Winemaking

The growing of grapes and making the wine is a long term undertaking. The vines require a minimum of 3 years to become established and produce fruit, which is all weather dependent, so three years may not be adequate.  Assuming three years works, after the first harvest, it can take up to another 6-24 months to crush, press, ferment, barrel age and finally bottle. This means investing up to 5-6 years before having a product ready for the market.

After planting our vines in 2012, Sugar Creek Vineyard and Winery began to look for professional advice on making wines. So in 2014, we reached out to Traders Point Winery in Indianapolis and worked out an arrangement where Sugar Creek Vineyard would grow grapes and provide crushing, destemming, pressing services and deliver juice to Traders Point Winery.  In turn, Traders Point Winery provides Sugar Creek Winery with access to their wine production equipment and storage facilities. 

Under this arrangement, Sugar Creek Winery is in total control of all decisions made about the wine, including grape harvest, crush, press, production style, fermentation, chemistry, barrel aging, bottle types, wine names, bottling, labeling and overall appearance, marketing and sale of the wine.