WFYI Indianapolis - The Good Life with Jill Ditmire


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THE GOOD LIFE with JILL DITMIRE

A 30-minute weekly on-location lifestyle series profiling Midwestern food and wine. Each week The Good Life takes viewers on a culinary tour across Indiana, the Midwest and the world visiting some of today's most talented chefs, exciting restaurants and interesting wineries. Host Jill Ditmire takes viewers into the kitchens of the Midwest’s most talked about restaurants to learn the secrets behind their signature dishes and visits local wineries to taste and discuss their wines. She offers viewers amusing stories and recipes, mini-travelogues of exciting destinations, value wines from the whole world and the opportunity to learn from chefs, wine makers and many others.

WHEN?

Saturday
6:30 pm
Wednesday
7:30 pm
WFYI Public Television

LINKS

• Episode Descriptions
• Featured Wines
• Featured Recipes

The Good Life with Jill Ditmire Episode #703

Starlight, Indiana; Your Neighbor’s Garden St. Elmo’s Wine Cellars

Indiana’s agricultural history is long and storied, but its future is even brighter. WFYI wants to show you how that translates into fun adventures right here in the Hoosier State. It’s all part of a growing state initiative to promote agriculture as tourism. The initiative is made possible through a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, administered by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (http://www.in.gov/isda/ ).

For a fun family trip that’s “all Indiana,” consider heading south to Starlight, west of Interstate 65 in picturesque Clark County. Begin the fun at the Forest Discovery Center (www.forestcenter.com), where kids of all ages can learn about wood as a renewable resources. Tom and Mary Francis Cutter went into the lumber business in 1959 and the family now runs this amazing learning facility. Not only do visitors learn about trees and their thousands of uses, but they can also take in a video inside a giant oak tree, see the incredible 1,000 square foot parquetry mural and watch a real saw mill in action.

Nearby is the Huber Orchard and Winery (www.huberwinery.com), established in 1843. Current owner Ted Huber’s ancestors began as fruit farmers who then went on to make fruit wines and brandies. The Huber family went out of the alcoholic beverage business from Prohibition until 1978, when the current winery was opened. Among the many wines offered is an estate bottled Cabernet Sauvignon, a variety Ted says is only getting better. “We’re in our fourth vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon now and they’re looking very good. The vines are getting a little bit older, the wines are getting a little more deep in dark cherry and dark fruit. They’re looking great.” Since 1971 Huber has also distilled brandies from the family’s own fruits. The operation also features a year-round farmers’ market with seasonal goods, a bakery filled with homemade breads, pies and candies, a cheese shop and a delightful petting zoo.

Cousin Joe Huber operates a popular restaurant and gift shop not far away (www.joehubers.com). For family dining, enjoy Southern hospitality with a classic Southern menu that includes chicken and dumplings along with fried biscuits and apple butter. Kids will get a kick out of the outdoor play area and seasonal goodies in the gift area.

Farmers markets are gaining huge popularity in metropolitan Indianapolis, and Your Neighbor’s Garden is riding the wave. Gardener/owners Ross and Sherry Faris operate their business on the honor system. Produce grown on-site and brought in from other Indiana growers is out for sale six days a week, with each day’s offerings listed on the sign outside. Ross Faris comes from a family of gardeners and farmers and says it made him happy to turn gardening into a business. He says he was also pleased to see that a recently published list of Indianapolis’ top restaurants, six are customers of his. Faris focuses on Indiana-grown produce to provide fresh selections over the course of many months.

Did you know you can dine in the wine cellar at the famous St. Elmo Steak House in downtown Indianapolis? It’s an intimate setting, surrounded by the restaurant’s incredible selection of about one thousand different wines, and features hand-distressed oak to create an aged ambience. St. Elmo’s Chris Clifford says a new organizational system allows the staff to get diners’ wines to the tables with much greater speed than in the past.

Clifford says St. Elmo’s most famous bottle of wine is easily a Chateau Lafitte from 1902, the same year the restaurant was founded. It’s currently priced at $9,000. Other treasures of the cellar include three bottles of “Screaming Eagle.” Enormous bottles of wine designed to serve 30-40 guests await their high season, usually during race months, while half bottles have become popular among single diners or groups with varied tastes.