Indianapolis is renowned for several things, especially its sporting heritage, from the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall Of Fame Museum where you can tour the famous race track through to the Pacers basketball team and the Colts Football team. Until recently, however, it has not been widely recognized for its many wineries. The opening of the Gaia Wines Contemporary Winery in 1996 has sought to change this state of affairs, bringing the art of the winemaker squarely to the Indiana area.



As Indiana's 19th winery, Gaia has needed to fit in to its surroundings, whilst creating its own niche in the marketplace. Nestled centrally in the up market historic gallery and theater district on Massachusetts Avenue, just 2 minutes walk from the exclusive luxury Conrad Hotel, the company has needed to quickly gain a high class reputation in order to suitably fit into the area. In the short time since it set up, Indiana's newest winery has succeeded spectacularly by managing to create 14 new award winning wines, introducing tours, wine tasting, as well as providing meeting rooms and hosting private functions.



Gaia Wines is owned and run by Angee Walberry and Margaret Broderick, making it the only solely woman-owned winery in the United States, and upholds an ideal to provide an enjoyable and educational winery experience within a contemporary, urban environment.



Margaret Broderick believes, "If we, as a winery, are going to succeed it is vital that we educate and make more Americans aware of the benefits and pleasures of wine."



With gifts and accessories, wine appreciation classes, and additional entertainment such as Sunday Jazz and comedy shows, as well as monthly specials, this small winery fits nicely into the growing wine tasting scene which has begun to emerge over the past few years.



Other highly recommended wineries worth visiting in Indiana include the Chateau Thomas Winery and the Easley Winery, with both offering free tasting sessions and regular guided tours, as well as meeting rooms, events and activities.



Although often not widely recognised outside the state, the Indiana soil and climate provide great growing wine conditions, especially for the ever popular and dependable Cabernet Sauvignon grape varietal. The strength of these wines has however now gradually started to be noted by the wider vintner community, with the Easley Winery recently receiving a well deserved Gold Medal for their lively Cabernet "packed with fruity overtones and black currant aromas", although some of their sweet blush wines are also definitely worth a taste to see what the region can truly provide in the way of rich vibrant tastes.



Though it may not currently be as widely regarded as California's Napa Valley for the consistent quantity, quality and depth of the wines produced, Indiana is certainly an up and coming region with some forward looking producers, who are managing to create some interesting wines which deserve to be taken seriously, and are well worth visiting if you get the chance.

About the Author

Andrew Regan is an online journalist who enjoys socialising at his local Edinburgh rugby club.

A synopsis on Best Wine.

Indianapolis wines show there is more to the state than just sport



Indianapolis is renowned for several things, especially its sporting heritage, from the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall Of Fame Museum...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Featured Best Wine Items

Vacu Vin Guy Buffet Rapid Ice Instant Wine Cooler


Rapid Ice wine coolers from Vacu-Vin Serve chilled Champagne at a moment¹s notice. Store Rapid Ice in your freezer slip it over the bottle for 5 minutes et voila! it's ready to drink. Rapid Ice keeps drinks ice cold for up to 3 hours without messy ice. The Guy Buffet version. Acclaimed American artist Guy Buffet dresses up Rapid Ice with a gaggle of garcons from The Charge of the Bottle Brigade. Gift boxed.


Price: 14.95 USD



Current Best Wine News

Flight 65

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:50:09 PDT
Flight 65 Posted Sep 3rd, 2008 by Ashley Yarnell Category: Arts & Entertainment, Toledo.com Join Toledo Symphony Musicians for Flight 65 - a musical fundraiser to benefit the Orchestra! This unique wine-tasting event incorporates a flight of wine - four wines and champagne - with several performing ensembles, pairing musical selections with each tasting. An array of hors d’oeuvres and desserts to complement the wine and sixty-five minutes of music will …]

The Wine Place hosts two Oregon wine tastings (Newport News-Times)

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:50:14 PDT
Learn about wine and food pairings and meet a winemaker whose winery is all about history this weekend at The Wine Place in Yachats. On Saturday, join Lenny Wiser of McClaskey Fine Wines from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for this very special wine tasting titled “Oregon and the Globe.”

Wine Food Pairing NEW Florida Foot Fashion-ware

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:59:00 PDT
Wine food pairing wants to take this opportunity to share with you the latest in foot fashion-ware for Florida.We flooded and lost power for TS "Fay", water covered the docks for Gustav and who the heck knows what will happen with Hanna, Ike, Josephine and Kyle brewing out there....

wine & dine LA 2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:24:18 PDT
In honor of California Wine Month, get ready for wine & dine LA, which runs from September 7-21, 2008. Many of our favorite SoCal chefs will be working their culinary magic with special prix-fix dinners paired with California wines.


Wine Charm
Blueberry Wine | Bordeaux Wine

Labels: Wine Cellars