French Lick Winery

Open year-round, busy French Lick Winery has a few things going for it before you ever even taste a sip of wine. The location is convenient -- near the luxurious French Lick Resort. The restaurant's menu teems with easy-to-like options that can satisfy ladies who lunch and those with heartier appetites (salads, pastas and sandwiches). And with 22 wines, visitors are surely able to find at least one they enjoy sipping. French Lick Winery offers eight dry wines, including Chardonel, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Merlot and Chambourcin; seven semidry wines, including Traminette and Foch; and seven sweet wines, including rhubarb, blackberry and cherry. Their best-selling wine, the French Lick Red, appeals to wine newbies who tend to have sweeter palates, but the array of dry and semidry wines proves this also is a spot for people who know something about wine, too. Prices range from $4.67 to $8.41 per glass and $9.81 to $26.40 per bottle. We had lunch in the winery's The Vintage Cafe -- cute with paper lanterns and parasols--and enjoyed our salads ($3.95 for a side salad, $7.95 for a garden salad), roasted red pepper rigatoni ($12.95 with Alfredo sauce) and shared slice of Black Tie Cake ($4.95, a brownie layered with white chocolate filling and topped with fudge frosting and white chocolate curls). Surly might best describe our server that day, though we found the sales people handling the tastings to be conversational, knowledgeable and friendly. French Lick Winery is a natural place to stop for anyone visiting the resort or even just passing through town, whether you're a wine aficionado or not.