Vino in the Village: Indiana Grown Wine Trail highlights Hopwood Cellars

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By Heather Lusk

In the winemaking industry, Indiana is in a class all its own. What it lacks in comparison to California or Washington, Indiana wine makes up for in ingenuity and saccharine Midwest charm. With operations like Oliver Winery in Bloomington leading the way, the region is known for its sweetness, according to winemag.com.

Hopwood Cellars owner Ron Hopwood aims to stand out in the industry by offering more than just sweet wines. He left a real estate career to pursue his hobby of winemaking.After noticing a lack of wineries in the northwest corner of Indianapolis, he opened the winery on Cedar Street in downtown Zionsville in 2012.

“Of course, the hobby’s gone. Now, it’s now a business,” said Hopwood, adding that his passion for winemaking is still there.

The Hoosier state was in the nation’s bottom 3 percent of combined bottled wine production in 2016. Yet, the number of wineries has grown from 39 in 2016 to more than 100 today. An Economic Impact study commissioned by the Indiana Wine Grape Council, the Purdue University Wine Grape Team and the Indiana Winery and Vineyard Association reveals that the wine industry contributed $604 million to the state’s economy in 2016.

Grassroots movement Indiana Grown encourages Hoosiers to buy and sell consumable products created in Indiana. The organization has more than 1100 members and 50 business partners, including farmers, farmers markets, distributors, producers, wineries, breweries, artisans and more.

“You can grow really good grapes in Indiana,” said Heather Tallman, membership development program manager for Indiana Grown. “You can only grow them so many ways, but what you do with them once they’re harvested makes the difference.”

Although grapes don’t have to be grown locally for a winery to be a member of Indiana Grown, it must bottle and produce its wines within the state.

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Lyndsey Maldonado pours a glass of red wine for Shelly Cates at the Sept. 22 Hopwood Cellar’s Grape Stomp. (Photo by Benjamin Stout)

About a third of the 100 wineries in the state meet the Indiana Grown criteria. Those with a tasting room are part of a new Indiana Grown Wine Trail, inviting visitors to sample wine from each winery with a wine stopper prize for completing all stops on the map.

The trail, launched in May, includes one Boone County location: Zionsville’s Hopwood Cellars.

Hopwood tries to stay local by buying grapes grown in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, which can be challenging.

“We don’t have a whole lot of vineyards (in Indiana),” he said.

Hopwood blends the same type of grape from multiple vineyards to make his wines, a method used by many wineries.

To increase business, Hopwood opened a Cloverdale location off the interstate this spring as a weekend tasting room. His goal is to eventually open a larger location that will serve as a winery, wedding facility and vineyard.

Even with his own vineyard, Hopwood plans to incorporate grapes sourced throughout the  state. Less than 10 percent of wine bottled in Indiana comes from the state’s grapes, according to a report commissioned by the Indiana Wine Grape Council. More than three dozen varieties are grown, with some of the most popular being Traminette, Cayuga and Catawba. Yet, Hopwood doesn’t use those grapes, instead using chambourcin, concord and other types.

“Everybody else is doing them,” he said. “Why would I do it?”

Hopwood said he enjoys all locally grown grapes but prefers to focus on wines that can’t be found as readily in Indiana, like Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. His winery features 14 types of wine, which is all his facility can accomodate.

Hopewood recently launched Kandi Wines, a fruity option at a lower price point. Next year, he plans to introduce a high-end dry red, something he’s been working on for four years.

Many wineries across the state offer lighter, fruity wines and produce smaller batches of expensive options, allowing the wine makers to experiment and hone their craft.

“When you’re doing it on a small scale you get a chance to watch it (and adapt),” said Bruce Bordelon, viticulture professor at Purdue University and member of the Indiana Wine Grape Council. “It’s that real attention to detail is something that a small producer can do that a large-scale, big-time operation just can’t.”

Bordelon said a resurgence in locally grown, artisan products has helped the Indiana Wine industry grow.

“Meeting the people who do it and their enthusiasm for what they’re doing, that becomes infectious,” he said.

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Wineries continue to offer more than just wine to entertain visitors and create repeat customers. Locally, Hopwood Cellars Winery hosts a grape stomp to celebrate its October anniversary. Other wineries in the state have something for everyone.

For the jam: Family friendly live music, wine tasting and outdoor dining are the perfect evening combination at Two EE’s Winery and Country Heritage Winery, hosting concerts almost every weekend throughout the year.

For the view: Butler, Oliver and Brown County wineries are all between Indianapolis and Nashville, Indiana, which makes an easy combination trip of sightseeing, wine tasting and shopping. Nearby Owen Valley Winery’s has a tasting room inside Spencer’s Tivoli Theater to combine a show with wine tasting.

For the wine snob: Huber Winery, Turtle Run Winery and Best Vineyards are located within the state’s only designated wine region, Indiana Uplands. All are within an hour of each other for an afternoon of tasting or biking between the wineries.

For the fresh air: Wildcat Creek Winery’s monthly yoga classes and nearby Whyte Horse Winery’s summertime hot air balloon rides, fall car show and wine stomp allow wine drinkers to enjoy the outdoors year-round.       


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