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Feature
Article:
Visitors
to Our Website Review Huber's Orchard & Winery
A few months ago, Indiana
residents Jim and Cindy Crume made a visit to Huber's Orchard and Winery.
They enjoyed their visit so much, they wrote to us to telling about their
visit and encouraging us to make trip there soon. Here is what they had to
say:
My
wife and I made our day trip to Huber??™s Winery yesterday. The most
difficult part of the drive was the MapQuest directions we followed. They
stunk. They took us the most unimaginable route, and we were lost several
times. Once we finally turned onto the final road, we saw a sign that this
road may be closed due to inclement weather. They weren??™t kidding! It was
steep and winding! But with the leaves turning, it was also beautiful! When
we got to the top of the big hill, there was a sign for Joe Huber??™s
restaurant. Don??™t go that way, turn right. You will pass grapevines, fruit
trees, strawberry fields, blackberries, raspberries, pumpkins, etc. They
also had vegetable fields for the farm market. It??™s a large complex with
many buildings including a farm market, winery, distillery, production
buildings, etc. And for the kids they have hayrides, pumpkin patches, and a
corn maze. These are all seasonal, of course. They have petting animals
during the spring and summer, and many activities for children.
We
got there slightly after noon and walked around the area a bit. They have a
Farm Market building complete with a bakery. They have fresh baked pies and
sweet breads that looked extremely good. And if you feel like taking home an
unbaked frozen pie, they have those too! They also have home-made fudge.
Since it was slightly after noon and we were getting hungry, we went in
search of food. The winery building is an old dairy barn that has been
converted. This is where you??™ll find the food, too. When you enter the
building, you will see the displays of all their wines for sale. There is
also a counter here where you can order food, soft drinks, or a glass of
wine. They have a nice sitting area inside. They also have one outside, but
the weather was nasty so we didn??™t get to see the outside very much. The
food is good, with an assortment of fresh-made, warm sandwiches, soups,
homemade chips, pizza, etc. The food was delicious. Our only disappointment
was that they were out of soup (they said they had a large lunch crowd). On
the way out, I noticed you can get an assortment of cheese and cracker trays
and things like that to enjoy with wine, too.
The tasting room is upstairs in the winery barn. We went up, were
immediately greeted, and were impressed with the large room. The tasting bar
is along one side, and the rest of the room is full of wine accessories and
even some crafts. And they have a large assortment of wine racks, both
countertop and cabinet type.
Once
we looked at the accessories, we were ready to taste. One thing that is a
little different is that they do charge to taste. It wasn??™t a big deal,
just different for us. The charge to taste 8 wines was $7, and 8 wines plus
their ice wine, plus a special reserve wine, and a brandy for $12. This also
includes a nice goblet. And the 8 wine thing seemed to be a guideline.
The
lady that served us was very nice, and knew their wines even though she had
only been there 4 weeks. She told us that all grapes and fruits are grown on
their farm. She started by asking what wines we typically like and went from
there. My wife likes the sweeter wines, and I look for wines that we will
both enjoy, so we started farther down the list. One nice thing is that they
have 22 wines, plus 3 seasonals, plus 4 infusions (juice plus brandy), plus
3 ports, plus 4 brandies on their list. So there is something for everyone.
We actually started with a semi-dry vignoles, and it was very nice. We both
enjoyed it. I then backed up and tried a dry seyval blanc and found I liked
it very much too. We then tried a semi-sweet white which was also very good!
We
then went on to the sweet wines. They have a large variety which is what
drew us to Huber??™s in the first place since this is what my wife likes.
They have 5 wines that are classified sweet, only one of which is grape
based. And they were all very nice! The first was a concord wine called
Sweet Marcella. Very grapey, nicely sweet without being overly sweet. Next
we tried the Razzy Apple. This was a delight. It??™s a sparkling mix of hard
cider and raspberry wine. And it was wonderful. Then our server pulled out a
small container of small chocolate pieces and had us try the wine with
chocolate. Wow! We then tried the Peach wine. I??™ve had peach wines before
that I didn??™t care for. They seem to have very little peach taste. But
this wine had a nice peach flavor. We then tried the strawberry wine, and
alone and with the chocolate this is a nice wine! Then we tried the
blackberry. Some blackberry wines can be too tart, or have a bitter
aftertaste. But this one was just right, and with the chocolate was
extremely good!
I
know I??™m probably going into too much detail here, but I can??™t help
myself. We were impressed! We next tried one of their seasonal wines. They
only have it in the fall, and they will probably be out this weekend. There
is a reason for that. It is a spiced apple wine and my wife said it is
definitely her favorite wine now! We drank it cold, but it can be
served warm, too. And it would be very nice either way! A definite winner!
We then each tried an infusion. My wife had the raspberry which is raspberry
brandy from their distillery blended with raspberry juice! I had the peach
(peach brandy/juice). I confess we each tried a sip of the others. The peach
was very good, but I found myself wishing I had gotten the raspberry! It was
incredible! And my wife heartily recommends it with, you guessed it,
chocolate!
My
wife quit tasting at this point (she had the $7 tasting), but I continued
on. I had to try the grappa, which is a distilled product of the grape
leftovers. It was strong as advertised (80 proof). I wish I had tried a
brandy instead. I then tried Knobstone Reserve port. A very fine port wine!
It seems like I??™m gushing, and I am, but we really enjoyed the wines at
Huber??™s. In fact, we bought 12 bottles! For the two of us!
We loaded our wines into the car, and then made our way over to the farm
market again and looked around. During the growing season, they have
vegetables grown on their farm. We then made our way over to the ice cream
and cheese shop. The ice creams looked very good, but it was cold and rainy,
so we passed. However, they had several cheeses there. And we ended up
buying some. They don??™t make them, but they are made for them. I recommend
the sweet Swiss which is a mild Swiss.
All
in all, we had a great time. The only thing that could have been better was
the weather, and there??™s nothing they could do about that. This is not a
small operation, but we found we liked it as much as we like Oliver??™s (our
favorite). We highly recommend it! But don??™t use MapQuest to find out how
to get there! Either look at your atlas, or call or email them. It would
have saved us some frustration. And I would have loved to have gone when we
could enjoy the outside too. It is southern
Indiana
, and it is a pretty area of the country.
I
know this was wordy, but I wanted to let you know what our experience was!
You should schedule this winery on one of your trips!
Thanks!
Jim and Cindy Crume of Anderson, Indiana
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