I didn’t really expect to find a winery in Lafayette, Indiana. I don’t know why, but the Midwest doesn’t conjure up imagery of grape vines and villas; the sighting of corn seems more salient to my mind. Yet nestled between I-65 and the wildcat creek tributary just north of Lafayette is the Wildcat Creek Winery. When I first drove to the winery, I found myself among a middle-class neighborhood. I didn’t see how a winery could fit into such a place. I thought that the unpredictable roads and terrible conditions of the Midwest had finally driven my GPS insane. It is mad, actually. I have spent the better part of my Midwestern travels yelling at it.

When I finally found the winery, it was a simple white one-story farmhouse with a few barn-ish building surrounding it. I knew it; I was going to get killed. This was some elaborate ploy to lure foreigners into a small country home to be beaten, tortured, murdered, and eaten. Luckily, my paranoia didn’t overcome my senses and cause me to flee. I did, however, stay in the car for a few moments with my knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel as my eyes darted about the premises to look for routes of escape.

I didn’t expect to enjoy the wine. I was skeptical. I had only tried a few wines from Indiana, and the results were mixed. Yet most of my fears disappeared when I entered the farmhouse; it was decorated with beautiful woods and had a nice display of wines and wine glasses. Plus, a group of people sat in one of the back rooms learning about wine appreciation.

Plus, the wines were quite good. No, the wines were excellent. I enjoyed every single wine I tried. More interestingly, the winery didn’t have a vineyard. It imported grapes and 100% grape juice from around Indiana (sometimes from out-of-state). It was a novel concept to my inexperience and allowed the owners to focus on the sole goal of making wines.

I will be reviewing several wines from the Wildcat Creek Winery, but for now, I am focusing on the Lafayette Blush.

Lafayette Blush is a clear pinkish rose, and it has a fruity and sweet aroma – almost like juice. It has a light scent that is very delicate.

The wine is very sweet, and it is lighter than some of the other sweet wines, like Muscadine wines. It is very comparable to Reggae Red, but it has a more traditional wine flavor (the alcohol can be tasted). It isn’t a complex wine. The tannin flavor can be felt if held in the mouth for too long, but otherwise, the flavor is consistent (unlike more complex wines) and smooth. It is comparable to grape juice.

For comparison, Lafayette Blush is heavier and sweeter than many white zinfandels, and it lacks the crisp acetic flavor that some white zinfandels possess.

It is a remarkably wonderful wine. It wasn’t my favorite wine from Wildcat Creek Winery, but it was very good. The only problem with the Wildcat Creek Winery is that the owners need to learn if they can ship to other states.

I have a soft spot of Virginian wines. I do. I love most of Virginia, except for their horrid and unmanageable road system. No, seriously. I am surprised that I made it out of that state alive. I half expected to see their highway system strung with stopped cars and lost dead bodies. I almost gave up and died on the side of the road in Virginia. Hell, Virginia’s road system almost broke up my marriage.

Oh, yeah. I have a wine: Mill Hill Apple Virginia Fruit Wine by Wintergreen Winery.

I am a fan of the so-called fruit wines, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try an apple based wine. Mill Hill Apple is produced from Virginian apples for about $12.00 a bottle, which makes it a cheap 100% fruit based wine.

Mill Hill Apple is a pale translucent yellow. I am battling a slight cold, so I am struggling to smell anything. It has a tangy hint to a very typical blush wine odor. I am claiming that it has a slight sweetness to it, but my wife (who has the better nose and a working nose) claims it is a hint of tangy dryness. Either way, the wine is very clean and crisp.

The Mill Hill Apple wine is very smooth. The wine starts with a small wave of citrus and sugar and quickly mellows out to be simple and smooth on the tongue. So the clean and crisp nature of the wine continues with in the flavor of the wine. This makes it a good wine for hearty smoky foods.

It does have some bitterness to it. Most likely, drinkers will not notice this. However, if you hold the wine in your mouth to experience the full range of flavors offered, the wine will quickly lose this crisp and clean edge and turn very, very bitter. The aftertaste can also sometimes seem bitter. It isn’t a terrible bitterness, and it shouldn’t scare anyone away from the wine. Most drinkers will have the tangy smoothness be the last flavor they experience.

I am sad to report that the wine did poorly at a recent party. This was entirely unexpected. The guests not only did not enjoy the wine; they did not even come close to finishing one bottle. It was a complete mess.

No one was able to really articulate why they didn’t like it. Perhaps, the dry tangy-apple-ness was unexpected. People might have been expecting something closer to apple juice when I mentioned apple wine. Or  . . . I don’t know.

It does not matter. If you enjoy apple based products, you should try this wine. If you enjoy some of the simpler flavors that accompany some fruit wines, you should try the wine.

For an added bonus, the label was nicely designed; but it was hard to read. No matter. It was pretty and unique. I like pretty things.

I have a compulsion to stuff my face with cranberries. I love cranberries. I demand cranberry sauce at all times of the year. I inhale entire bags of dried cranberries and snort the leftover crumbs. I have done things to cranberry juice that some of the darkest and dirtiest fetishists would be ashamed of. I eat whole, raw cranberries. The co-op farmers at Oceanspray know me; I have bathed in their bogs. They have elaborate and creative methods to prevent me from manhandling their precious crop. If you have a dessert, I’ll cranberry it. I’ll cranberry the hell out of it. I love cranberries.

My sister delivered the best day of my life. She introduced me to Cranberry Table Wine by Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. I didn’t know. I didn’t know that cranberries could be used to make wine. I didn’t know. The first sip completed my life. My universe ceased to exist, and a new universe was constructed, right there, by the Cranberry Wine. I fell to my knees – wept – like a little girl. It didn’t matter. Shame and worldly concerns, like pride, were gone. Eternal gardens of endless possibility and beauty sprung forth from my tears. The bottle bathed the world in a radiant hugging glow. Ethereal beings, overwhelmed by the mere presence of the wine, cast their gaze away in fear of the awe-inspiring wonder. Hence forth, I knew that I could not live a day without praising Cranberry Wine’s name. My life was cast.

Unfortunately, the only other thing that compares to such an awakening is heroine. I became consumed. I sucked spilled drops from the ground, happy to taste the spit and wine covered chunky sludge that entered my mouth. I smashed wines bottles and licked, with bloody hands and bloody lips, the residue. My gospels became a crazed shower-less daze of incoherent rants. I couldn’t relate the wonder I felt, and my mind gave up all functions to simply ponder on the wine.

Basically, I like this wine. In fact, it is my favorite wine. I have never had a wine like Cranberry Table Wine by Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. I rarely tell my readers to buy a wine at any cost, but Cranberry Table Wine by Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery should be bought at any cost. They might even be able to deliver it to your home.

The wine pours out as a beautiful ruby red. The light plays with this wine. It is a dark ruby with bright light-red edges.  At other times, it is a light translucent-red, almost like kool-aid. It is a perfect color for the holidays. The wine has only a slight aroma. The Cranberry Table Wine smells slightly fruity with a hint of alcohol. The wine hints at a subtle sweetness.

Of course, the color and smell of the wine are secondary. You do not taste color. I did not change my life for color. Cranberry Table Wine by Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery taste like a cranberry. It is tart, almost sour. It is subdued, however. Most people do not eat cranberries because of their overwhelmingly sharply sour flavor. No. The wine is perfectly tart, and it gets better with each sip. Some people report the first sip as being a shock, but it is only because the flavor is unique and unexpected. The wine has all the rich flavor of a cranberry with none of the cranberry’s flaws.

Initially, you will be hit with the fruity flavor of the berry. The tartness follows and is the dominate flavor. Finally, a slight, light bitterness finishes the wine.  It is a perfect ending, and it keeps the flavors balanced. Nothing is able to overwhelm the senses.

If you are a wine drinker, you should buy this wine. If you hate wine, this wine is so unlike any wine. Non-wine drinkers should try this wine. If you love cranberries or cranberry juice, you should try this wine. If your religion prohibits wine, you should still try this wine. If your wife tells you that she will divorce you if continue to buy this wine and plunge your financial future into ruins, divorce her and buy this wine. If you can’t buy this wine because it is sold out, buy it second-hand for hundreds of dollars a bottle. If the consumers of this wine will not sell their last bottle to you, pay thousands of dollars to lick their wine glasses clean. Screw it. Rob the place. I don’t care. Get this wine.

I love Cranberry Table Wine by Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery; I would be an alcoholic if I lived near their Virginian winery. I would be an alcoholic if the wine didn’t sell out so often. If you get a chance to buy this wine, buy it by the case.  You will regret it otherwise.

I am a little bewildered. I am sitting here with a bottle of Chardonnay by Barefoot Wine and Bubbly, and I don’t understand how a bottle with a foot plastered on the front has done so well. Secondly, I don’t understand how Chardonnay has become one of the top selling wines in the United States of America.

Of course, the people at Barefoot Wine and Bubbly are doing great, so they don’t need my endorsement. The label is not badly designed. The company produces simple, fun wines; and they use the imagery of being relaxed and barefoot, such as at home or on a beach, to let you know this is a relaxing wine. It works for them, and it is a nice way to market wine, which has so often been associated with rich snobs with monocles at fancy art galleries.

I have no real problem with Chardonnay. I am not a wine snob who refuses to drink it. However, Chardonnay has colonized the world, and some wine experts feel the grape has replaced more local varieties. I would prefer each region to have more local flavors, but I, also, prefer fruit-other-than-grape wines, so what do I really know.

Chardonnay by Barefoot Wine and Bubbly is a pale yellow, almost too faint to notice. The wine is transparent, clear, like water. It does not give the impression of being a bold, heavy (full-bodied) wine.

The bouquet (I slightly hate this term) agrees with the appearance of the wine. It smells acetic with the light dusting of sweet fruit. I don’t smell the specific green apples or peaches that other reviewers have suggested, but I have a terrible nose.  I kept getting an aroma that I could not identify. It was richer and fuller than the fruit or acetic smell but very faint. I thought smoke, oak, etc. I have come to determine that this rich, creamy smell is vanilla.

The color and bouquet are not overly exciting. The wine is not overly complex. The wine is heavier than I expected from its color and aroma. It is smooth and creamy. It begins with a fruity, sweet flavor (peachy-like). It settles to a creamy, rich texture with little flavor. The wine finishes with a splash of acid and tannin.

The wine is decent. It will not become a wine enthusiast‘s favorite. It will not become a prestigious example of how to make a Chardonnay. I don’t even think the people at Barefoot Wine and Bubbly are trying to do any of those things.

Chardonnay by Barefoot Wine and Bubbly is a simple and consistent mass produced wine that will do well for most events and functions. You cannot go wrong with the wine. It is fun, relaxing, and simple. If you aren’t that into wine but need a good, straight forward wine for an event, Barefoot Wine and Bubbly is a great choice. Do you love wine but want a simple wine that everyone will enjoy? Chardonnay by Barefoot Wine and Bubbly is the answer.

Sometimes, good enough is perfect.

“Fresh picked strawberries never tasted this good,” claimed the bottle of Strawberry Wine by St. James Winery. I have to disagree. I prefer fresh picked strawberries. I prefer rotten strawberries. I prefer to stand in front of an angry crowd as they pound me with un-ripened strawberries.

I don’t understand strawberry wines. I have never had a particularly good one. In fact, I have never had a 100% strawberry wine that I find drinkable. I love strawberries. I can eat my weight in strawberries. Yet the strawberry doesn’t seem to translate well into a wine. I don’t understand how a fruit so tasty produces wine that suck. No. Strawberry Wine by St. James Winery didn’t change my opinion on strawberry wines. In fact, it made my opinion worse.

I don’t know. The label is trying to be different. It isn’t a straight rectangle. I applaud St. James Winery for the effort, but the highly detailed picture of three strawberries plastered on the front of the bottle seemed odd. Hannia thought it looked like an amateur’s attempt at recreating the labels from Bath and Body Works. I thought that it resembled some of the packaging in the produce section of the grocery store. Either way, I didn’t enjoy it. It made the wine seem cheap.

Strawberry Wine by St. James Winery is the red color of a strawberry. This should tip-off potential buyers that the wine has some artificial coloring. Strawberry wine is hay colored, and any strawberry wines that isn’t hay colored is artificially colored. The wine has a wonderful aroma. It smells like fresh, ripe strawberries – or perhaps, strawberry jam. This is the best part of the experience.

The wine isn’t bad, and I shouldn’t have said it made my impression of strawberry wine worse. It is the best strawberry wine that I have had so far. However, it is a little too much. It is very thick and sweet. It has the consistency of syrup. It does taste like strawberries, but not real strawberries. It taste like synthetic strawberries, or it might taste like liquefied strawberry jam.   Besides the overwhelming sweetness, it does not have any other flavors.

The wine is not bad. It is not good. I would have preferred some more tartness to the wine. Perhaps, the people at St. James Winery should do more to add a little bit of sourness or tanginess. Also, I would suggest adding a bit less sugar.

The wine would make wonderful mix drinks.

If you want to make an iced wine, you should add some ice, lime, and a bottle of Strawberry Wine by St. James Winery. This would make the wine more to my liking.

I habitate in a place not intended for habitation. I realized this after a bitter and expensive winter transformed into a chilly and deadly spring. My local news channel has a commercial with scary, dramatic music that shows rain, thunderstorms, tornados, and floods ripping the entire state to hell. At the end of the commercial, a voice-over says, “Just another typical spring in Indiana.”

I live in a place not intended for life.

So in an attempt to remember my youthful days of warmer and less tornado-ish weather, I opened a bottle of Scuppernong Blush from North Carolina . . . . Drink locally . . . .

Scuppernong Blush is a wine produced by the Duplin Winery in Rose Hill, North Carolina. The wine is a mixture of scuppernong and Muscadine grapes, which seems slightly redundant since scuppernong grapes are a type of Muscadine. No matter. I have no need of a philosophical or ethical debate on the slightly incestuous nature of my wine.  I simply wanted to toast the night — the chilly, god-abandoned night.

The color of the wine is a translucent ripe peach with hints of neon orange as the liquid splashes about the bottle and glass. The color appears unnatural under the florescent lights of a modern shopping center. The wine does not have a distasteful color (nor does the wine always have an unnatural color), but the chemical nature of the appearance did prevent me from buying the wine on several occasions.

The label is also a terrible misstep. On numerous occasions, I have derided the Duplin Winery for its cheesy and seagull focused label, and I shall do it again. The label seems influenced by the traditional white-washed world of Norman Rockwell. It is simplistic and devoid of character. It is a wine bottle for people who decorate their entire house in floral patterns (furniture, carpet, and walls).

The layout of the label is also unfortunate. A tiny seal for the winery is placed above the winery’s name in a vast emptiness of white space. I can barely read the seal; however, it draws my eyes to it like the scars of a burn victim. The rest of the label is done in a linear top-down, rectangular fashion.  Someone tried to rescue the linear and blocky design by allowing the seagull’s wing to break the rectangle, and it looks like a desperate rescue attempt.

Color and label aside, I would buy this wine for the smell alone. Muscadine grapes have some of the richest and boldest aromas in the grape world. The grapes’ aroma can penetrate and lighten any room. The wine has a strong sweet grape aroma, mixed with this untamed, musky plant-like smell of the Muscadine grape. It is wonderful. The Muscadine line of wines by Duplin Winery seems unbeatable for their pure Muscadine grape smell. It is not complex. It is simple. It is as if you had a glass full of Muscadine grapes.

The flavor is tricky. I love Muscadine wines (from sweet to dry), even though they have rather straight forward flavors. This particular wine is very sweet and very thick. I am almost fooling myself into having a hint of sourness during the initial rush of flavor, but if any sweetness is there, the sweetness quickly overpowers it. There is a sharper bitterness in this wine than some other Muscadine wines, and it adds to the flavor well. The wine seems to replicate the sour-sweetness of the Muscadine grapes, which is followed by the bitterness of the seeds. I enjoy this interaction. However, the wine is a tad-bit too sweet.

I enjoy it. I would buy it again. However, it is not my favorite Muscadine wine from the Duplin Winery. Moreover, the sweetness makes it a sipping wine that pairs with very little . . . maybe a glass of water, since it is so thick.

All in all (and label aside), it is very good wine. If you are not a fan of the more typical dry wines, this wine might be perfect for you. Or if you have any fond experience with Muscadine grapes, this wine is definitely for you.

Saying goodbye and declaring lifetime alliances and love is an experience that requires the comfort of alcohol. Seriously, all the best people are saying goodbye with alcohol. You should try it. Go ahead. So when a good friend of mine decided to part ways, he brought over several bottles of wine to celebrate our goodbyes to each other and sobriety.  One of the bottles of wine was Pinot Grigio (2009) by Fox Brook Winery.

Pinot Grigio is the same variety of grape as Pinot Gris, but Californians decided to be difficult and rename it. Actually, the Californians claimed their wine was similar to the Italian wine, so they adopted the Italian version of Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio.

Apparently, wine snobs and foodies dislike Pinot Grigio. It is too common, too uninteresting, and too innocuous. I, however, have little time for wine snobs or foodies. The constant blathering of foodies, who always know of a better meal, is tiresome. I have little concern for people who take pleasure in labeling themselves snobs. No. I believe good food, good wine, can be found everywhere. The five star restaurants and the Mexican street vendor are equal.

As for the wine, it is a common color for Pinot Grigio. The wine is transparent with only a little hint of yellow. Around the edges of the wine, one gets the impression of water.

The wine’s aroma has a hint of fruit – barely – if I close to my eyes and lie to myself. The fruity aroma is crisper after the wine has settled. The ol’ swirl around the glass only brings forth the smell of alcohol and vinegar. Most wines have that sour, alcohol smell, but it is the dominate flower in this wine’s bouquet.

The label does not lie; the wine is crisp and smooth. There are no sharp overwhelming flavors. The wine is not overwhelmingly bitter; I feared that it would be. The wine is heavy in the mouth. Wine snobs call this full-bodied. I call it heavy. I suppose that a bitchier wine drinker would simply call the wine fat.

The wine does not have a lot of sweetness; it taste semi-dry. It has an initial blast of sourness. It finishes a little bland. I do not like the wine, however. It is not a horrible bottle of wine. It is decent, and it is rather cheap. However, I have had much better Pinot Grigio.

The Pinot Grigio (2009) by Fox Brook has an underlying flavor that I simply hate. It might be too vinegary. It makes me think of wet dog. The flavor is not overwhelming when the wine is sipped, but with a normal drinking pace (is chugging a normal pace?), the flavor will dominate. It almost tastes rancid, but I think that claiming it is rancid is too strong and does a disservice to the wine.

This is not the best Pinot Grigio. However, it is cheap. It starts at around four dollars. I wouldn’t recommend this particular wine, but the grape has potential, and it shouldn’t be shunned.