Indiana wineries

Oliver Winery is an Indiana landmark

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The Oliver Winery is located north of Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. That is important, as Oliver Winery traces its roots to the basement of IU law professor William Oliver in the 1960’s. He started as a hobby, planted a vineyard north of town, and soon had a production winery in the early 1970’s.

Tasting bar in center

Lots of cool stuff!

Covered deck, lovely hill with picnic tables overlooking the pond

Oliver’s website gives a wonderful bit of history: “Professor Oliver was instrumental in passing legislation allowing for the creation of small wineries in our state. The Indiana Small Winery Act passed in 1971, and Oliver Winery opened in 1972. Sales took off with Camelot Mead, and we’ve been growing ever since. Today, we distribute our award-winning, fruit-forward wines to 40 states and ship across the country.”

Interesting limestone feature

Path to the tasting room

From the flower garden…

 

 

 

 

 

Oliver Winery grew rapidly during the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The new tasting room was built in 1997. The winery has become a very popular gathering place. The beautiful grounds provide peaceful areas for picnicking, including a lovely pond to add ambiance.

The stunning gardens and grounds are worth the time for a visit! We really enjoyed seeing the Oliver Winery in person. We had discussed many times making a visit to this well known winery. And yes, we left with some Cherry Moscato, Blueberry Moscato and local Dillman Farms Plum butter and Blackberry  preserves. Deliciousness coming!

A very busy day trip

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The weather was nearly perfect, not too hot, partly cloudy and a nice breeze. We decide that Sunday would be a great time to get out and have a day trip. Our son put together a tentative itinerary, and we hit the road late morning. It was sure nice having our son driving.

Soybean fields, forests and a covered bridge

We had quite a day, long in time but most enjoyable. We saw several historic bridges, which you know we enjoy visiting. A country church was a nice stop. We also visited some of the shops in Nashville, Indiana, a huge tourist mecca in south central Indiana. (Yep, two fudge shoppes!)

More deer images coming

We also had a couple of wineries planned. In addition, we found a distillery we were not aware of. Turns out is is well known, and had a marvelous tasting event and enjoyable grounds. In addition we were blessed with the sightings of quite a lot of wildlife and frankly a few surprises as well. Stay tuned, we have several posts on the way!

Lanthier Gardens on the Winery grounds

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The Lanthier Winery and Distillery in Madison, Indiana is known not only for its award winning wines and distillery products but also for the magnificent gardens that surround the classic brick building . We visited this facility on Mother’s Day and walked the gardens. Our pervious visit was early in the season, and the weather was not conducive to an enjoyable stroll in the garden.

 

 

 

 

 


The gardens are known nation wide not only for the extraordinary variety of gorgeous flowers and vegetation, but also for a remarkable display of various art work in the form of paintings, sculpture and metalworks found throughout the grounds. There are so many unique creations in these gardens that you need to really keep your eyes open or you may miss something! The gardens are open seven days a week from sun up to sun down. There is never an admission charge.

Lanthier Winery and Distillery

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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.

Return trip to Harmony Winery

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We discovered the Harmony Winery last summer when we were set up at the Highway 40 yard sale a few miles down the road. The winery is in Knightstown on Historic US 40 in a building that used to house a chicken hatchery at the turn of the century. The wines we tried last June during a tasting really impressed us. Thus we were ready for yet another tasting flight of any of the new selections available.

Full shelves, wide selection

Our choices

After the tasting

There were several new wines and some old favorites in the case that we purchased. It is always fun to try new and different wines. The people who own and run Harmony Winery are friendly, helpful and always carry our case of wine to the car. It is one of our favorite places to visit.

Buck Creek Winery case club

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Yes, we enjoy a good glass of wine. One of our favorite wineries when we are not traveling is the Buck Creek Winery, southeast of Indianapolis off of I-74 Exit 99. They offer a “buy it by the case” club that gives you very nice savings. (A case of wine is 12 of the 750ml bottles.) After buying a case in January or February at 15% off, any other cases that year are a full 20% off. This is a substantial saving that adds up over the course of a year.

When the owners see us come in they recognize us right off and ask if we want our usual case. Kind of like the old TV show Cheers. Remember it’s “Where everybody knows your name”. We like this place.

Brandywine Creek Winery

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Sher and I visited the Brandywine Creek Winery on our way home from a day of adventure in Greenfield, which is east of Indianapolis. We had seen Brandywine listed, but had never stopped. We are glad we did.

At the tasting bar

Without the sign out front, you’d think that the winery was a private home in Pleasant View, just off of I-74. Walking in the front door reveals a beautiful tasting bar with wine related merchandise displayed. In addition, several hand made jewelry pieces and some kids craft projects are also available.

Out front signage

The wine bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the wine is what’s important. The tastings are done at the wine bar, only $5 for 6 tastes. A wide variety of types of wine are ready for you. We enjoyed the tasting. and since I was driving, our hostess let us share a tasting. (I take sips, but still get a good read of the sample.) We liked what we tried, and purchased three bottles of their sweet wines.

Enjoy wine at a table overlooking the vineyard

The facility has a beautifully constructed porch/veranda out back with tables that overlook the vineyard. Brandywine has over five acres of vineyards in two locations. The first vines were planted in 2014. Check their website for details about their Event Room rental and schedule of weekend live music and Trivia events. We really enjoyed our visit.

A fun Saturday discovery

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Wine bar to serve you

Sher and I wanted to have a new experience Saturday. We had been looking for nearby attractions, and found that there was a winery near Batesville, Indiana, about half way between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.  Ertel Cellars Winery is a well established winery and bistro, offering both excellent varieties of wines and varied and delicious menu selections in the restaurant.

Loving that wine!

Studying the wine list

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s a burger

We decided to have our meal on the outside covered patio. The seating was in very comfortable wood rocking chairs, and overlooked a beautiful green valley through classic rough stone masonry. We each received a complimentary flight of three wine samples. Of the samples we both preferred the Pink Catawba, one of the Estate wines, meaning grown, fermented and bottled on site at Ertel Cellars.

The meals we ordered were from the lunch menu. I ordered the Smoked Gouda cheese burger, and Sheryl had the Spinach salad with all the trimmings. Both of our meals were superb and very filling. We had a bottle of the Pink Catawba with our meals and took the specially packed unfinished bottle  home with us. Sarah was perfect as our wait staff and made our visit most memorable.

Gorgeous view from our table

Some of Ertel’s vineyards

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dining patio is an absolutely delightful place to enjoy a quiet and calm Saturday afternoon. With the best company (no question there), great food and excellent wine we had an adventure that turned into a romantic Saturday date. Ertel Cellars should be on any traveler’s agenda. We’ll be returning.

 

Easley Winery in downtown Indy

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Sher and I had the opportunity to visit another central Indiana winery today. The Easley Winery is literally in downtown Indianapolis, a couple of blocks north of Washington Street, the main east/west artery in the city.

The main entrance

Inside at the counter for picking wines to sample

 

Basket full of sample glasses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easley has been around since 1974, and currently has over 100 acres of vineyards in southern Indiana. They offer very nice tastings, either inside or out on the patio at umbrella covered tables.  For $5.00 you  can sample seven different wines. Easley has a great variety of wines to choose from.

We found that of the seven wines we tasted Sher and I both liked the Sweet Barrel Red and the Reggae Margarita wines the best. We purchased a bottle of each before we left. Family owned Easley Winery is a great place to have a nice break from a busy day of sightseeing in Indy or for an enjoyable single destination.

Mallow Run Rhubarb wine

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It was time to open the bottle of Rhubarb wine that we purchased at the Mallow Run Winery yesterday, catch up on that story here. We were interested in the Rhubarb wine after reading about it on the winery website.

It is listed as their number one seller, sweet, but with that unique Rhubarb zing. They recommend pairing the wine with a cheese plate or green salad.

It is unique and delicious! We are having it with Triscuit crackers and we love the sweet Rhubarb taste.

The cork states “work hard, picnic often”

Mallow Run Winery, award winning wines