Several Indiana wineries win medals at international competition

Galileo Galilei once said, “Wine is sunshine put together by water.”  The owners of Butler Winery and other Indiana wineries have been striving to bring that sunshine to the Midwest.

Recently the Midwest began rising in both popularity and reputation for its wine.  At the Indy International Wine Competition this summer, state wineries brought home numerous medals, including 36 gold and 10 double gold.

Butler Winery of Bloomington won one of five best-of-show medals at the competition.
Oliver Winery, also of Bloomington, won an award in recognition of its honey wine.

“They’re just as good as any wines from anywhere,” Susan Butler, owner of Butler Winery, said. “The international judges recognize the quality.”

Seven wineries have opened this summer in Indiana, and seven additional wineries are planning to open next year, bringing a total of 50 wineries to Indiana, according to a press release.

While some business owners would be wary of other competitors opening and possibly threatening business, Butler said that all of the wineries support each other.

“We are very cooperative amongst ourselves,” Butler said.

The cooperation is partly motivated by the drive to bring in more Indiana agri-tourism and to encourage small excursions.  Butler said the wineries want to increase the consumers’ knowledge of wines.

“It’s a different sort of industry based in agriculture,” Butler said.

The wineries have support from the Indiana Wine Grape Council. It was created to help the businesses and give them more opportunities to grow and succeed, Butler said.

Wine makers and growers have a chance to further nurture their passions at Purdue University, where studies on the science and art of the wine business can be pursued.

Indiana wines have not been well known in the past, partly because Indiana grapes greatly differ from California grapes.

Indiana grapes are French-American hybrids that are developed at various universities, such as Cornell University and University of Virginia.  These grapes are winter-hearty and disease-resistant.

California grapes, on the other hand, are meant to thrive in a Mediterranean climate.  The California hybrids do not fare well in the Midwest for that reason. But no grape is pure.

“Every wine grape is a hybrid,” Butler said.