The Lanthier Winery and Distillery in historic Madison, Indiana fits the tag ‘historic’ in several ways. The site of the facility has quite an interesting history going back to the 1700’s.
The stately historic building
Beautiful garden paths to the entrance
We made this winery a stop on a recent trip to southeastern Indiana. The path to the entrance door leads through a beautiful garden. The flowers had begun to grow, and a few daisies had begun to bloom.
Wine vats and start of bottling machine, right
Distilling column, gathering 94% ABV spirits
Once in the building we headed to the tasting counter where free tastings are offered. We tried 5 different wines and landed on two of the sweet wine offerings. While we were sampling I asked if the winery and distillery were operated on this site. Immediately a nice fellow said “We are making wine and distilling vodka here, would you like to see the operation?”
In the tasting room area
Our purchases after tastings
The fellow who offered us a private tour was none other than Chris Lanthier, Cellarmaster and, with his wife Tami, owner of Lanthier Winery and Distillery. Chris took us right back in the production area of wine making, bottling and the distilling of vodka products. He was most generous of his time as he explained, in detail, how the distillery works, and how it leads to their own brand of flavored vodkas.
We enjoyed the gardens, our tour, the tastings and the friendly staff of Lanthier Winery and Distillery. Chris was most generous with his time and all made us feel very welcome. Be sure to visit the Lanthier website here for more fascinating information about this wonderful winery.
Roadtirement 
Distilleries and breweries are fascinating. That is so cool you got a private tour.
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The private tour was fantastic. While Chris was talking to us he would stop and say he had to take some measurements. No biggy, we waited while he did his work. Neat. The machine that filled, corked and labeled the bottles was also fascinating. It could do 300 bottles an hour, and said that their machine was a small capacity one. A great time we had.
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I did photos for a firend of some of the breweries in town. They had high speed bottle processors. They were amazing to see in action.
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I love seeing that kind of production in action for sure. Amazing technologies.
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This would have to be a prime stop off-must see spot!!! 🍾🍷🍸🍹
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We were certainly glad to have made this stop that day! Thanks, GP.
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Very nice! You two had a great private tour, I’d like that too. 94% ABV is so strong, whoa!
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The 94% is the spirits they use to make the flavored vodka. We bought a bottle of 80 proof (40% ABV) Vanilla flavored vodka.
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That sounds good! My dad had a 100 proof grain alcohol bottle I think it was called, nasty stuff!
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That stuff’ll kill ya! LOL 😉
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Oh yah, and degrease engines too!
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😂😂😂👍
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Phew! That’ll curl your whiskers! 😀
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The 94% ABV was the spirits they use as a base for the vodka, at 40% ABV. Shots of it will also curl the whiskers. (I know)
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🙂 I followed your blog
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Thank you and reciprocated.
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How lucky you were, such a special treat. I guess he was happy to meet people who were genuinely interested in the process.
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Wine is the nectar of the gods, and they spread that know how all over. Even in Indiana!
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Glad they have continued the spread!
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Pingback: Lanthier Winery and Distillery – MobsterTiger
I love Madison.
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It is a real gem in the state. 😉
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That’s so cool! I love historic buildings!
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This building has a long interesting history. Check the winery website for the whole history. It is worth the reading.
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Very cool tour!
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It was most enjoyable. (And the wine is fabulous!)
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Reblogged this on Roadtirement.
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