Jacob Peerman ' 09 - Ross McKinney and I ventured into what looked like a regular old barn this week at Oak Hill Farms in northwestern Indiana. However, we were soon bombarded with milk information in the form of “Discovery Kids.” After walking through a series of rooms, gaining facts like “Milk is good for the bones” and “3-4 glasses a day,” we found ourselves sitting in a bio-secure air-conditioned bus driving by mountains of grain, fertilizer, and other materials used to keep the 30,000 cows happy and give the soil vital nutrients. This part of the trip was interesting.

However, seeing as how my project is focused on the wineries of Indiana, I was looking forward to the visit to Whyte Horse winery in Monticello, IN.

The Whyte Horse Winery has only been open since October of last year. It all began with a love of wine. Larry and Don Pampel have help from their father, wives, daughters, and son to produce, run, and sustain their family business.Like most wine business, it started with a hobby. Larry is tri-lingual in the world of business as a dentist, financial investment advisor, and vintner. I found all this information by interviewing Abbey Franks. She is a Purdue graduate of 2005 and is fluent in her wine knowledge and Whyte Horse History.This winery does not have the production history like other family owned vineyards. However, Whyte Horse has a rich history of passion, and as Abbey Franks, an employee at Whyte Horse, says “we want to carve out our little niche.”

I asked Abbey where she saw the Whyte Horse Winery in 5-10 years. She replied, “We don’t want to be another Oliver.” The Whyte Horse sells higher end wines and is trying to stay “traditional” in their production.

They do not offer a line of fruit wines or varieties that are extremely sweet which was rather surprising. Abbey says, “We get people from all over the state that travel to our winery and taste our varieties.” I was rather impressed with the passion and charisma that this 8 month old winery had to offer.

The last thing that stuck out in my mind was how the name “Whyte Horse” was chosen. To my understanding, the land where their 3-acre vineyard sits was purchased from a woman who owned a white horse. The horse was purchased along with the land and then became the name of the winery. I did get to see the inspiration and I can say with confidence that it was a good choice.