Small wineries collaborate to boost industry in Indiana

It could take up to 10 years for a small winery to make a profit, a viticulturist said.
COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) -- Brenda and David Simmons, along with Brenda's mother, Jean Kelsay, are bottling wine, the green glass clinking out a melody as bottles pass through this three-person assembly line.
"We really didn't have any intentions of starting a winery," said David Simmons. The Simmons farm has been in the family since 1885, but they planted their first grape vines in 1998 after depressed grain prices pushed them to try new crops.
A few months later, Simmons recalled, "We thought, 'Well, why don't we start a winery and make the wine ourselves?'"
The Simmonses bottled their first wine four years ago, joining what's become a growing state industry. Since 1991, the number of Indiana wineries has increased from nine to 31 -- all of them family owned and operated.
Group effort
Now seven of these wineries have collaborated to form a "wine trail," a network of wineries within short driving distance of each other that is Indiana's answer to California wine country. The trail will be officially launched June 26.
Organizers hope the trail lures more travelers to their stores, where tasting rooms can turn visitors on to unfamiliar wines.
Jim Butler, owner of Butler Winery in Bloomington, said promoting lesser-known grapes can be a challenge for small wineries, many of which lack the money for extensive advertising. But wine trail organizers think they can pool their resources to promote not only the wine they make, but the industry itself.
"People have an interest in trying new things, in new tastes," Butler said.
And once they try an Indiana wine, Brenda Simmons said, "they're usually sold on it."
Annual retail sales of Indiana wines jumped from $3.3 million in 1995 to $13.6 million in 2003, according to the Indiana Wine Grape Council, based at Purdue University. But that growth hasn't come easily.
Difficult process
Statewide, there are only about 300 acres of grapes, compared to 5.65 million acres of corn. Growers must rely on hardy grapes like Chardonel, which often lack name recognition among wine buyers. Establishing a vineyard and seeing it through to the wine production stage costs thousands of dollars, and it could take up to 10 years to make a profit, said Bruce Bordelon, a viticulturist who works for the grape council and Purdue.
"It isn't as easy as just planting the trees in the ground and coming back to pick the fruit," Bordelon said.
Growers acknowledge that Indiana wines probably will never compete with the heavyweights of the wine world, such as the Napa Valley Chardonnays or French Burgundies.
But Bordelon said he thinks Indiana's wine industry eventually will be similar to the larger wine industry found in New York and Ohio.
Sally Linton, marketing director for the grape council, said retail winemakers in Indiana hope for statewide -- and possibly regional -- recognition.
"We're much more a tourism-based, boutique-style industry," Linton said.
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