Mallow Run Winery, 6964 W. Whiteland Road, Bargersville, is one of the nicest wineries you could visit in Central Indiana. The gravel drive from the road back to the winery is picturesquely lined with grape arbors, and the winery itself is an old stone-and-wood barn in the side of a hill overlooking Mallow Run creek. There are tables inside and a deck outside with tables, as well as an outdoor patio down below the barn with tables that is covered with a tent and heated during the winter. They have a limited menu of sandwiches and cheese trays which is relatively reasonably-priced for a winery. There is usually live musical entertainment on the weekends, too, and during those events, patrons are encouraged to picnic on the lawn between the barn and the creek. The only problem I have with the place is that it has become so danged popular on the weekends that it is often difficult to get a place at the counter for a tasting or a table at which to sit to eat and drink, so the lawn is sometimes your only option. The savvy regulars thus usually bring camp chairs and a beach umbrella to create their own shade as the lawn has only a few trees. Still, once you finally get situated it is usually a great little experience.
The wine, yes, let's talk about the wine! Most local wineries here seem to favor sweet wines, although they all offer at least one dry red. Mallow Run, however, has a number of dry red varieties, and I found their Chambourcin quite complex and tasty, and their Merlot ain't bad either. You can buy wine by the glass, but there's something very satisfying about buying a bottle and spending the afternoon drinking it there at one of the tables. Sante! www.mallowrun.com
