Located in Muncie, Tonne Winery has spent the last 12 years building a grape reputation.
Asking Larry Simmons to pick his favorite wine is like asking a father of 20 children to name his favorite, says the co-owner of Muncie’s Tonne Winery.
Larry and his friend and brother-in-law, Kevin Tonne, opened Muncie’s only winery in 2009. The pair started offering five selections from the two-room winery, located at 101 West Royerton Rd. Today, Tonne sells 20-25 blends — from cabernets and rieslings to traminettes and fruit-flavored blends.
Larry says the winery is known for its seasonal varieties. During the winter holidays, Tonne sells “Rudolph Red,” a sweet red, and “Snow Angel,” a sweet white. During the summer months, Tonne’s fruity flavors include blackberry and cherry, and its wine slushies are an especially popular icy treat.
The duo’s first batch of wine: A dry riesling, says Larry.
Partners in Wine
When Larry and his wife, Kathie, bought the property on which Tonne Winery now sits, they didn’t plan to build a winery. The Simmons own Muncie’s G&M Pet & Garden Center, and they planned to expand that business on the land, formerly Waldo’s Greenhouses.
According to Larry, the 2008 recession forced them to think of alternative uses for the land.
“Around 2008, whenever the housing crash came, the garden center business just wasn’t growing anymore, and all of this property was just going to waste,” Larry explains.
At the beginning of their venture, only a handful of active wineries existed in Indiana. Now, the state boasts more than 100.
The inspiration for Tonne Winery came from Larry’s cousin, David Simmons, and his wife, Brenda, who have owned Simmons Winery & Vineyard in Columbus, Ind., since 2012.
Tonne’s early wine was produced solely from grapes picked at the Simmons’ Winery vineyard. But as the business grew, so did their need for grapes. For the past 12 years, Tonne’s wine has been made from a blend of grapes from across the country, but mostly from the Midwest.
Before Kevin and Larry started construction on the winery, they dedicated themselves to learning about the field they were entering, touring wineries all across the state of Indiana from 2008 to 2009.
With Kevin’s background in food science and Larry’s background in horticulture, the brothers-in-law made the perfect pair.
“We work really well together, and we’ve built a very nice little business here,” says Larry, who brought business expertise from running the garden center to the winery.
Getting Better With Age
After Tonne receives the juice from carefully-selected grapes, the rest of the wine-making process is completed on-site. This includes filtering, fermentation, bottling and labeling. Larry says it’s crucial to taste the wine through each stage of the operation.
“Everybody probably wants that job,” he adds. “Who doesn’t want to stand around and taste wine all day?”
Each batch requires a different process, but some wines, like the cabernet, take almost two years to become ready for consumption. Others, like the fruit-flavored wines, take as little as 120 days.
Typically, it’s premium wines, such as chardonnay, cabernet, sauvignon blanc, and merlot, that are left to ferment longer because they develop more complex flavor profiles during the aging process. Lighter wines, such as Tonne’s fruity blends like peach, raspberry, and blackberry, reach their peak flavor much earlier.
Of course, Larry and Kevin don’t work alone.
“We have really good people working at the winery,” Larry says. “I’m approaching 70, so you know, Kevin and I, we’re not spring chickens anymore. We do need help, but we have really, really good help.”
Larry and Kevin’s wives, Kim Tonne and Kathie Simmons, play an important role as master taste-testers.
“We gotta make it quick to keep up with those two,” Larry jokes. “If we made it any slower, we’d have nothing to sell.”
Although Larry can’t pick a favorite wine, he says Kathie’s is definitely the pinot grigio.
Wine In A Million
One of the winery’s most popular selections, and a wine that is especially near and dear to Kevin and Larry’s hearts, is their semi-dry Traminette. This Indiana-signature white wine was awarded the title of Indiana Wine of The Year in 2014 by the Indy International Wine Corporation.
Some of Tonne’s other award-winning selections include blackberry, semi-dry riesling, and royerton red, which boast gold medals from the Indy International Wine Corporation.
In addition to the array of wines, Tonne Winery also serves house hard ciders, DeBrand Chocolates, beer from the Guardian Brewing Company, and Tonne’s famous wine slushies, whose flavors vary seasonally and are sold all year long.
Kevin and Larry also like to do their part to stay connected to the community. Larry says they love hosting parties and events, from everyday wine tastings to bridal shower celebrations or pottery painting.
To accommodate larger groups for special occasions, the winery has a spacious tasting room that can be rented out. Tonne also sells wine and cheese related gift baskets, as well as t-shirts, corkscrews, cutting boards, candles, and wine stoppers and chillers.
A Berry Good Reputation
The spring and summer mark the winery’s busy season. People from Muncie and beyond gather on the bright green lawn to sit at picnic tables and chat between sips of refreshing wine slushies. Tonne frequently welcomes local artists to play outdoor concerts for the wine aficionados.
One of Tonne’s regular performers, Jake Hendershot, has been playing there since 2014. Jake can be found performing solo, singing and playing acoustic guitar, or performing with his band, Vintage Reserves, two or three times a year at Tonne.
“I love looking out while I play and seeing all the families hanging out picnic-style in the field behind the winery. It’s one of the only venues where my wife can bring our kids. It truly is a fun, family-friendly experience,” says the father-of-two whose favorite Tonne wine is the kabrie, a dry, oaky and fruity red blend.
According to Larry, there is no greater reward than watching people enjoy the fruits of their labor.
“Ever since we made our first batches here, there’s just some kind of joy and self-contentment to actually physically make something from start to finish, and to see people enjoy it,” he says.
Visit Tonne Winery at 101 West Royerton Rd, Muncie, IN, or check out its website www.tonnewinery.com.
Sources: Tonne Winery
Featured Image: Milo Hardinson
