Purdue Union Autograph Hotel Wine Dinner

Purdue Union Autograph Hotel Wine Dinner

Indiana Getaway features history, architecture and fine dining at the Purdue Union Autograph Hotel

Usually I am cautious about expectations of a hotel restaurant being more than a glorified coffee shop serving three squares a day. So it was that I was a bit dubious booking the 8eleven Bistro Restaurant in the Purdue Union Club Autograph Hotel for our Friday night dinner during our weekend getaway trip to (West) Lafayette, Indiana. 

We met dearest life-long best friends Eric and Cathy from Indy who made arrangements for the day, in the town of their alma mater, Purdue University. 

The attraction was the Indiana Automotive Lafayette Tour, an inside look at automotive landmarks and rare Indiana-made vehicles, sponsored by Indiana Automotive, and the Indiana Landmarks Foundation. 

Indiana Automotive celebrates and commemorates Indiana’s role in the birth and flourishing of the automobile industry and its legacy of places worth preserving and spectacular automobiles that match the best ever built, anywhere.

 Indiana Automotive celebrates the early auto visionaries and their products, and promotes the preservation of the cars, the factories and showrooms, the homes of auto moguls, and the landscaped parkways and roadside architecture birthed by the auto age.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, more than 250 automobile manufacturers opened shop in Indiana—Duesenberg, Stutz, Cord, Auburn, and Studebaker among them—whose products rank as landmarks on wheels.

Indian Automotive is an affinity group of Indiana Landmarks umbrella.

We then attended a reception at the historic Frank Lloyd Wright Samara House, recently restored and reopened to the public for tours and special events.  

The John and Catherine Christian House, commonly known as Samara, is one of the most complete Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the US. 

Samara, named for the winged seeds found in pinecones and several of the trees on the site, was completed in 1956 near the end of Wright’s career. It is a classic Usonian style home with floor to ceiling windows, garden views, and complete Wright designed furniture and fixtures. 

 Readers of these pages know of my interests in Frank Lloyd Wright and Prairie School architecture. As a Docent/Interpreter and Researcher for the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust in Chicago and Oak Park, IL, I give public tours at the FLW home & Studio in Oak Park and have done extensive research on Wright and Prairie style buildings and sites.   

My work as a volunteer certified docent/interpreter and research captain for the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust is enriched by my knowledge of work by Wright and his contemporaries. 

I publish a Wright site that includes a photo gallery of prairie style architecture and FLW sites I have visited as part of my travels and studies. and his contemporaries. 

Samara House Alexander Vertikoff Photo

Indeed, our hosts for the day, Eric and Cathy built and live in an authentic Prairie Style home in Indianapolis, which is also featured on my site.  

 

My photos from my library of over 25000, have been published on PBS, in text books, children's books, architecture and history books, and most recently, my photography was selected for the "Finn Juhl and Danish Chairs" Exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition highlighted some of the Finn Juhl's design works featured in Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Fallingwater house.

https://mcnees.org/flw/

https://www.samara-house.org/

In planning our weekend getaway, I researched dining options in greater Lafayette and West Lafayette, looking at the numerous restaurants and exploring their menus and associated wine lists for the optimal food and wine pairing. In the end, we opted for the most convenient option, our hotel restaurant, which appeared to a have a suitable wine list and menu for the occasion. Thankfully, 8Eleven Bistro met, actually exceeded our expectations for a delightful fine dining experience. 

The clubby 8Eleven Bistro is named to commemorate Purdue alumni trailblazing tradition of two of NASA’s most daring aerospace programs, Gemini 8 and Apollo 11, missions commanded by Purdue alum, astronaut Neil Armstrong.

From the menu, we ordered for starters the Baked (Conneticut Blue Point) Oysters with brie, shallot chablis and parsley, Spicy Tuna Bruschetta clementine with avocado and pistachio, and the Golden Beets & Apple arugula salad with whipped goat cheese, sunflower seeds and citrus vinaigrette. All were delicious, delightfully prepared and presented. We had to ask for a serving of fresh bread with butter.

 

For our dinner entree we shared the Braised Beef with pommes puree, roasted pepper, pearl onion and shaved fennel. It too was delicious and ample for sharing. 

For a wine pairing we selected from the wine list the premium Napa Valley estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Montelena. 

The 8Eleven wine list is ample and artfully selected offering several favorite producers and labels with a range of offerings from the US, France, Italy, Australia and South American. There are varietals and blends to match and pair with all the food selections. Prices are targeted at the roughly 2.5x retail price, typical and customary for such venues. 

The winelist offer a nice selection of fourteen WBTG - Wines by the Glass, six red, five white, one rose and two sparkling. 

The separate Bottle Wine list features all the popular varietal and styles, five each sparkling wines and Sauvignon Blancs, eight Chardonnays and ten 'other' Whites. 

The red wine selection is comprehensive and well selected with six Pinot Noirs, sixteen Cabernet Sauvignons and Red Blends, and seventeen 'other' Reds. The Reds include labels from Napa, Oregon, Washington, Italy, Australia, France and feature Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, Italian Sangiovese and Barolo, Australian Syrah/Shiraz, Rhone Blends and a popular premium American Zinfandel. For several popular producers they feature the estate, premium and ultra premium labels such as Caymus Napa and Caymus Special Select, and Trefethen Estate Cab, Reserve, and their flagship Halo label. 

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

We ordered from the wine list the Chateau Montelena 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. While it was posted at $132 on their website, the updated menu price was $150.

 

This is the standard premium label crafted from Montelena estate and select contract grower neighbor vineyards located in the northern end of Napa Valley, in and around Calistoga, sites selected for their alluvium soil profile which provides an earthy, complex and concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon. This label is not to be confused with their "Estate" flagship label which costs more than two times the price.

This release is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot from Oak Knoll appellation in southern Napa Valley, added to soften the wine. It was aged 16 months in 28% new French and some Hungarian oak.

Winemaker notes - "Everyone fondly remembers the wines from 2005 or 2013 when quality was simply there for the taking, and that was the case with 2019. Amusingly, as a winemaker, our favorite vintages are typically those that follow a Hollywood-esque storyline with unforeseen challenges, plenty of character development, and of course a final victory. With that said, it is just as gratifying to hit that pitch out of the park if the opportunity is there. Moreover, while it’s true that every vintage builds character, growing seasons like 2019 beget gratefulness and reflection in reminding us why Napa Valley in general and the Montelena Estate vineyard in particular are so special. In short, this vintage exemplifies all of the characteristics that one could seek in delicious, age-worthy wine." - Winemaker Matt Crafton.

"NOSE - Pure and powerful, this wine opens with fresh blueberries, blackberry pie and cassis, endless dark fruit is complemented by a range of baking spices: vanilla at first, but also clove and cinnamon.'

 

"PALATE - the first sip instantly reveals the character of this Cabernet: dense and chewy with bright red fruit, incredible tension and pure, fine grain tannins. Not only is everything in its place; but the layers of flavor, the depth of the fruit and the sublime texture are constantly rearranging. Each glass will be a unique experience.'

"FINISH - In contrast to the dynamic palate, the finish is focused and stout. Abundant cocoa, espresso bean and black pepper dovetail into dark, black fruit while tart raspberry and strawberry jam linger. The wines at Chateau Montelena are often described as having classic “old-world” structure with ripe California fruit, and the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is emblematic of this style. These wines tend to have more acid and more moderate alcohol levels as compared to some of the “cult” Cabs. This combination of classic chemistry and California sunshine allows them to offer immediate pleasure and complexity on release, and the ability to develop beautifully."

This release was rated 91 points by Wine Advocate. 

Bright garnet colored, medium to full-bodied format, slightly disjointed with somewhat obtuse, vibrant, slightly astringent acidic plum, blackberry and black raspberry fruits, notes of cinnamon spice, expresso and vanilla, with fine grained tannins on the tangy lingering finish. Will likely improve as it integrates and settles a bit with some age. Still a nice tasty pairing with the robust hearty beefsteak.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3623924

https://montelena.com/wine/2019-napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon/

https://twitter.com/ChMontelena 

@ChMontelena

https://www.8elevenbistro.com/

Carpenter Creek Cellars Merlot

Carpenter Creek Cellars Merlot

For simple casual sipping with some pasta leftovers from last other night's dinner, I pulled from the cellar this Merlot from Carpenter Creek Cellars in Northern Indiana. We tasted and acquired this wine during a visit to the winery last fall, picking up a couple bottles for such an occasion. I wrote in detail about Carpenter Creek Cellars in an earlier blogpost here. 

Carpenter Creek Cellars American Merlot NV

Winemaker's notes: "A medium bodied red with an herbal aroma with hints of walnut and tea leaves."

This is labeled as an 'American Red Wine' indicating it is comprised of grapes sourced in America without further specification. It is produced at the winery in North Central Indiana from grapes sourced from various suppliers and growers in Northern California. They procure some of the grapes through a middleman so in some cases they do not the precise provenance or specifics of the grower.

Ruby colored, medium bodied, tangy red berry fruits with notes of black tea, tobacco leaf and hints of leather and white pepper on the finish. 

RM 87 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3529433

https://carpentercreekcellars.com/

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Vintners Cuvee

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Vintners Cuvee

We discovered and acquired this wine during our recent visit to the Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery estate and hospitality center in northeast Indiana north of Ft. Wayne, which I featured in a chronicle of our estate visit recently. 

We opened this for pleasant casual sipping with roast beef and pasta leftovers - a suitable pairing and occasion for this wine. 

Country Heritage Vineyards & Winery Winemaker's Blend NV

According to the winery tasting wine flight offering sheet, this is a non-vintage blend sourced from grapes from Calaveras County, CA.

Dark garnet purple colored, medium-full bodied, somewhat complex tangy gripping blackberry and ripe plum fruits accented by a layer of smoke, tobacco box, woody leather with notes of toasted poppy seeds, soy and black pepper with a lingering menthol and whisper of cognac laced acidic finish.

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4136331

https://countryheritagewinery.com/

https://twitter.com/CH_Winery

@CH_Winery

Indiana Wine - Country Heritage Vineyards and Winery

 Indiana Wine - Country Heritage Vineyards and Winery in northeast Indiana

Visiting northeastern Indiana we visited Country Heritage Vineyards and Winery outside the hamlet of LaOtta, Indiana, north of Fort Wayne. I chronicled Indiana wines in an earlier blogpost.

I've written before about Indiana wine and the challenges of growing terroir driven quality grapes in the climate and soil there, hence our expectations were fairly modest. Like many midwest producers, Country Heritage craft wines from estate grown grapes, grapes imported from around the region, and grapes imported from as far away as California and Washington State. 

We were surprised and impressed with the vastness and extent of the Country Heritage Vineyards, Winery and hospitality center. This is a serous operation with intent on producing quality fine wines as well as every day sipping wines. They vastly exceeded our expectations in every respect - their vineyard operations, their craftmanship in winemaking, their winery operations, and their marketing, branding and promotions. 

Country Heritage Winery & Vineyards are owned and operated by Jennifer & Jeremy Lutter on the Lutter family farm that has been in the family over several generations going back over a hundred years. 

On their several hundreds of acres of croplands across Noble County, Swan Township (shown below), they have planted over 70 acres of vineyards - practicing serious viticulture to grow select grapes suited to the terroir - soil, climate and all elements of place. 

Country Heritage also source grapes through contracts with numerous growers around the region, and from growers as far away as California. 

Shown adjacent below are the land holdings of the Lutter Family farms across Swan Township in Noble County, Indiana.

They brought in Kevin Geeting as Head Winemaker - locally born and raised, he learned winemaking through his own studies and experimentation, then learned the tradecraft as assistant winemaker at a winery in Virginia before returning to Indiana to take on responsibilities with the Lutters at Country Heritage. 

Teaming with the Lutters and their generations of experience growing excellent crops, they've developed an extensive estate of vineyards and winery production facilities to produced a broad extensive portfolio of wines. 

Traveling north from Fort Wayne on State Route 3, one comes across the vast Country Heritage estate vineyards and winery. The vast hospitality center consists of a retail tasting bar and giftshop, a vast tasting hospitality room that extends out to patios, gardens and an amphitheater with stage for concerts and entertainment. There is also a wine cellar with private dining room and barrel room for private tastings and dinners. 

The wine cellar dining room features a vast dining table that seats sixteen, handcrafted personally by proprietor Jeremy Lutter (shown below). 

The tasting bar offers tasting flights of personally selected flights featuring their broad portfolio of red, white, blush rose, sparkling and fortified dessert wines as well as fruit wines - estate, private label, special selections and vintage library wines.

They source grapes from notable wine regions to craft French and American varietal own label wines such as Petit Verdot from Sierra Foothills, CA, Petit Sirah from CA, Syrah from Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, and Merlot from Walla Walla, Washington, and a Proprietor's Reserve vintage Bordeaux Blend from various sources in California. While these were not available for tasting, based on the quality of some of the tasting selections, we picked up some of these premium labels to try at home. 

As always, our goal was to explore their signature wines that best represent their estate viticulture and terroir as well as their winemaking craftsmanship. 

Focusing on their estate (home grown) wines, our tasting flight consisted of these Country Heritage labels:

Traminette 2020
Vignobles 2020
Petit Pearl 2018
Norton 2018
Vintner's Cuvee - Winemaker's Blend (Calaveras County, CA) - Tasting Note
Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Commemorative Bottling 2020
Ice Age White - Late Harvest blend of La Crescent and Vignobles 

They also produce this commemorative bottling of the annual car festival at the northwest Indiana classic car Auburn-Cord-Dusenberg Museum in nearby Auburn, Indiana, another regional destination, attraction.

Purchased Wines from their select premium and library collections

 

Ice Aged White Dessert Wine

 

 

Special private label bottling - New Year's Eve
also owner/proprietor's birthday - 1231

 

Special release - Proprietor's Blend Bordeaux Blend

Watch for future wine tasting postings as we explore these wines further. 

https://countryheritagewinery.com/

https://twitter.com/CH_Winery

@CH_Winery

Truffles Restaurant & Wine Bar B-Town Wine Dinner

Truffles Restaurant and  56° Wine Bar Bloomingon, Indiana Wine Dinner

We traveled to Bloomington, Indiana for a Indiana University sororiety college reunion gathering. Arriving a day early to meet with long time friends, we dined at Truffles Restaurant and  56° Wine Bar. This sells itself as a "chef-driven eaterie serving a range of foods from classic Steakhouse to International fare". They offer an extensive diversified wine list that is unique on the Bloomington dining scene.

The 56 Degrees Bar Wine Cellar is an ambitious venture for the Truffles family owner Mark Kiang who shares his extensive wine collection, with many selections B-T-G (by the glass), by the bottle, or via an online ordering system, with an option for delivery.

He caters to local wine aficionados with a program to sign up for a monthly wine bundle subscription, and receive bottles of wines selected by the owner himself (or bottles to personal choice). Truffles will then provide recipes and pairing suggestions in the wine package and via e-newsletter.

Remarkably, on the front porch of the restaurant was a display of several (consumed) bottles of extraordinary wines that we hold in our cellar, including one very rare label, indeed. The first that got my attention was the current release of Chateau Pichon Lalande, a label we just had the other evening at our gala Pour Boys Wine Dinner.

 The other bottle that really got my attention was a very rare 'red stripe' label of David Arthur 'Elevation 1157' Napa Cabernet (shown right from our cellar). This particular bottling ran to the end of the spool of labels, to the point that there was a red stripe across the label, indicating to the bottling, labeling machine operator that it was time to add a new spool of labels. Several bottles were labeled with these errant labels in the process before the machine was stopped. The producer went ahead and sold these bottles anyway as a novelty in their portfolio selection. 

We visited the David Arthur Estate and Vineyards, at the elevation of 1157 feet, high above the Valley floor on the eastern slope of the Vaca Range. We hold several of those bottles (shown) in our cellar waiting for an suitable occasion to serve a unique novel bottle. Suffice to say, that bottle had been consumed and none were on offer this evening. (David Arthur visit - http://unwindwine.blogspot.com/).

I took advantage of the offering of the latest current release Caymus Estate Napa Cabernet B-T-G. Interestingly, I had considered the same label earlier over the weekend at the Del Ray Beach Wine Bar from their extensive B-T-G selection. Notably, the price of both offers was within $1. 

Truffles offered a charcuterie and wine selection as well as several wine friendly small plates. I sampled the Pate' with my selection.

Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

I admit the glass of wine I was served was a slight bit 'skunked' from having been open a bit too long or not handled properly such as by a dispenser system. Not wanting to make a scene or disrupt the mood of the evening, I accepted the glass and factored in the state condition into my tasting. 

Caymus generally does an incredible job crafting a consistent signature style in large volume, vintage after vintage. The Caymus profile provides early gratification with approachable easy drinking at an early age, yet is ageworthy for a couple decades, or more in exceptional vintages. The style is dark in color, round with full rich fruit and ripe, velvety tannins. 

We hold a decade of Caymus vintages in our cellar as an easy to please, popular, dependable, and mainstay label for special occasion as well as special guest servings.

We visited the Caymus estate and winery during ou r our Napa Valley Wine Experience in the summer of 2018. 

Caymus sources and blends Cabernet fruit from eight of Napa’s 16 sub-appellations, taking advantage of such diversification to enable them to select the best grapes so as to make the best possible wine in any given year. 

Typical of the Caymus profile, tonight's wine that was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, (setting aside a slight funk most assuredly from the bottle being open and not handled ideally), the ripe black berry and black cherry fruits were accented tones of mocha cocoa, cassis and notes of tobacco and tea with soft smooth lingering finish. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3456558

Next I sampled another current release Napa Cab. 

Faust Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

This is the another label that is from the owners/winemakers associated with Quintessa, from the producer Faust, whose property is adjacent to the west of the estate on Silverado Trail.

Some call this label “Baby Quintessa”, since it has common ownership and geographically is from the adjacent Faust property.

We visited the Quintessa Estate and Vineyards during our Napa Valley Wine Experience back in 2003. It was about this time that Quintessa founder Agustin Huneeus and his wife Valeria, were planning and assembling their family portfolio of wines that represent the finest vineyard estates in California and Oregon, that was announced and launched i 2005.

In addition to the Quintessa estate, the family’s vineyard and winery projects include Faust Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Illumination by Quintessa, an aromatic white wine. In 2009, the Huneeus family forged a partnership with Joan and Walt Flowers of Flowers Vineyards & Winery, pioneering vintners who in 1989, established two extraordinary vineyards dedicated to world-class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the extreme Sonoma Coast.

In 2017, Andy Erickson, former winemaker for Screaming Eagle, joined as partners on his red blend project Leviathan, which began in 2004, thereby joining the broader winemaking team. 

The winemaking team at Faust is similar to the team at Quintessa (Michel Rolland/Andy Erickson) minus Rebekah Wineburg but with Charles Thomas (Opus One) and David Jelinek (Copain/Prisoner/Groth). The vineyard sources are from the foothills of Atlas Peak in Coombsville. The wine is aged and bottled at Quintessa’s state-of-the-art winemaking facility, taking advantage of the vineyard pedigree and winemaking prowess of the Quintessa team. This received the big score of 94pts.

This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.

 

Dark garnet colored, medium full-bodied, highly expressive black berry and black current fruits with notes with mocha, leather, oak, hints of vanilla with a pleasant moderate lingering finish.

RM 90

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3693590

 

https://www.huneeuswines.com/

 

Rombauer Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay 2018

 

Label from 2014

Prior to dinner, with the starter course, and with her entree, Linda ordered, B-T-G, this Rombauer Napa Chardonnay. We know this label well, hold several vintages in our cellar, but had not yet tasted this current latest release vintage. Hence, like the two bottles above, we had not yet had the opportunity to taste the latest vintage, and were able to do so via the B-T-G offering, rather than having to procure a full bottle. Such is the fun, and convenience of such offerings. 

This release was awarded 90 points by both Wilfred Wong and James Suckling. 

The fruit for this wine comes from vineyards in the Carneros region owned by the Rombauer family, as well as that from select growers including the Sangiacomo family, long-term grower partners who have farmed this land for three generations.  The Carneros region has a cool climate with fog and breezes off San Pablo Bay, at the southern end of Napa and Sonoma Valleys where they converge near there. The San Pablo Bay provides ideal conditions for Chardonnay, consistently resulting in beautiful, fresh acidity and the key sense of balance for this ever popular Chardonnay. Rombauer has been producing Carneros-specific Chardonnay since 1990. This 2018 is another example of this classic style balancing bold fruit and lively acidity. 

 

We met the Rombauer National Sales Manager at a producer dinner Vin Chicago Rombauer Wine Dinner at Adelle's Restaurant in Wheaton, IL a couple years ago. 

 

This was pale light yellow with a green hue with notes of peach, hints of pear, honeydew, lychee fruit intertwined nicely with vanilla and spice, turning to soft buttery and subtly spicy acidity on the finish. 

 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3346773

 

https://www.rombauer.com/

 

https://www.trufflesbtown.com/

 

 

 

 

Carpenter Creek Cellars Indiana Produced Wines

Carpenter Creek Cellars Indiana Produced Wines - the original winery in Jasper County, Indiana.

Last year we stopped at Carpenter Creek Cellars while passing through Jasper County in Northwest Central Indiana. They're located just off Interstate 65 in Remington, Indiana halfway between Lafayette and Chicago, not far from our family farm, relatively speaking. We've passed this spot literally hundreds of times over the years, but never before stopped to visit the local winery, Carpenter Creek Cellars. Exit I65 from the North at exit SR114, or from the south at State Road 231. Follow the signs on the back country roads to the winery on Jordan Road.

I thought I blogged about the experience last year but have to admit I can't find it and it was obviously never posted so I am doing so now. Photos here were taken in December 2019. 

Winemaker Randy Rottler (left) and proprietor
partner Ed Courtright

 During our visit at that time, we tasted a half dozen of their wines and ended up buying several labels. This is a bit remarkable as they exceeded my expectations for Indiana produced wines such that we brought home nearly a case. This is a testament to the craft and handiwork of partner proprietors Ed Courtright (right), who wanted to grow grapes in northern Indiana to supply wineries in the area, and winemaker Randy Rottler, who had dreams of starting a small winery.

The farm has been in the Courtright family for three generations. Ed and his son Byron planted their first grape vines in 2002, in what became Byron's vineyard. In 2011, they planted 1.1 acres of Traminette, the Midwestern grape used to produce Indiana's signature wine. After two years of building a business, and one year of restoring a barn/planting vineyards/doing paperwork ... they opened to the public in 2013. Just six months later, they won awards at the 2013 Indy (Indianapolis) International (wine festival) - a Silver Medal in Carpenter Creek labels - Gunny White, Sunset Rosé, and Sunset Red and Bronze Medals for both the Gunny Red and the Riesling. 

Their dessert wine, Byron's Blend is a tribute to Byron and is a blend of the five varietals sourced from that vineyards. 

I've visited wineries in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri where, as much as I would like to support them in their endeavors, often, I failed to find a wine sufficiently inspiring to acquire. That was not the case here as Carpenter Creek exceeded my expectations and we did end up buying several labels.

Carpenter Creek is a farm winery housed in a quaint picturesque renovated 1919 barn. There is the winery and a tasting room of Carpenter Creek Cellars broad portfolio of wines. The estate is actually visible from the interstate highway, I65.

From there they produce what they claim to produce "world-class wines which embody the best terroir and fruit the Midwest has to offer".

While I agree with the latter part of that statement, that they 'produce wines that embody the best terroir and fruit the Midwest has to offer', the front of that claim leaves much to be desired. Its not their fault that Indiana, and most of the Midwest for that matter, is not well suited to growing fine wine varietal grapes. Their challenge is that what makes Indiana a top producer of corn and soybeans, tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits, is precisely why it is not well suited for wine grapes. 

As I written often in these pages, the concept of terroir embodies all the elements of a place that affect the growing of varietal grapes - climate, soil, drainage, sun exposure, slope and elevation, proximity to climate impacting bodies of water, and so on. Needless to say, the terroir of Indiana in most respects is not ideal for growing wine grapes. In any event, there are now more than a hundred Indiana wineries that span virtually all regions of the agricultural state from corner to corner.

I've often said, California should not try to grow corn or tomatoes, and Indiana (or Illinois) should not try to grow wine grapes. Having lived for a time in California, I will attest that while we enjoyed access to the wine regions, and many of the California fruits and vegetables, artichokes, apricots and so on, we dearly missed quality beef steak, corn and tomatoes. 

World class wine growing regions are in certain latitudes in areas with moderate or hot climates, in areas that are arid and possess poor rocky, well drained soils that would otherwise be harsh to the likes of corn or tomatoes. Ideal grape growing conditions - terroir - actually stress the grapes, forcing them to establish deep deep roots to strain in capturing nutrients from the sparse soil, which is largely void of sufficiency to grow extensive vines and foliage, or corn. In short, the conditions for wine varietal grapes are almost the opposite of those for the cornbelt. 

The answer to this of course is to determine and cultivate grapes most tolerant of or best suited to the terroir. Great wine producers and regions around the world are all noted for the specific wine grape varietals symbolic for their region and its distinctive terroir - Bordeaux varietals for example which are also suited for Napa Valley in the US. One popular grape selected for Indiana and Illinois wines is Traminette. There are eighteen different varieties of grapes grown in Indiana on a total of 600 acres of vineyard lands.

Indeed, the whole concept of AVA's, American Viticultural Areas, is based on federally-recognized regions defined either by political boundaries, such as the name of a county, state or country, or by a designated area for that AVA. All the criteria for an AVA come down to terroir so that all wines from that AVA can be presumed to have the same characteristics, or from grapes grown under the same conditions. This is the same as in the old world wine producing countries, where they have rigorous grape growing and wine producing regulations subject to AOC - Appellation d'origine contrôlée regulations in France, and DOC and DOCG in Italy ((Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) is the  superior classification to DOC). 

Notably, there are 57 official appellations in Bordeaux, and seventeen in Napa Valley. Indiana has two designated AVAs, the Indiana Uplands AVA in the center of the state at the southern border along the Ohio River, and the Ohio River Valley AVA straddling the Ohio River along the southern border of the state. 

In order for a wine to be designated with an Appellation of Origin defined by a political boundary, such as a county name for example, federal law requires that 75 percent or more of grapes used to make the wine be from that appellation, such as Napa Valley.

Indiana Wineries have formed promotional tours with pre-designated Wine Trails, each with from five to a dozen wineries or more banded together along a geographic route. They are: 

Indiana Uplands Trail in south and central Indiana with five wineries - Indianauplands.com
Indiana Wine Trail in Southeast Indiana - seven wineries - IndianaWineTrail.com
Hoosier Wine Trail along the I64 cooridor in Southwest Indiana - six wineries - HoosierWineTrail.com
Indy Wine Trail in Indianapolis with five wineries - IndyWineTrail.com
State Line Wine Trail bordering the Illinois State Line with five wineries - StateLineWineTrail.com
South Shore Wine Trail with eleven wineries in the Northeast and East Central Indiana - SouthShoreCVA.com/SSWT
Cardinal Flight Wine Trail in Marion and adjacent counties in Central Indiana with six wineries - CardinalFlightWineTrail.com
Indiana Grown Wine Trail - crosses the state visiting 33 wineries - IndianaGrown.org/WineTrail
WineTour with five wineries in northeast Indiana - WineTourIN.com

 Alas, Carpenter Creek Cellars sources many of their grapes from California regions - central coast, Sierra foothills, central valley. They also source grapes grown in the Midwest, those tend to be from the southern reaches of Indiana in the two AVAs bordering the Ohio River, or from the wine growing areas of western Michigan, straddling Lake Michigan or Ohio, along Lake Erie, where the Lakes' have significant moderating effects on the local climate. 

While Carpenter Creek have planted vineyards adjacent to the winery, they admitted they lost many of their planted vines due to the harsh winters and extreme cold and deep freeze of the soil a few years ago. 

All that said, partners Ed Courtright and Randy Rottler have done an admirable job crafting some pleasant drinkable wines, that most assuredly represent nearly the best achievable outcomes from the grape sources that they have to work with. 

They produce an extensive portfolio of wines that cover the range from reds and whites, along with a port-like fortified wine, a dessert wine, and a Rose'.

Last year, during our visit, we acquired several Carpenter Creek labels from those that we tasted (below), produced from grape sources as indicated:

Carpenter Creek Cellars Byron's Blend - A red dessert wine done in a port style, sourced from Indiana and other midwest grapes
Fence Row Red - Bordeaux style red blend - sourced from California Central Coast
Fence Row White
Gunny Red - from various sources - Gold Medal winner at the Finger Lakes International Wine Festival
Gunny White - from Indiana and other midwest grapes
Riesling - Michigan and other midwest grapes
Steuben - sourced from Indiana and other midwest grapes
Sunset Red - sourced from Indiana and other midwest grapes
Sunset Rose' - Ohio and other midwest grapes
Traminette - from Indiana and other midwest grapes

 Last week, Linda visited family and friends down in Indiana and stopped again at the picturesque red barn that serves as their winery and tasting room. Once again, she tried a couple wines and was pleasantly impressed such that she bought and brought home a couple new label selections.  

The highlight was a full bodied Zinfandel aged in bourbon barrels, sourced from Northern California Sierra foothill grapes.

 Watch for upcoming reviews of these wines.

https://carpentercreekcellars.com/

https://twitter.com/carpenterwines

http://IndianaWines.org 

Carpenter Creek Cellars Bourbon Barrel Zinfandel - Byron's Blend - a perfect wine and BBQ pairing. 

 

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