Family-Owned Winery Includes Event Space for Weddings, Celebrations and Concerts
Writer / Pat Carlini
Photographer / Brian Brosmer
More than 1,500 guests turned out for the Grand Opening celebration of Daniel’s Family Vineyard & Winery at 9061 N 700 W in McCordsville on April 30.
It was a rainy day, but that didn’t dampen the crowd’s excitement of touring the new facility, listening to live music and, of course, sipping the wine.
Guests lined the 50-foot long wine tasting bar for samples of the five white wines, one rose and four red.
The Circle City Red ($42) was a popular choice. Daniel’s Vineyard also has two wines that are a limited release, and they nearly sold out on opening day.
Glass walls offer a glimpse into the production facility on the main floor, and there’s a full kitchen and huge pizza oven that produces six pizzas at a time. They are now searching for the perfect pizzologist and will have an event to announce their artisan pizzas.
The new facility can host 325 in their upper banquet and an additional 75 on their balcony that has a panoramic view of the vineyard and a perfect setting for sunsets.
Daniel’s Vineyard is the dream of Daniel and Kimberly Cook, over a bottle of wine during their visit to the Tuscan foothills.
Together with their five kids Jenna, Carlee, Calvin, Christian and Stephanie — the head winemaker — all worked hard to make the family dream become a reality.
Neighbors and friends helped as 14,000 grape vines were cultivated into the Indiana soil in 2010.
Today, Daniel’s Vineyard has nine varietals on the property. There are some varietals that do not thrive in the climate here, so they source grapes and juices and produce all the wine locally.
The Cook family says they were thrilled and overwhelmed by the turnout at the Grand Opening.
“It was extremely rewarding for our family,” say Daniel and Kimberly Cook. “We also have an amazing office and vineyard team and have had ongoing support from our friends and the community. It was great to see that all of the hard work that we have put in over the last seven years was so well received. We are looking forward to a very exciting summer, including weddings, events, music, food and, of course, great wine.”
The facility is now open for events, and they are planning summer concerts and family fun days, too. The upper banquet will also be available to reserve for weddings, celebrations or other small, private events.
They also offer weekend workout sessions called “Sip, Sweat, Repeat” — a 60-minute workout followed by a free tasting to “wine” down.
Daniel’s Vineyard also offers a cellar club membership where members enjoy special events, discounts and four handpicked wines from the winery. For more information on the Cellar Club and to view a calendar of events and tasting room times, visit DanielsVineyard.com.
