• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Explore Chicago
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The Local Tourist

Experience the fascination of a tourist; Feel the comfort of the local

  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing
Wildcat Creek Winery in Lafayette, Indiana

The Elegant and Rustic Wildcat Creek Winery

Why you should visit this elegant and rustic winery in Lafayette, Indiana, featuring local and regional varietals.

March 27, 2018 //  by Theresa Goodrich//  Leave a Comment

6shares

We like to say Wildcat Creek Winery is elegant and rustic. I’m elegant. He’s rustic.

Kathy Black

You know Kathy Black has used that phrase about her husband, Rick, and herself a gazillion times. (I would, if I were her.) Yet when she said it to us, it didn’t come across as tired, or trite, or oft-used. It was charming, just like her, and just like their winery.

Located in Lafayette, Indiana, in a farmhouse that was built around 1900, the Blacks have turned a former family home into a thriving family business.

There’s a little shop to the left of the entrance with cheeses from nearby Fair Oaks Farms and jewelry and paintings from local artists. A local carpenter created the crown molding.

In the tasting room, a rocking chair beckons. It was a gift from Rick’s three sisters, made of hickory and oak, and Kathy said people love to sit in it as they wait for a tasting, or sip wines they’ve purchased.

Wildcat Creek Winery in winter
Wildcat Creek Winery in winter

We didn’t notice the sound of I-65, less than a mile away, but Kathy did. “I hate the sound,” she said, “but that highway goes as far South as you can go and gets you to Chicago’s airports.” That convenience means that people from all over have visited. In the first six months after their 2007 opening, visitors came from 48 states and twelve countries.

Like many small wineries and breweries I’ve visited, Wildcat Creek Winery is the couple’s “retirement” plan. Rick was a corporate controller; Kathy was a schoolteacher. After Rick’s parents died, one after another, she said, he decided life was too short. He searched for something that would be fulfilling and found oenology. Now, with the help of their winemaker, Nyssa, a food science graduate from Purdue University who’s been with them since 2013, they make and sell wine.

Good wine, at that. We popped in for a quick tasting and sampled several of their varietals, which are indigenous to Indiana and the Midwest. Tastings are free and you can try up to five.

We made our selections and as Rachel poured our wines, she provided a description for each one.

Gifts available at Wildcat Creek Winery
Gifts available at Wildcat Creek Winery

Wildcat Creek Winery is known for their Steuben, a complex semi-sweet that changes character with each sip. Aunt Minnie’s Cherry Tree is labeled “cherry pie in a glass,” and when it’s accompanied by a piece of chocolate (and even when it isn’t), it’s a delightful experience. If you like margaritas, you’ll like Traminette. While it doesn’t taste like the tequila-based cocktail, it has a tartness that pairs well with spicy foods.

My personal favorite was the Prophet’s Rock Red. One of their dry selections, it’s the only wine they oak, and it had almost a buttery mouthfeel, like Nyssa had used malolactic fermentation. She hadn’t, though. That silkiness came from the aging and oaking alone.

T-shirts and custom chair at Wildcat Creek Winery
T-shirts and custom chair at Wildcat Creek Winery

It’s easy to see that Kathy loves the winery, but she said she grieves for her days with students. “Who gets to read a 12-year-old boy’s poetry?” she asked. “I did.”

Still, that experience has helped her turn would could have been just a very expensive hobby into a business. A woman who can “wrangle 300 kids and take them to the Childrens Museum, and not lose a one,” has some mighty management skills.

The former teacher also learns. She confessed that their first BBQ, Bluegrass, and Blueberry Wine Festival didn’t go as smoothly as it should have, in part because the response was overwhelming. The next one was better, though, and this year’s will be the best yet.

Next time you’re driving I-65, get off at IN 25 and visit Wildcat Creek Winery. When you do, pick up a bottle of Prophet’s Rock Red for me, will you?

Save this for later!

Visit the elegant and rustic Wildcat Creek Winery in Lafayette, Indiana, for some tasty wines in the heart of the Midwestern US.
6shares

Category: People, Food and Drink, IndianaTag: Lafayette

Related Stories

Elegant place settings at a dinner table

How to Host a Virtual Dinner Party

Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Chapter 23 – How to Grow a Date

I-40 heading west to Albuquerque

Two Lane Gems, Vol. 1: Chapter 12 – Meeting the Greatest Generation

Spumoni Bomba at 750 Cucina Rustica

Dig Into Delicious with McHenry County Restaurant Week

Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk

Hiking Indiana Dunes National Park

Booth at Harry's Chocolate Shop

100 Years of Chocolates and Beers at Harry’s Chocolate Shop

Beautiful art at Artists' Own in Lafayette Indiana

Local Artists Create Their Own Shop in Downtown Lafayette

Barbecue at Rusted Silo in Hendricks County Indiana

Rusted Silo is destination-worthy ‘cue and pie that made me cry

Horses at Natural Valley Ranch in Brownsburg, Indiana; photo credit Theresa Goodrich

An All-Natural Escape: Riding a Horse at Natural Valley Ranch

Sunset over the barn at Beasley's Orchard

Hendricks County, Indiana: Small Town Charm, Big City Convenience

Easley Winery, photo credit Hayley DeHaan

Behind the Vines at Easley Winery

McCord Candies in Lafayette, Indiana

McCord Candies: The Happiest Corner in Downtown Lafayette

Previous Post: «Purdue University - You Are Here Purdue University: Touring the House that John Built
Next Post: Passion and Pride at Bruno’s Pizza and Big O’s Sports Room Bruno's Pizza in West Lafayette, Indiana»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Your Cart

  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Site Footer

Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Privacy Policy

© 2021 · The Local Tourist · Experience the fascination of a tourist; feel the comfort of the local