears here in its full length as written for the magazine.

Oliver Winery in Bloomington may be known as one of the country’s biggest producers of sweet wines. But a recent Pinot Noir project provides proof that winemaking skill is not limited to the United States’ west coast.

Grape Sense LogoA mere 300 cases of a $45 Pinot Noir is just a smidgen of the Bloomington winery’s annual production. Oliver produced approximately 320,000 cases of wine in 2015. But for Bill Oliver and winemaker Dennis Dunham the Pinot project has shown what they can do with world-class fruit.

“We have the broadest range of business in our fan base,” Oliver explained. “Our bread and butter is sweeter wines. Those wines keep the lights on and that’s the reality of the world we live in. This project is about making wine for that part of our customer base who appreciates Pinot. It’s also an ability factor, it kind of shines a light on everything else we do. And, we like to drink it.”

That Pinot Noir is made of grapes from the much-respected Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley of California’s Central Coast. While the Oliver $45 price point might raise eyebrows in Indiana, a Bien Nacido wine in California consistently brings a much higher price.

Bill O Tasting

Oliver chatting, tasting Chambourcin in the tasting room.

How special is Bien Nacido? Price point explains much when it comes to wine grapes. Generally, good fruit can be purchased from the better California vineyards for $1,200-$2,000 a ton. At the other end of the spectrum is Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon which commands a king’s ransom of $6,000-$10,000 a ton. The extreme is the famous To Kalon vineyard, of Robert Mondavi fame, which commands in the neighborhood of $20,000 a ton and a required minimum of $100 price per bottle.

Oliver admitted he’d never paid more $1,600 a ton prior to 2013. The five tons of Bien Nacido Pinot Noir grapes cost the winery $4,500 a ton. Oliver has acquired five tons a year for the past three years. The first Pinot, a 2013 vintage, was released this past summer. The 2014 will be released during spring 2016.

Now to understand the wine math, it takes a ton of grapes to produce about 70 cases of wine.

Bien Nacido fruit is highly desired by the best California Pinot producers. During a 2014 visit most wineries with a Bien Nacido Pinot were charging $60 and higher to much higher per bottle.

Oliver has had a long standing relationship with the Miller family which owns a large Paso Robles vineyard, French Camp. The Millers purchased Bien Nacido in 1969 with the idea it would be great for a number of agricultural products including grapes.

Oliver3MM“We’ve bought fruit from them for probably 10 years,” Oliver said. “We’ve gotten to know them well. It’s been a fun and collaborative effort.”

Oliver has bought many of the standard California varietals from the Millers but became aware they owned the rock star vineyard as well. “They’re very protective of it,” he said. “They’re very concerned that every winery that buys fruit from Bien Nacido creates wine they can be proud of. They have a brand so selling their fruit is a big deal to them.”

Oliver and Dunham have visited the Millers in California and the vineyard owners have returned the visits. “They had been here and visited and over time as our relationship matured I think they became confident that we were the kind of winemakers they wanted making wine from Bien Nacido. They granted us the privilege to buy their grapes.”

Many Indiana wineries buy California fruit. Getting the grapes to Indiana requires significant cost as well. The freshly picked fruit is packed into cardboard boxes with dry ice and arrives in two days. “It takes a lot of coordination,” Oliver winemaker Dunham said. “I talk to them about when they’re going to pick. If they’re picking at night (when temperatures are cool), we have a truck there the next morning. It’s amazing if you look at the grapes, other than being in a cardboard box you wouldn’t know that the fruit didn’t come from our vineyard.”

Oliver2MMTerroir, that over-used wine word, is what makes the Bien Nacido fruit so special. “When I was in Paso Robles at French Camp visiting it was 92 degrees,” Dunham said. “When I got back to the guest house at Bien Nacido it was 62 degrees. Bien Nacido is like just over the hill, not very far at all but it’s a magical place.”

Pinot Noir, a thin-skinned grape, likes day time heat and cool nights.

Oliver admitted to some trepidation about taking on the challenge. “Pinot is a wine that has a reputation as being challenging to make so we wanted to be thoughtful about it,” he said. “On a per gallon basis a lot more resources went into this than any other wine we’ve ever made.”

Oliver, who was primary winemaker in his early years, and Dunham have learned more about making Pinot each year. During a late October tasting at the winery, Oliver and Dunham sipped the 2013, the soon-to-be released 2014, and the new 2015 vintage in a vertical tasting.

The 2013 is a lean and austere Pinot. The distinctive Pinot fruit does comes through with balance. The unreleased 2014 is even better with more extracted fruit – or in less wine-geeky terms – more pure Pinot flavor. The 2015 was moving to new French Oak barrels at the time of the visit.

“One of the things in learning to make Pinot Noir is you can over-extract the grapes and get pepper and stuff,” Dunham said. “We started light on the first one and now we’re at the point we think we have changed our winemaking just a little bit to extract a little bit more.”

In some circles such an expensive exercise can be called a ‘vanity project.” In all probability, neither Oliver nor Dunham would argue.

“Sometimes you are there in the vineyard and it’s a magical place and being there the wine just tastes better,” Dunham said. “One of the things about Bien Nacido is it’s just a great place to grow Pinot Noir. But it’s hard not to be in that area and not love anything in your glass. But being here at our winery and having Pinot Noir in your glass of this quality … it’s really, really good fruit and great wine.”

Oliver said buying the top quality fruit and producing a great Pinot is good for business. “We’re at a pretty high confidence level with everything we’re making,” he said. “Those people in California don’t have anything on us in winemaking.”

The 2013 Oliver Bien Nacido Pinot Noir is available only at the Bloomington winery.

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Oliver’s Bubblecraft a Big Hit

15 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2015

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Bill Oliver, Oliver Bubblecraft, Oliver Soft Red, Oliver Soft White, Oliver Winery, Sparkling Wine

You’ve seen the bottles in your local grocery and liquor stores. They’re not just on the shelves but in most locations there is a case or two displayed on the floor.

Grape Sense LogoBubblecraft wines come the ubiquitous Oliver Winery in Bloomington, IN. Though Oliver is making an expanding array of vineyard designate wines and fine wines with California grapes, the winery’s calling card has long been Oliver Soft Red and White wines.

Bill Oliver and his winemaking team put a twist on the Concord and Niagara grapes to release a bubbly taste “we all grew up with.” Those are the words of Oliver who oversees one of the nation’s biggest wineries not located on the west coast.

Bubblecraft came from experimentation, a piece of equipment purchased to bottle cider, and a competitive expansion in the sweet alcoholic beverage market.

“We tried small batches of a spritzy wine,” Oliver said. “It was a fun project. It’s a subtle variation on Soft White and Soft Red. It’s not quite the full blown bubbles of sparkling wine and we just really loved it. It transformed the wines.”

Oliver

Bill Oliver opening a taste of Bubblecraft

Oliver had invested in new equipment for bottling cider that had a digital valve instead of a manual operation. It’s used to fill “spritzy things,” which is Oliver’s term for carbon dioxide. “Dealing with CO2 is challenging because it’s going to create foaming,” he explained. “Then if you introduce sugar, it makes it that much harder. We bought it for our ciders but wondered what else we could do with it.”

The experimentation with his two most popular wines paid off. “The result was an eye opener,” he said. “Our staff, distributors, and folks in the retail community were all like ‘Wow, this is really interesting.’ “

The wine was released late in 2015. Oliver said sales were expected to hit 10,000 cases. He hopes to sell 25,000 cases in year two.

A few years ago Oliver talked with me about the encroachment of sweet wines and sweet spirits challenging his market dominance. “It’s worse now,” he said. “It’s more than just the sweet wine market. It’s the flavored malts, vodka, and fake ciders. It’s just this whole all-in on the sweet wine consumer. We’re getting it from the ready-to-drink small containers (off the shelf). It’s an assault on our core customers so we’re answering with things like this. And, it’s working.”

The taste of Bubblecraft will feel familiar. But the carbon dioxide works to minimize the sometimes cloying sweetness of the two grapes.

Oliver, who has his eye on more new products and expansion, said the introduction of Bubblecraft can bump his revenue seven to eight percent.

If you like the Midwest’s sweet Concord and Niagara grapes the Bubblecraft may pleasantly surprise you. It will deliver the same familiar taste but with a really interesting twist.

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Oliver Sources High-End Grapes

31 Saturday Oct 2015

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Midwestern States

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Bien Nacido, Bill Oliver, Bubblecraft, Creekbend Vineyard, Dennis Dunham, Flight Series, Oliver Winery, Pinot Noir

BLOOMINGTON, In, – Any discussion of Indiana wine has to always include Oliver Winery. The iconic Hoosier winery, synonymous with sweet wines, is Indiana’s biggest player on a big stage. Oliver is one of the nation’s biggest producers not located on the West Coast.

Bill Oliver, who took over from his pioneering father in the 1980s, has grown the winery and expanded the operation’s wine footprint beyond Soft Red and White wines. I spent a couple of hours Friday morning with Bill Oliver at the winery. He was cordial, excited about the future, and enthused about a new higher-end venture that might surprise a few wine purists.

Oliver chatting, tasting Chambourcin in the tasting room.

Oliver chatting, tasting Chambourcin in the tasting room.

Anyone dismissing Oliver Winery as ‘that sweet stuff’ is missing the mark. Yes, Oliver is a leader in sweet Concord red and Niagara white wines on a regional level and perhaps a national level in the next decade. But Oliver Winery is also producing very well-made wines from its nearby Creekbend Vineyard. Traminette, Vignoles, Chambourcin and more are featured at wineries across the state. But few, if any, are making those wines any better than Oliver.

The initial purpose of my visit was to talk to Oliver about his “Flight” series of wines featuring carefully sourced fruit from California vineyards. The current release getting lots of deserved attention is a 2013 Pinot Noir from the legendary Bien Nacido vineyard on California’s central coast. That name may not mean much to many wine drinkers but to real wine geeks Bien Nacido is one of the most sought-after vineyard designate wines in the Santa Barbara area.

Bill and I tasted wines with winemaker Dennis Dunham. We tasted the 2015 which had not even made it to the barrels yet. We sipped the 2014 which has seen its time in oak and now rests in stainless steel before bottling. And we tasted the mid-summer release of the 2013. I had previously tasted the 2013 and thought it was outstanding. The 2014 is going to be even better with a more extracted fruit flavor. It’s too early to tell on the 2015 juice.

The Oliver Bien Nacido Pinot sells almost exclusively in the Oliver tasting room for $45. That’s a big price jump for a winery known for the under-$10 sweet wines. But the solid Creekbend entries sell in the high-teen to mid-20s range. Oliver said one of the reasons to make the Pinot was to show people what his team could do with really great fruit.

An aside for the wine geeks, buying California fruit for Hoosier-made wine is nothing new for Oliver or many others. Oliver has access to some great California Central coast fruit and scored with his catch of Bien Nacido Pinot. It’s an expensive experiment but one the winemaker and owner clearly are enjoying.

At the other end of the spectrum is Oliver’s new Bubblecraft red and white wines. The $9 “fizz” is in the traditional Concord and Niagara grapes and in grocery stores already. Oliver produced and expects to sell about 10,000 cases this year with an expectation of nearly 25,000 cases in sales next year.

I have several story ideas from my time at Oliver today. Most of those will be posted or promoted here. There is even some bigger news coming from Bill Oliver not mentioned here.

Stay tuned.

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Rain Impacts Indiana Vineyards

24 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Midwestern States, Newspaper Column 2015

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bernie Parker, Bruce Bordelon, Butler Winery, Don Pampel, Huber Orchard and Winery, Indiana rainfall, Indiana Vineyards, Jim Butler, Oliver Winery, Purdue University, Ted Huber, Whyte Horse Winery

Indiana’s corn and soybean crops have sustained $475 million in rain and flood damage this summer according to Purdue University agriculture economists. Indiana’s grape crop and vineyards haven’t escaped the soggy summer woes either.

Grape Sense LogoThe rains have hurt vineyards most in Central Indiana while southern vines have been spared. “All the rain this year has made it especially difficult to control diseases,” said Bruce Bordelon, Purdue Professor of Horticulture and specialist in commercial grape and wine production. He said many vineyards avoided disease problems thanks to a dry month of May.

Purdue's Bruce Bordelon

Purdue’s Bruce Bordelon

“But, I’ve seen a tremendous amount of anthracnose (leaf spots and blotches) and black rot. Shocking to see it so bad,” Bordelon said. “In some cases, it is due to a poor spray program, but in others, it is due to high disease pressure. We’ve had too many rains too close together to maintain adequate fungicide coverage.”

Purdue’s grape expert said many of the problems could still be overcome with the most critical weeks of veraison (grape ripening) still ahead.

Don Pampel, owner of Whyte Horse Winery near Monticello, owns one of those vineyards impacted by the downpours. “The heavy rainfall has made some of our vineyards extremely wet and holding water in the rows for extended period of time,” he said. “This has caused stress on the vines and depleted some of the nutrients that they depend on and we are having to spray nutrients where we have not had to in the past. The frequency of the rain has caused challenges to keep the vines protected from fungus that the rain spreads.

“We will not know the damage until it gets closer to harvest and then it is too late.”

Oliver's Parker

Oliver’s Parker

A big challenge with the heavy rainfall is vineyard management. There is the obvious cost of additional spraying and loss of crop but fighting the rainfall’s effect increases labor cost. Bernie Parker, Vineyard Manager for Oliver Winery, said his crews have tried to stay ahead of the heavy rainfall by working the vines.

“Mildews have been a problem but we have had a lot more midseason growth that requires more manpower to manage,” Parker said. “We are shoot positioning and leaf pulling to open the canopy.  This allows for good air flow which helps with drying the clusters and canopy, also reducing the mildew problems.”

Oliver’s Creekbend Vineyard, just north of Bloomington, is on glently rolling slopes allowing excess rainfall to run off preventing flooding. But Parker notes the heavy rains cause a proliferation of weeds to be pulled.

Creekbend was one of many Indiana vineyards to take a hit in 2014 and 2013 from extremely cold winter and spring weather. But Bordelon noted new vines and retrained vines should be benefiting from the additional moisture. Parker agreed that his re-trained vines were looking strong.

Jim Butler

Jim Butler

The rainfall’s impact lessens in the south. At Butler Vineyards, not far from Oliver, things are looking pretty good. “If we get drier weather starting around the first of August we will have a good year,” Jim Butler said. “We have a large crop set on the vines. We have run a tight spray schedule, by that I mean timely sprays of the right materials to prevent the start of fungal infections.”

Butler said normal August weather should deliver a strong crop despite all of the early rains. Rains have been mostly normal in the Ohio River Valley region.

”In Southern Indiana we have been very lucky in missing all of the large rain events and as a result we have remained very disease free,” said Ted Huber, Huber Orchard and Winery. “Vine growth has been very good plus we continue to remain warmer and sunnier than other parts of the state.

“Therefore, many of our varieties are already in veraison and picking up sugars quickly. We estimate that our harvest will being on August 15.”

Huber has the state’s largest vineyard with more than 20 varietals planted. Just down the road at Turtle Run Winery owner Jim Pfeiffer said the rainfall had not caused any problems for his vines.

Bordelon said the heavy rain and resulting challenges means some Central Indiana vineyards are likely to see a reduced harvest. A sunny and warm month of August could boost the crop as ripening gets underway.

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Time Again to Uncork the Uplands

13 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by Howard in Food & Travel, Indiana, Newspaper Column 2015

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Huber Winery, Indiana Uplands, Jeffersonville, New Albany, Oliver Winery, Turtle Run Winery, Uncork the Uplands, Uplands Wine Trail, Winerwald Winery

One of the state’s best, if not the best, wine celebrations returns to Huber Orchard and Winery 4-7 p.m., July 25 in southern Indiana.

Uncork the Uplands is in its fifth year celebrating the wines of Indiana’s only designated American Viticultural Area – the Indiana Uplands. The annual celebration returns to Huber’s after two years at Oliver Winery near Bloomington.

Grape Sense LogoThe Indiana Uplands has nine Indiana wineries coming together for one night of wine, food, and celebration. The event is hosted by Huber in its large Plantation Hall. Huber’s is located in the rolling hills of southern Indiana overlooking the Ohio River Valley near the very small town of Starlight. It’s a short drive from New Albany.

The nine wineries pouring will be Best Vineyards, Brown County Winery, Butler Winery, French Lick Winery, Huber Winery, Owen Valley Winery, Oliver’s, Turtle Run and Winzerwald. Those nine make up the Uplands Wine trail and grow grapes within the Indiana Uplands AVA.

The unique Indiana event also brings in a number of Indiana artisan food purveyors offering samples to pair with the wine. Live music and other events highlight the evening activities.

Touring vineyards at Uplands last year at Oliver Winery.

Touring vineyards at Uplands last year at Oliver Winery.

Wine fans can also participate in two guided tours. In one, guests will tour one of Indiana’s largest and oldest vineyards. Huber’s almost 800-acre farm has contributed to Indiana’s agritourism for over 150 years. In the second, tour Huber’s production facility, and see how wines and spirits are created from the ground up.

This year, Uncork will feature add-on tickets for an exclusive VIP event that will take place in Huber’s Starlight Distillery’s new 20,000 square-foot stillhouse an hour before the main event.

VIP tickets include special cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, a keepsake glass and personal interaction with the winemakers from around the trail. Tickets to this event are limited.

One of the best parts of the Uplands event is the chance to talk with the winemakers and family members who make some of Indiana’s best wine. But be sure to get there early and take the vineyard tour. If you’re a real wine fan, there is no better way to learn about wine grown in any region of the world than a walk through a production vineyard.

Tickets are $60 per person and are available at the participating wineries and at the door the night of the event. The fee covers all the food and wine tastings throughout the evening.

With Huber located in the southern most region of the state, you should consider spending the night near New Albany or Jeffersonville and enjoy the historical district, restaurants, and new walking bridge across the Ohio River. The area is going through big positive changes. There are several national chain motels near I-64.

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Indiana Vineyards Took Vortex Hit

15 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Howard in Indiana, Newspaper Column 2014

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Bernie Parker, Bruce Bordelon, Creekbend vineyards, Indiana Uplands, Oliver Winery, Purdue University, Ted Huber

Creekbend vineyard vines in renewal.

Creekbend vineyard vines in renewal.

When most Hoosiers think of weather problems and crops it’s cornfields that come to mind. But the winter cold is the big issue of 2014 for farmers of a different type – vineyard managers.

Grape Sense LogoThe frigid cold of early 2014 damaged up to 25 percent of the state’s grape crop, according to Purdue’s Bruce Bordelon. “It’s very widespread in the northern part of the state,” he said. “From the Bloomington/Columbus line and north the damage is pretty severe.”

The extreme cold temperatures damaged the vine structure in many vineyards. “So a lot of us are retraining vines from the ground up,” Bordelon explained. What that means to those with the cold weather issues is that sections of the vineyard restarted may be out of production for two years. “We’ll have a light crop next year,” Bordelon said. “There should be a partial crop in two years then back to full production in 2017.”

Oliver's Parker

Oliver’s Parker

One of the hardest hit vineyards was the state’s second largest at Oliver Winery. The Creekbend Vineyard just west of Oliver’s tasting room on Hwy. 37 suffered damage to 20-25 percent of its vines, according to vineyard manager Bernie Parker. “We’ll be making less than half of the Creekbend (label) but Creekbend is only about three percent of our total production. There is an economic impact because we’re still having to put in the same effort in the vineyard to re-grow these vines. It may take more effort.”

Parker had to restart 9,000 of 36,000 vines in the 54 acre vineyard. The largest portion of the Oliver wines though are produced from grapes purchased to produce their signature and popular sweet wines. The higher-end Creekbend wines are grown in their vineyard. The bulk of that vineyard is planted in Chambourcin, Traminette, Vignoles, Chardonel, and other typical Indiana wine grapes.

BruceOthers who suffered damage may have been able to recover a crop with good vineyard practices. “Grapes are an amazing plant in their ability to produce fruit,” Bordelon said. “We always adjust the production through pruning and cluster thinning. We usually have way more fruit than we really need. With some of these (grape) varieties, with lighter pruning, we’ll still be able to have close to a full crop.”

Down south Ted Huber saw little damage in his vineyards atop the Ohio River Valley hilltops. We’re probably going to pull off an 85-90 percent grape crop,” Huber said. We had a little bit of minor damage in one vineyard so by choice we decided to do a renewal on it. It still had one-third to a half crop on it anyway, but it just made a lot of sense to take it out of production.”

Huber has the state’s largest vineyard but is the second biggest wine producer. Oliver is by far the state’s biggest wine producer with the second largest vineyard. Oliver buys the fruit for much of its 300,000 case production. Approximately half of the Oliver total production is the popular sweet wines.

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