Indiana Wine Takes Top Honors Again
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana's wine industry continues to receive national recognition. A Hoosier winery has again taken top honors at the Indy International Wine Competition at Purdue University. Huber's Orchard, Winery & Vineyards in southeast Indiana won Wine of the Year for its 2012 Vignoles.
August 2, 2013
News Release
West Lafayette, Ind. – The top award in the Indy International Wine Competition has gone to an Indiana winery for the second year in a row.
Huber's Orchard, Winery & Vineyards of Starlight, Ind., won Wine of the Year for its 2012 Vignoles in results announced Friday (Aug. 2), besting 2,300 other wines in the three-day competition at Purdue University. Entries from 39 states and 14 countries, including France, Australia, Chile and Greece, were judged on appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste by 44 international judges.
“For an Indiana winery to win Wine of the Year is very exciting for the Indiana wine industry,” said Jeanette Merritt, marketing director for the Purdue Wine Grape Team, organizer of the competition. “Indiana wines are outstanding, and Huber's not only showed that, but all of our wineries proved that in the amount of medals they won this year.”
River City Winery of New Albany, Ind., earned Wine of Year last year.
White Wine of the Year honors also were awarded to an Indiana winery, Easley Winery of Indianapolis, for its Traminette.
Other winners:
* Red Wine of the Year: Italian Winery Tedschi, for its 2008 Amarone Cassico.
* Ros? Wine of the Year: Eagles Landing Winery of Marquette, Iowa, for its Volga Lake Blush.
* Sparkling Wine of the Year: Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards of Sonoma, Calif., for its Sonoma Brut.
Dessert Wine of the Year: Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery of British Columbia, Canada, for its Reisling Ice Wine.
* Fruit Wine of the Year: Von Jakob Vineyard of Pomona, Ill., for its 2012 Streakin' Johnny.
* Awards for two categories – Honey Wine of the Year and Honey Wine Blend of the Year – were awarded to Oliver Winery of Bloomington, Ind., for its Camelot Mead and Strawberry Honey Wine, respectively.
* Winery of the Year: Gloria Ferrer of Sonoma, Calif. The trophy honors the Best International Brand of the competition.
* Winemaker of the Year: Maryhill Winery of Washington state. The trophy honors the winery that wins the most gold medals by brand.
The Indy International Wine Competition has been organized by the Purdue Wine Grape Team since 1992 and for the past seven years under the leadership of professor of enology Christian Butzke.
“The Indy's 44 international wine judges truly represent the ever-changing palate of the American public,” Butzke said. “By giving consumers advice on more than two thousand new wines from 14 countries, they recognize the incredible diversity and creativity of our local and international winemakers and the vibrant state of the global wine industry. Wine has become the coolest and most dynamic beverage in the world by far.”
Indiana wineries won 288 total medals, including 13 double gold, 31 gold, 114 silver and 68 bronze medals.
Huber's Orchard, Winery & Vineyards also won the Indiana Winery of the Year and the Governor's Cup, recognizing the Indiana winery with the most wins. Indiana Wine of the Year was awarded to Huber's for its 2006 Knobstone Port.
Country Heritage Winery of LaOtto, Ind., won Indiana Traminette of the Year, which honors Indiana's Signature Wine and Grape.
The competition has a special award division for Indiana grown wines. A wine must be composed of more than 85 percent Indiana-grown fruit to be eligible. Satek Winery of Fremont won both the Indiana-Grown American Wine of the Year and the Indiana-Grown French-American Wine categories for its Steuben and Larry's Luscious Dry Red, respectively.
McClure's Orchard & Winery of Peru, Ind., won the Indiana-Grown Fruit Wine of the Year for its Ice Cider.
Huber's Orchard, Winery & Vineyards won the Indiana-grown Vinifera Wine of the Year for its 2010 Tannat.
A list of all medal-winning wines is available at http://www.indyinternational.org
Source: Purdue University