{"id":774273,"date":"2026-02-24T23:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/774273\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:38:26","slug":"south-bend-wine-bar-creates-hoosier-nouveau-to-honor-indiana-football-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/774273\/","title":{"rendered":"South Bend wine bar creates \u2018Hoosier Nouveau\u2019 to honor Indiana football national championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) &#8211; A South Bend wine bar is marking <a href=\"https:\/\/wndu.com\/2026\/01\/20\/indiana-defeats-miami-27-21-win-first-national-championship-program-history\/#:~:text=in%20program%20history-,Indiana%20defeats%20Miami%2027-21%20to%20win,national%20title%20in%20program%20history&amp;text=17%20PM%20PST-,MIAMI%20GARDENS%2C%20Fla.,football%20history%20on%20Monday%20night.\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/wndu.com\/2026\/01\/20\/indiana-defeats-miami-27-21-win-first-national-championship-program-history\/#:~:text=in%20program%20history-,Indiana%20defeats%20Miami%2027-21%20to%20win,national%20title%20in%20program%20history&amp;text=17%20PM%20PST-,MIAMI%20GARDENS%2C%20Fla.,football%20history%20on%20Monday%20night.\">Indiana\u2019s football national championship<\/a> with a commemorative wine it calls \u201cHoosier Nouveau,\u201d made from locally grown grapes using a fast-fermentation technique.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ironhand Wine Bar owner Dave Sabato said the wine was inspired by the Hoosiers\u2019 title run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s a victory wine for us and it\u2019s a victory wine for the Hoosiers downstate,\u201d Sabato said.<\/p>\n<p>A winemaking process built for celebration<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The wine is produced using carbonic maceration, a fermentation method that allows the wine to be consumed shortly after harvest without a lengthy aging period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cThese are big grapes. We decided we had such a good yield that we should try this carbonic maceration. It\u2019s a way of fermenting wine grapes so it quickly produces a kind of a form of wine that\u2019s very fruity, not much alcohol,\u201d Sabato said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Karl Selzer, a winemaker and instructor of wine and viticulture at Lake Michigan College, described how the process differs from traditional fermentation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cSo traditional yeast-based fermentation is going to be happening from the outside in. That grape gets crushed and the juice comes out, and the yeast is able to metabolize the sugar. \u2026 Whereas this process is happening from the inside out. The grape is almost fermenting itself, but it\u2019s through an enzyme that breaks down certain acids in the grape, and it turns it into a little bit of alcohol,\u201d Selzer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The technique produces what is known as Beaujolais Nouveau, a style of wine with roots in France. Sabato explained the origin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cBeaujolais is an area of France, it\u2019s not a type of grape or anything. And the French must have run out of wine. And so as soon as grapes could have been fermented, they fermented it and began drinking it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Lake effect plays a role in the harvest<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The grapes used in Hoosier Nouveau are grown in South Bend, where the region\u2019s lake effect weather contributes to the vineyard\u2019s conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cBasically, we\u2019re protected. The presence of the lakes buffers the weather a bit, so it\u2019s not as cold,\u201d Sabato said. \u201cWe also get a lot of snow on this side of the lake, so this is an unusually good place. \u2026 We will put canes on the ground and cover them. And if they get this kind of snow cover, they are protected to 20 below zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Sabato added that snow cover acts as insulation for the vines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cSnow is like a comforter for the grapes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Patrons rally behind the commemorative bottle<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Selzer drew a parallel between winemaking and championship-level teamwork.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWhen you think about the football team, right, you\u2019ve got to work as a coherent unit. You have to be able to work together in order to achieve a goal. And winemaking is very similar to that,\u201d Selzer said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just made on the spot. It\u2019s something that has to have a lot of intention to it. Just like a football team, there\u2019s a lot of intention behind planning the plays. \u2026 We\u2019re finding ways to work collaboratively with Mother Nature, but then also with the vineyard crews and then the fermentation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Patrons at the wine bar said the drink fits the moment. Jim Haris, a customer at Ironhand Wine Bar, called it a fitting tribute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI think it\u2019s just a great celebration of the Hoosiers\u2019 victory. And surprisingly good wine, just like the Hoosiers\u2019 football team this year,\u201d Haris said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Kate O\u2019Brien, another patron, said the wine adds to the celebratory feeling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf you think about \u2018pop the bubbly\u2019 and just the fun fizziness of it \u2026 it just feels a little extra special I think,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Hoosier Nouveau is available at Ironhand Wine Bar. More information can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ironhandvineyard.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.ironhandvineyard.com\/\">ironhandvineyard.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 WNDU. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) &#8211; A South Bend wine bar is marking Indiana\u2019s football national championship with a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[60816,109787,7,7671,109788,2638,932,109786,8264,32696,21363],"class_list":{"0":"post-774273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-commemorate","9":"tag-creats","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-honor","12":"tag-hoosier-nouveau","13":"tag-hoosiers","14":"tag-indiana","15":"tag-ironhand-wine-bar","16":"tag-national-championship","17":"tag-south-bend","18":"tag-wndu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116128245203894076","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}