A Review of an Indiana Wine Tour: March Gladness

Yes, Virginia, there is wine touring in Indiana.And I’m not talking about just a little jaunt down to Bloomington to suck down a couple of glasses of Camelot Mead at Uncle Oliver’s. Don’t get me wrong, Oliver Winery has some great local wines. And while it is the largest and most well-known of Indiana wineries, it’s only 1 of 34 in the state. Can you believe it? We have 34 wineries in Indiana!

A lucky stumble across the brand new Indiana Uplands Wine Trail website last year led me to this amazing discovery, and what is possibly the cr�¨me de la cr�¨me of wine events in the Hoosier state: March Gladness.

This year marks the second anniversary of the March Gladness Wine Tour, a festival of food, wine and fun thrown by the 7 wineries of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. My husband and I had such a great time last year, that this year we recruited 6 others to join us and I think we hooked a few more people on the Dionysian delights of wine touring!

We spent a full weekend visiting the 7 wineries of the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail as March Gladness VIPs. And let me tell you, a March Gladness VIP is a very good thing to be. For the very reasonable ticket price of $30, you are treated to behind the scenes glimpses of each winery, special wine tastings, and fabulous food pairings to see how to really enjoy the wines. In most cases you actually get to meet the wine makers! At Oliver and Turtle Run we were even offered the opportunity to sample limited production wines not normally available for tasting or for purchase.

While there is some driving involved as the wineries are spread out across the southern portion of the state, it really is a wonderful tour. It has none of the pretentiousness that is sometimes encountered in states well known for their wines and is friendly to even the newest of grape lovers. You don’t have to have sensitive palette to enjoy the tour, either. Indiana produces many fruit and sweet wines that are agreeable to almost everyone. There are also more complex treasures produced in

Indiana that tantalize tongues. Whether you like your wine sweet, dry, oaky, or fruity- there’s something out there for you.

Some of the highlights of the March Gladness from this year:

• Huber Winery’s Jason giving a tour of the facilities and his in depth knowledge and explanations of wine making at Huber and brandy making at their Starlight distillery, the only distillery in Indiana (legally anyway.)
• Trying Oliver’s Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon 2004- unbelievable and not normally offered for tasting.
• Turtle Run Winery’s pairing of their Summer Solstice Wine with carrot cake.
• Seeing wine rookie friends giggle for joy at discovering a wine that they love!
• Winzerwald Winery’s Schweizer Spice wine. The spicy notes remind one of pumpkin pie and winter holidays next to a cozy fireplace!

Now it’s your turn! Get out there and give your taste buds a traveling tour of Indiana’s wines! Check out the Indiana Uplands website for more info on March Gladness and other Indiana wine events throughout the year!