Vintage Indiana 2014 Photos & Review

by Mark Ganchiff · June 8, 2014

Vintage Indiana in Indianapolis’ Military Park

The Vintage Indiana Wine and Food Festival was held on June 7th Military Park in downtown Indianapolis. By early afternoon, over 5,000 attendees were celebrating Indiana wine on a perfect early summer day.

As the largest wine festival in Indiana, Vintage Indiana displays the growth and diversity of the Indiana wine industry. There are now over 70 wineries in Indiana, 30 of which poured wines at Vintage Indiana.

The Indiana State wine grape, Traminette, was the most widely featured variety at Vintage Indiana. If the wines at the festival are any indication, more Indiana wineries are making Traminette in a dry style. Standout Traminettes included Turtle Run Winery and Huber Winery, both in far Southern Indiana.

Another winemaking trend in evidence at Vintage Indiana is blending hybrid and vinifera grapes. River City Winery’s John B. Ford is a sophisticated blend of Malbec and Chancellor. At Monkey Hollow Winery, blending Cayuga White and Riesling creates a juicy wine with floral aromas.

One of the most intriguing wines at Vintage Indiana is made from estate grown Marechal Foch, a grape that is not widely grown in Indiana. Satek’s Winery’s Kreibaum Bay Nouveau is a Foch wine produced using carbonic maceration techniques. This whole berry fermentation process is used in Beaujolais to make wines that can taste as fresh as eating a grape off the vine.

Unlike most Midwest wine festivals, Vintage Indiana offers unlimited tastings for the $25 entry fee. Not having to dig through a pocket or purse for a small paper ticket is refreshing. Unfortunately, some attendees apparently interpreted the unlimited tasting policy as an excuse to slowly taste a winery’s entire wine list. This created long lines at some winery tasting tents, but the wine was worth the wait.