Weekend Entry: This weekend had us traveling the countryside between Muncie, New Castle, Pendleton and Richmond. We had a busy Saturday planned. First we were going to head to Delta to see Ang (Jen's much younger sister) play junior varsity volleyball and then a house warming party in the metropolis of Sulphur Springs (pop. 300). Along the way we stopped at Tonne Winery and had the most unusual experience at Wilson's Wines.
Winery: Tonne Winery (rhymes with sunny)
Location: Directly north of Muncie, about 2 ½ miles east of the Cardinal Greenway at Royerton Rd for the adventurous.
Atmosphere: Located in farm country and shares a parking lot with a locally owned flower and garden store. The winery tasting room is located in a very nice steal building, that has a cement patio with tables and chairs (it was still in the process of being completed when we visited). The owners told us that they in vision the patio overlooking the grape vines in back, and including a place for small concerts and a fire pit. It should make a great location for some nice evenings sipping and relaxing.
The tasting room consisted of the a two sided bar, some tables, a large wall mounted TV, to check in on the big game, and large windows overlooking the backroom wine making operations. The 25 foot bar provides a lot of space for tasting and that weekend they had plenty of baristas to guide you through your experience.
Wines Purchased: We purchased the Semi-dry, White Riesling. This had the great Riesling taste but without that slight bit at the end. It was very smooth. Should be great with any dinner meal. The next bottle we purchased was the Royerston Red, this one had a strong concord grape flavor, and the final one was the Cherry Wine, desert wine that tasted like cherry pie that was the right balance of sweet without the pucker. Needless to say, this visit to Tonne was like visiting an orchard. I would recommend it for the Fall.
Worth Mentioning: The Blackberry wine had great aroma, and the blackberry flavor really came through in this wine. It will definitely be on out next list for next time.
Surprises: The owners purchased the first grapes for this winery from Simmons Winery. The ownerships of these two wineries are related, but I wouldn’t say Simmons has much influence on the taste, Tonne’s wines have a good balance, not too sweet, but very smooth. In fact, I think they have perfected the “smooth-ness” in their wines.
Other surprises, we found an aerator that attaches right to the bottle (see picture), prior to this we had only seen the ones that you hold over the glass and pore the wine through. This on the bottle variation was most interesting, we almost bought one, but decided to hold off and spend more on wines.
From there we headed to Wilson's Wines.
Winery: Wilson's Wines
Atmosphere: This is literally on an authentic country farm. Don't be scared off by the unconventional surroundings. When you turn in, at first it appears that there is no way this is a winery, but be confident that it is. Proceed to the parking lot behind the barns. You will see some some chairs and a crochet court. Between the far barns is a patio. The doors to the tasting room are on the far side of the furthest barn. Don't worry, it will be worth it for these wines.
Usually one of the Wilson brothers will be the bartender and they are always eager to tell stories. We got a story about how they got started, I suggest asking, we also got an impromptu tour of the facilities, John was eager to show off his new wine press.
This place is truly unique, in that it is very much a local secret of sorts. Its laid back atmosphere is a breath of fresh air. And they promote the true enjoying wine with friends with their "Bring your meat, use our heat" nights and summer concerts. And from what I hear they throw great parties that everyone is invited to. Check their calender of events on their website.
Wines Purchased: Wilson's had a number of great wines, and not one of the named "Cherry Bounce" (my grandfathers favorite wine, I use "wine" very loosely). We really liked the Midnight Red (a wopping 18% alcohol no wonder). As John said it is way to much to drink in a glass, it is to sip with desert or have
with ice cream. We also liked the Autumn Wine, this was a solid semi-dry, would be perfect great with fruit, and very good for "porch sippin'. We also bought the Richard Red, named after the Wilson Brother's father. This is a sweet wine that tasted like grape jelly. We also came across the perfect Thanksgiving wine, the Cranberry, John didn't want to sell us this one because he was holding it back for his late fall blowout bash, but let us have a taste, it was so good that I had to give him a rough time about not selling it, eventually I wore him down and we have a bottle. We need to make a trip back before Thanksgiving to get 3 more bottles for the family.Surprises: As I have already said, this isn't your typical winery experience, which is exactly what makes this place so special. And their wine business philosophy is great. The party atmosphere of the place on weekends is well known by the locals.
We had a fun adventure at Wilson's Wines, it definitely ranks high on our list of winery experiences, and they have very good wines as well.
