Bad weather for some Indiana crops helped vineyards

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 said 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 said white wines made from this year's crop typically won't be ready until later in 2012. He said many reds will need another year after that to properly age.

Butzke said Indiana's wineries have doubled in number during the past six years, to 64 wineries statewide.