Whirlwind Wine Weekend

A couple of weekends ago Dad, Mollie and I went to a lot of wineries. We'd started a wine trail a couple of months ago, and we had to finish it before the end of May if we wanted to get the prize for completing the trail. So, with an embroidered blanket on the line, of course we got going early to hit the remaining six wineries. I didn't take lots of pictures because it was rainy and truthfully, I often forget to pull out my camera. Like, we ate at a cute little place in former Indiana state capital Corydon, but I didn't even think about photographing it until right now.

The above picture was taken at a rather scenic winery. I like that you can sit on the deck and see the vines to the left and cows to the right. It allows you to think of the finished products-- the wine and cheese you'd like to be enjoying. Unfortunately this is not the place to go for wine-enjoyment, at least if you are me. First off, this place is called Best Winery or Vineyards or whatever. What a stupid name. I mean, perhaps their last name is Best, but still, if your last name is Best, you should find a better name for your wines. And the wines are pretty sweet, but even their sweet blackberry and raspberry wines are not as good as many others I've tried. Also, this place is not easy to find. I do not recommend trying.

We arrived at Winzenwald Winery right after the rain. It's a cute little place with the owners behind the bar pouring the tastes, which I always appreciate. They had this German Mai Wein (May Wine) that, although quite sweet, was pretty good and neat-- it had hints of strawberry and apple and cinnamon. Also not so easy to find, but if you happen to be in the area (I'm not sure what area that would be... it's south of I 64, that's all I know) it's worth a stop by.

One of my favorite wineries in Indiana is Turtle Run. The guy who makes these wines is passionate about wine-making. He's got an extensive list of many dry wines, both red and white, and everything I've sampled has been really good. It's just neat to see this guy excited about what he does, and that he does it well. This is the first stop I want to make at the Vintage Indiana wine festival this year, I think.

We also went to Carosel Winery, which didn't impress me because the college-aged girl behind the counter was aloof and the wines were not memorable. Didn't buy anything there. French Lick Winery was good in that I enjoyed many of their wines, but bad in that they are in a big, ugly warehouse. I'm not saying I only like wineries in the country, but if you are in a less bucolic setting, at least make it look nice. Oh, Hubler or Huber was the last winery we hit. I'm also torn on that winery-- the wines were well done, but the tasting area wasn't run very efficiently. I really liked their Vignoles, and they have one of those light, slightly sweet reds like that one I like at Easley Winery (which is a mile away from my new home (I move next weekend!)).