Vineyard doing well at Buck Creek Winery

INDIANAPOLIS — Buds are breaking on the grapevines at Buck

Creek Winery vineyards in central Indiana, and Jeff Durm couldn’t be happier.

Durm, owner and winemaker at Buck Creek Winery, is excited

for growth. The spring of 2012 brought late frosts that damaged primary buds on

many vines throughout the state.

Durm said the buds are doing well this year, and he looks

forward to caring for his vineyard throughout the summer.

“Only about half of the wineries in the state have their own

vineyards,” he said “We’re one of them. It just adds that extra layer of work. I

was not a farmer, but all my relatives are. And we just do things from the

ground up. The entire process is something we want to be a part of.”

Durm plants 13 varieties of grapes on four and a half acres

of land. The grapes grown there produce 23 percent of the wine sold in the

store.

“We get about 2,500 gallons a year out of the vineyard,”

Durm said. “We ultimately need 12,000 gallons a year. We buy about 50 percent of

the fruit that we get from Indiana. We also supplement by buying grapes and

juice from California, New York, some ice wine juice from Canada.”

The vineyard was planted 23 years ago. Originally, Durm sold

grapes and made wine for the family.

It wasn’t until he retired eight years ago that the winery

was established. Durm said the growth of the winery has been steady since

opening.

Buck Creek Winery has participated in Vintage Indiana, a

wine and food festival in Indianapolis, every year since it has been around.

“I think the neatest thing about Vintage is there’s so many

wineries there,” Durm said. “It gives people a lot of opportunities to try all

the different wineries.”

His advice to Vintage Indiana lovers is to watch their wine

intake while taking part in the festivities.

“People need to be careful, to be selective and enjoy

themselves, but don’t try too many wines at each tent or you’ll never get to the

other ones,” he suggested. “It’s a great event. We enjoy being there.”

Wine lovers looking to enjoy wine after Vintage Indiana can

stop by Buck Creek Winery for a free wine tasting. The tasting room is open

every day of the week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6

p.m. on Sunday.

“We have 32 wines on our shelves,” Durm said. “What you’ll

find is if we get you in the right sweetness level, you’ll like most of the

things that you try.”

Throughout the summer, Buck Creek Winery offers free music

outside of the winery. Guests often bring lawn chairs and sip on wine while

listening to the concerts. The winery sells pizza from New Bethel Ordinary

during the performances.

In the future, Durm hopes to see the winery grow a little,

but not get too big. Plans are in the works to expand the building so that it

can serve as a wedding and reception venue down the road.

For more information about the winery, visit