Take a one tank trip that ends at Starlight

Of the nearly 40 Indiana wineries, there isn't another like Huber's Orchard, Winery, and Vineyards in Starlight, atop a hill just northwest of Louisville and across the Ohio River.

Huber's family found its southern Indiana roots in 1843 and now is in its seventh generation of tending the land. Huber grows 18 different varietals leading to about 400,000 pounds of grapes each year.

I've visited Huber's for several years now and their wines are getting better and better.

"Most of the vineyards at Huber's Orchard, Winery, and Vineyards are starting to show their maturity as the roots expand deeper into the limestone rich soils we find on the knobstone escarpment," Ted Huber said.

 "These vines typically start showing complex flavors developing in the wines after their seventh year in our soils, giving the wines much richer texture and complexity. This allows us to better manage our barrel and blending program, giving our Heritage and Generations a more interesting flavor profile."

The Heritage and Generations wines are their two flagship dry red wines. Those two labels are easily the best dry red wine I've tasted from any Hoosier winery. Huber's grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Blaufrankisch and Chambourcin, as well as many of the other grapes you'd expect from an Indiana winery. But in 2000 they planted Petit Verdot, Malbec and Pinot Gris. It will be fascinating to see how Ted uses those grapes in coming vintages.

But Huber's is much more than a winery. They have nearly 900 acres of Christmas trees, apples, strawberries, peaches, berries of all sorts, pumpkins and vegetables. They make their own cheeses and ice cream, jams, jelly, and they have a bakery.

They also have a Children's Farm Park, café, gift shop and a distillery producing Brandy and Grappa.

"In the mid-1970s as my father and uncle started to plan for the winery, they understood there was a much diversified need among our customer base," Huber said.

"They understood that having a variety and diversified product list would keep things interesting for our customers and for all levels of the wine-drinking public.

"We see approximately 400,000 people each year to our farm and the diversified wine list helps us retain repeat customers. We are not just focusing on dry wines or sweet wines - we have a range of wines to taste and select from."

The Huber name is an iconic label in this hilly corner of Indiana overlooking the river and Louisville.

But Huber will admit there are plenty of people north of Columbus still unfamiliar with their operation.

"They are often customers that we refer to as the ‘one tank trip"'customers. There is a complete different look and feel to our area than the central part of Indiana.

"Our growing conditions and topography are conducive to growing grapes much different than other wineries in Central Indiana."
This is one of my favorite "one tank trips" for any Saturday and I try to make it three to four times a year.

Howard's Picks:

2006 Generations - Huber's basic dry red wine is full flavored and nicely balanced. It's Indiana's best dry red wine at the $14.99 price point.

2004 Heritage - I mention this particular older vintage of their best blend simply because it is the best glass of red wine I've ever had from an Indiana producer. The 2004 is $24.99 but the current 2006 release is available for $18.99.

2008 Traminette - Indiana's answer to Gewurtztraminer is produced by most Indiana wineries. This semi-dry, floral and spicy white wine is awesome for $14.99.
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Howard Hewitt, Crawfordsville, is a wine enthusiast, writer and blogger who writes a column every other week for The Tribune. Read more about the wines he's drinking at: www.redforme.blog spot.com.