TOUR THE WINERY
CELLAR TASTING ROOM
Lanthier Winery's Tasting Room is home to towering, 16 foot wine racks stacked high with award winning, hand-crafted wines. Wine tastings are FREE and families are always welcome at Madison, Indiana's oldest winery where romance abounds and the essence of Europe surrounds visitors.
The winery's cozy 24-inch-thick stone walls, quiet music whispering in the background, and welcoming, relaxed staff give guests a feeling that they are visiting a winery in Europe's Heartland, not Midwest USA! That's why visitors say a short drive to Scenic Southern Indiana's Lanthier Winery gives them, "a far away feeling, close enough to taste."
Easy to get to, wonderful to visit, and worth the trip, there is more to do at Lanthier Winery than just sample and sip. The Tasting Room is home to many of Lanthier Winery's special events. To learn more about special events, promotions and holiday happenings you can visit events/promotions. Sample wine, relax in the Loft Gallery, meet the Cellarmaster, take a quick lesson from the Master Gardener, chat with an artist, or enjoy a relaxing conversation at the tasting counter with friendly staff.
The Cellar Tasting Room is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop, shop, sample, and sip! Friendly staff await new wine drinkers just out for a drive. Wine connoisseurs, or friends out for the day are greeted the same by staff eager to pour samples of Cellarmaster Chris Lanthier's award winning wines. Get away, without going out of your way, to The Cellar Tasting Room at Lanthier Winery.
View our wine list by clicking here.
Award-Winning
Hand Crafted Wines
All the wines, at Lanthier Winery, are hand crafted by our Cellarmaster, Chris Lanthier, and ONLY available at Lanthier Winery's location on Mill Street in Madison, Indiana
Free Wine Tastings
At Lanthier Winery, tastings are not limited to one or two, but all of our wines at your leisure. Harvest Celebration Festival is the only weekend when tastings are charged due to the volume of visitors at the winery.
THE LOFT GALLERY
Madison, Indiana's art galleries are numerous, but the most visited of all is The Loft Gallery at Lanthier Winery. A grand success since it's opening, in April of 2004, the winery's Cellar Tasting Room loft is home to the aptly named "Loft Gallery." One of Madison's most eclectic art galleries, it plays host to many regional and national political leaders, exclusive exhibits, private receptions and winery special events. The Loft Gallery now hosts some of southern Indiana's special dignitaries and remarkable art exhibitions.
Art galleries traditionally offer a variety of showings, and Madison's most successful gallery is no exception. The fall exhibition, "Colors Abound," opens in September and runs through the end of October. This exhibition showcases original works from exclusive private collections, as well as select artist premiers. The holiday season opens with shimmer and shine as The Loft Gallery joins the remainder of the winery in a magical transformation to a forest of glittering Christmas trees. Aptly named "Winter Warm-up," this exhibition features beautiful quilts and quilted crafts from regional and nationally recognized fabric artists and quilters and runs from January through April every year.
"Picture Perfect" is Madison, Indiana's favorite spring art gallery. Original works and photography from regional artists are featured April through June. The summer art gallery exhibition, "Dimensions in Art," highlights the Nation's brightest and best young artists from a variety of universities and institutions. Lanthier Winery also sponsors an 'artist in residence' program for outstanding artists who show exceptional promise.
Artist Showcase
The Loft Gallery showcases several artists & different artistic mediums from painting, sculpture, glasswork, woodworking & more.
SPRING - Picture Perfect
SUMMER - Dimensions in Art
AUTUMN - Colors Abound
WINTER - Host of Angels & Festival of Trees
The Loft Gallery
The Loft Gallery is open, free of charge, to the public during the winery's business hours and is only closed on Harvest Celebration Festival weekend.
Seating is also available in
The Loft Gallery. If you have a special event you are celebrating and would like to reserve seating, please contact us.
Artist in Residence
Over the years, the winery has been able to commission a piece of work and, at times, host an artist in residence for the winery. Over the years several of the artists have became nationally recognized and established artists.
THE GARDENS
Sensational seasonal blossoms await visitors and artists alike. Photographers, painters and crafters of all talents, frequent the magnificent French country gardens surrounding Lanthier Winery in search of ever apparent inspiration. Nationally recognized artist, Eric Phagan, was the first of many talented painters to complete an original work of art for Lanthier Winery's "Garden of Art." The outdoor fine art gallery is, "an interactive, educational fine art experience", according to Master Gardener, Tami Hagemier. "Guests are intrigued when they notice a sculpture casts an artful shadow against a garden wall, or view a panel of 12 paintings with the same subject matter rendered in 12 different techniques."
Garden events, at the winery, are held throughout the year. Most are hosted by the winery and include Spring Celebration, Daffodil Days, Tulip Time, and Harvest Celebration Festival, although the winery has also been used for weddings, personal social events and other gatherings.
Admission to Madison Indiana's favorite public garden is free and open to public 7 days a week from sun up to sun down. To learn about garden events and garden tours, visit our events page.
Garden of Art
Explore one of the Nation's only outdoor art galleries at Lanthier Winery. The garden has several medium displays from different paintings and textures to iron work, glass work and sculptures.
Garden Critters
Lanthier Winery works towards providing a natural habitat for garden critters. Every once in a while, we get one that may need rehabilitated or one that decides to stay awhile.
Garden Tour
The Garden is open to the public from sun up to sun down year round. Lanthier Winery strives to keep the winery seasonal with color and unique varieties of plants. We kindly ask you please stay on the paths and enjoy our beautiful grounds.
THE GRAPES
Cellarmaster Chris Lanthier currently uses Indiana grapes grown in the finger lakes region to create his award-winning, hand crafted wines. These wines are only served at Lanthier Winery's Madison, Indiana location. The wines are all made on the winery's property in the production room.
As Lanthier Winery's wines gained popularity and more wines were created, the winery had to look for quality grapes and juices to meet the demand that was quickly rising. Prior to using grapes from the finger lakes region, the winery had used grapes from Switzerland County, Indiana - just a 20 minute drive along the Ohio River from Madison. As you followed the rambling roads from Madison, Indiana to Jacksonville Vineyards, located on a curvy interlude in nearby Vevay, a beautiful vineyard appeared and provided luscious fruit for Madison's oldest winery, Lanthier Winery. What once were fields of tobacco, are now sunny, rolling hillsides sprouting posts and wires. Draped vines glisten with clusters of wine grapes and give homage to a tradition of the area from years ago. Welcome to one of the best vineyards in the Midwest.
The auspicious title of the Ohio River Wine Grape Appellation was awarded to the rolling hills of Southeastern Indiana years ago. Since that time, some vineyards have begun to replace the traditional crops of corn and tobacco. To learn more about grape growing, or wine grape regions, visit indianawines.org
The hills of Steve and Mona Crabtree’s vineyard sit high above the Ohio River. The ideal location allows warm breezes to rustle the grape leaves and push back the killing fingers of late spring frosts. Lanthier Winery's wines were proudly first produced from the grapes of Jacksonville Vineyards, where some of the best fruit is available to Indiana vintners.
Lanthier Winery grapes were hand picked, placed in bins for rinsing, then tossed into the crusher-destemmer, where sharp blades rotated to break the grapes' skin and remove any stems, seed or debris. What remains, following the 'crush,' is grape must. The 'must' was then transported to Lanthier Winery, where Cellarmaster, Chris Lanthier, pressed the grapes to make juice.
Lanthier Winery owners, Chris Lanthier & Tami Hagemier, thank the Crabtree's and Jacksonville Vineyards for the amazing opportunity of placing some of the best grapes into our wines and experience of the hard work of plucking each grape to produce some of Lanthier Winery's first wines. Even though our grapes now come from the finger lakes region, Lanthier Winery cherishes the memories of days in the vineyard.