Brown County WINERY
Dave and Cynthia Schrodt. courtesy photos
” I decided to make wines that were very simple, fun, country wines. They tasted good, were fun to drink, and had a wide ranging appeal.”
— Dave Schrodt
~ by Paige Langenderfer
As they approach their winery’ s 40th anniversary, Dave and Cynthia Schrodt look forward to handing the reins of the business to their sons.
Dave started Brown County Winery in a rented garage in 1985.
“ We were too poor to have our own garage, so we had to rent one,” Dave said.“ It was a real struggle at first. We didn’ t have a lot of resources. Everything we had, we put towards the business.”
Another challenge the winery faced was a strong“ anti-alcohol” outlook in the community.
“ There was a lot of resistance from a lot of different levels,” Dave said.“ There was a letter to the editor in the newspaper every week about it. That made it really tough, but we made it through— I think because we weren’ t a bar and we didn’ t serve by the glass.”
In the rented garage, Dave produced five varieties of wine the first year.
“ I was an experienced winemaker and I felt like there was an opportunity in Brown County to make wine and sell it,” he said.“ I was one of only nine wineries operating in Indiana at the
16 Our Brown County Jan./ Feb. 2023