A couple of weeks ago, I was in Indianapolis, Indiana for the Indy Horticultural Congress. An excellent source of information for anyone in the agriculture industry in the mid-west.
I was invited there to do talks on icewine and fruit wines, my two specialties by the head of the Oenology/Viticultural department of Purdue University, Dr. Christian Butzke.
It was an excellent show and very informative sessions on all aspecs of farming and food production.
Relating to wine, Dr. Butzke and the university has put together a nice page, full of resources that would be of interest and useful to anyone in the industry or wanting to know more. Links on that page will lead you to some of the talks done at the congress this year (including mine). Check it out HERE.
What I was impressed with was the level of interest in fruit wines within the state of Indiana. This is great to hear as well as knowing after talking with several fruit winemakers that the level of fruit wine consumption is growing. There is a desire by all producers to increase the level of fruit wine quality and finding new innovative production techniques to be able to make world standard wines that can be sold outside of state borders.
A copy of my talk on the fruit wine industry can be downloaded HERE.
All in all, it was a great experience and hope to be back in Indiana soon!