Indiana tours showcase Indiana's wine industy

For good reason, most people claim corn as Indiana’s agricultural namesake.

But people might think twice about Hoosier soil after attending the upcoming third annual Uncork the Uplands, a one-day event that is part of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail.

Uncork the Uplands will offer an optional vineyard tour July 27 at Oliver Winery’s Creekbend Vineyard in Ellettsville, Ind., followed by an evening reception at the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center.

Participants will be able to taste wine samples from 10 Indiana wineries, in addition to food samples from Indiana artisans.

“Uncork the Uplands is a rare opportunity to sample interesting wines from across south-central Indiana, all in one place,” Kim Doty, president of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, said in a press release. “Our wineries produce excellent varietals that are elegant, complex, and, best of all, diverse.”

This is the 10th year of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail and the first year Indiana
Uplands is a federally recognized grape-growing region, otherwise known as an American Viticultural Area, or AVA.  

Distinguished by geographic features, the AVA is a designated wine-grape-growing region in the United States.

The geographic boundaries of an AVA are also defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Jim Butler, co-owner of Butler Winery in Bloomington, helped spearhead Indiana’s designation on the AVA.

He said petitioning on the state’s behalf took several years, involving research that proves Indiana contains the right conditions for wine production.

The Indiana Upland Wine Trail was established to promote the wineries and vineyards in south-central Indiana, and is Indiana’s first wine trail, a 4,800-square-mile swath containing 17

Indiana wineries, including the 10 wineries on the Indiana Uplands Trail.

The wine samples on the tours, which are largely self-guided, are offered for free for or for a small price at every Indiana winery on the trail.

Butler’s book, “Indiana Wine: A History” published in 2011 by IU Press, describes the little-known history of how the industry was started in Indiana.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, wineries dotted the Indiana countryside, making the Hoosier state the 10th largest grape-producing state in the country until Prohibition in the 1920s, according to Indianawine.org.

The wine industry thereafter disappeared until the 1970s, when it was revitalized with the Small Winery Act of 1971.

The Act allowed wineries to sell directly to the public rather than through wholesalers.  
Butler will be one of three food-and-drink experts at the Upcork the Uplands Evening Reception available to talk to participants about wine and food culture.

“(The event) is really focused on the local,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of local foods, and people will have the opportunity to meet winemakers and talk about wine. I think it’ll be
interesting.”