Meredith Easley challenges detractors who say you can’t make a good wine from Indiana-grown grapes.

“You hear a lot about terrior (pronounced ter-WHAH),” said Easley, referring to the French term regarding the influence of a region’s climate, soil and altitude on the personality of a wine. “It’s all about understanding and appreciating what our land gives us.”

Easley Winery in Downtown Indianapolis has produced Indiana wine with grapes from its family-owned Cape Sandy vineyards in Crawford County since 1974. The winery also gets its fruit from five primary grape growers, including three from Southern Indiana and two from just over the state line in Michigan.

“What we’re always trying to do is determine what the Indiana palate wants and combine that with what can be grown,” said Easley, who runs the winery with her husband, Mark. "Most of our tastes in wine have to do with what we are raised on and used to and are expecting and wanting.

“If more people would expose themselves to Indiana wine, they might get used to them, too.”

Question: What’s the advantage of “going local” in wine production?

A:The farthest our grapes travel to get here is 233 miles, and that’s through the winding roads of Southern Indiana, so you know what you are getting.

The resources being used are local. The farmers are local. You can meet the grower. You can meet the winemaker. You can meet the people who make the decision about how the wine is made. Just ask.

Q: What about growing grapes organically?

A:That’s tough in Indiana because of our humidity. We attempted that on one of our vineyards for about six years, and we had a tremendous loss without being able to spray. You don’t have the rot or bug issues in the desert in California; however, you are watering in a way that is pulling water from other people’s water resources. There are tradeoffs.

Q: Your winery has a reputation for making sweet wines. Why is that?

A:We actually make as many excellent dry reds and white as we do sweet wines. However, what we’re able to have access in the market with is only our sweet wines.

Q: What’s your best- selling wine?

A:The reggaes (white, blush, red) are very popular. Plus, anything that we put on sale because people are looking for value. On the other hand, the pinot grigio reserve is on fire right now; that’s a $20 bottle of wine.

Q: What’s your favorite?

A:In the dry whites, it’s the pinot grigio. In the dry reds, our reserve red zin. In the semi-dries, the pink catawba. It’s beautiful. It’s got ruby-red grapefruit tastes and aromas to it. It’s great for summer. On the sweet side, I like our cayuga.

Q: What wine do you have that’s unique in the world of wines?

A:Our posey red. It’s fantastic. Our winemaker’s grandfather is the only one who grows those grapes in the state, so the only place you can get the posey red is here. His grandfather closed the winery (in Posey County) three years ago, but we kept the posey red under his name, the Kaufman Vineyard label.