Bad weather for some Ind. crops helped vineyards

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University wine experts say lousy growing conditions this year for some Indiana crops proved ideal for the state’s vineyards.

Purdue grape and wine specialist Bruce Bordelon says Indiana’s wet spring and hot summer were good for the state’s grapes, and the warm, dry fall allowed them plenty of time to gently ripen.

Those grapes should make for some excellent wines, but Purdue enology professor Christian Butzke says white wines made from this year’s crop typically won’t be ready until later in 2012. He says many reds will need another year after that to properly age.

Butzke says Indiana’s wineries have doubled in number during the past six years to 64 wineries statewide.