Development News From Southwest Indiana

Wine Country - French Lick Winery to show off its new space
By Tom Raithel, Courier & Press staff writer, June 17, 2005
The French Lick Winery faced its share of challenges when it moved out of its snug mansion cellar and into the shell of an abandoned piano factory.

But today, surmounting those challenges seems well worth it, said John Doty, who, with his wife, Kim, owns the wine-making company.

"We've got space to actually display our merchandise now. People can actually come and have a meal and stay and feel a lot more comfortable," Doty said.

The new winery will have an open house from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at its new location, 8331 W. Indiana 56, Suite 2 in West Baden Springs. There will be a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Doty said that the winery had grown during its 10 years of existence, and its location in the 3,000 square-foot cellar of the Beechwood Mansion in French Lick became too small for its purposes.

So in March 2004, the company began looking for a new home. After some false starts it settled on using 27,000 square-foot of a 320,000 square-foot building in West Baden Springs. The building was formerly used by Kimball Industries to build pianos. The facility had been abandoned for about three years.

Doty had reservations about moving from a mansion cellar, which seemed like a fit home for a winery, into a former factory. One of his greatest reservations was how the winery ambience could be retained.

The firm hired Julie Thompson, an interior decorator from Huntingburg, who came up with a decorative theme based on the Roaring 20s - a fit theme for a winery in Al Capone's old favorite vacation spot of West Baden Springs.

There were other challenges. The building had to be rewired and a refrigeration unit installed. The mansion cellar was naturally cooled to 60 degrees.

The company had to replace 10 big windows in the building, and 16-foot tall tanks with diameters of 8-feet, 9-inches had to be moved through 9-foot doors.

New plumbing, cooling and kitchen equipment also had to be installed.

The efforts succeeded and the winery opened for business Feb. 1, Doty said. Its new home features a 5,000 square-foot wine-tasting area with a 40-foot tasting bar and a larger selection of wine, cheese and related items. It can seat about 100 for dinner, Doty said.

The company also built a porch for outside seating where wine cheese or light dinners can be served. The porch seats about 30, Doty said.

The new winery also has a 20,000 square-foot production area where the wine is made. Windows allow visitors to see production from the wine-tasting area, Doty said.

Another 1,600-square feet of space is used as an office, a shop where gift-baskets are made and a kitchen where the company makes sauce for its Italian food, Doty said.

The winery employs about six full- and eight part-time workers, Doty said. These include the couple's two sons, Aaron and Nick.

The winery has become a major tourist destination in Orange County, Doty said. It fits in well with the community's plans for a restored West Baden Springs Hotel and a casino. The larger facility allows the the winery to handle more customers, even bus tours, Doty said.

"We're selling a lot more wine," Doty adds.

PO Box 20127, Evansville, IN 47708-0127 TEL: 812-423-2020 E-mail: info@swidc.org