The tour
There are over 60 wineries in the state of Indiana, and seven of them are taking part in the Wineries of Indiana’s Northeast Wine Tour. To learn more about each winery, including address, photos and social media information and more, click on the purple grapes on the map.
The wineries
1 &2 Briali Vineyards and Winery and Satek Winery, both in in Fremont
3 Fruit Hills Winery in Bristol
4 Two EE's Winery in Huntington
5 Country Heritage Winery in LaOtto
6 McClure's Orchard in Peru
7 Tonne Winery in Muncie
The info
Northeast Indiana’s wineries have joined together to give oenophiles a reason to raise their glasses by creating a year-round wine tour.
The W.I.N.E. (Wineries of Indiana’s Northeast) Tour, set to start July 13, will feature seven wineries: Briali Vineyards and Winery and Satek Winery, both in in Fremont; Fruit Hills Winery in Bristol, the newly opened Two EE’s Winery in Huntington, Country Heritage Winery in LaOtto, McClure’s Orchard in Peru and Tonne Winery in Muncie.
Participants can visit each of the wineries to sample their offerings. Each already usually provides up to five free 1-ounce samples during taste testings. After visiting all seven wineries, participants can get a wine glass with the tour’s logo on it, said Kevin Tonne of Fort Wayne, who co-owns Tonne Winery.
Wineries have been popping up throughout Indiana for the last several years. The state’s first wine trail, Indiana Uplands, began 10 years ago this month and includes 10 south-central wineries, including Oliver Winery, northwest of Bloomington.
Legislation passed in the 1970s allowed small wineries to sell directly to the public instead of through a distributor. The growth rate in gallons sold by Indiana wineries is averaging 15 percent annually, according to a 2005 report on the Indiana Wine Grape Council’s website.
The idea of the northeast Indiana tour started fermenting about a year and a half ago at a winter conference. With some help from Jeanette Merritt, marketing director for the Indiana Wine Grape Council, the winery owners have been meeting monthly at each others’ wineries to plan the event.
When Tonne and his brother-in-law, Larry Simmons, opened their winery in December 2009, they looked into joining the Indy Wine Trail. However, they found it wasn’t adding to the seven it already had.
So a new trail will be uncorked.
A bonus about wineries: You can buy alcohol there on Sundays. Purchase a bottle, sip what you want, the winery will recork it to satisfy the open-container law, and you’re on your way. Now, perhaps, to the next winery.
