Country Heritage Winery lets you tip a glass just a short drive north of Huntertown

The Lutter family, many of whom are long-time fixtures of LaOtto and Noble County in Indiana, opened their first winery alongside rural farmland in April of 2011. Since then, the place became quickly, even surprisingly popular, and created a need to expand with a bigger production area in 2013 - and the adding on of a large banquet and meeting room as well.

The Lutter family owns huge tracts of farmlands in the county, and runs other businesses such as the nearby Blueberry Acres. Some of those fruits are used in the productions of the local wines. I find Illinois and Indiana wines to be not quite up to standards of California wines, but it's good to see wine makers trying in the Midwest anyway. Things can get better with experience and knowledge - I just don't know about the Indiana climate and soil. I'm also picky about good wines.

The new large hall is great for events. The night I was there recently, a three-piece band performed for a pre-Halloween event. Guests showed up in costumes, and the mood was very festive. It was not the winery experience I usually expect - much more bar-like. I did see a few folks tasting and having cases hauled to their vehicles, but there was also a lot of ordering single glasses or bottles at the bar for on-site consumption. More surprising to me were all the wine "cocktails" being ordered and served - namely the wine slushie. Maybe in the summertime - but it was chilly out. I wonder if a lot of folks are beer drinkers and don't like the taste of wine. That's ok, I guess.

The room is attractive with wood paneling and windows. Wood and beams extend across the ceiling. There are also large taxidermied brown and black bears in a pond display, one with a mounted fish in its mouth. It was as if I was in Bass Pro Shop.

Country Hertage promotes events such as wine and canvas (painting parties), ladies night out, and cooking with wine. Much of the year they are open Monday - Saturday 11 am until 7 pm, and Sunday 10 am - 6 pm. Kevin Geeting is the winemaker. As do many Midwest wineries, they offer lots of semi-sweet, sweet and dessert varieties. I'm not used to wines being described in these ways: a cranberry riesling in which they say, 'think sweet tarts!' Heritage Red, 'grape jelly in a glass!' A blueberry dessert wine, 'think blueberry pie!'. I really don't want my wine to induce a diabetic coma.

They do offer a Zinfandel, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a good proprietor's reserve that is part Cab, part Merlot. These could not be home-grown grapes, but these wines are decent. There is no outside food allowed, and it would be nice if they would offer something more than the rolling food truck I saw parked there last Friday night. But the place was busy, the parking lot looked full, and they seem to have an enthusiastic market. Keep trying - it looks like the bucks are just rolling in.