Indiana Wine News: The Rejoicing Vine Wins 10 Medals at the 2026 Indiana State Fair Wine Competition

Can a little Indiana winery make great wine? We've got some news worth uncorking: yes, it can! Our small, Indianapolis-based winery submitted 10 wines to the 2026 Indiana State Fair Wine Competition, and every, single, wine won a medal. All 10 of them — 1 Gold, 5 Silver, and 4 Bronze. The competition drew roughly 300 wines from commercial wineries across the state, making it the largest showcase of Indiana wine each year, so ten entries and ten medals feels like something worth celebrating.

The Gold went to our Big Yellow, and we couldn't be prouder of it. We're proud of every medal on that list, honestly, and even prouder of the team that made it possible.

Our Riesling Natúr, Pinot Gris, Blanc Space / Blanco No. 5, Bubblicious, and Merlot all won silver. Wait, did you say Merlot?!?! Yep, you read that correctly. We have a Merlot set to drop later this fall and we'll be having a sneak preview of it at our Wine Club's 2nd Sunday Event in October. If you love dry reds and aren't a member you might consder signing up. ;)

Our Trophy Case: What It Means to Cultivate Life

Here's the thing about wine competitions, though, as much as we appreciate the recognition, it's not really what we're chasing and the medals won't be going in our trophy case. Our mission is to Cultivate Life: to be good stewards of this land, to build authentic relationships, to create a place where people can gather, and ultimately to help strengthen the community around us. Medals are wonderful but the kind of trophies we're after for our case are ones that can be stored where moths and vermin can destroy them or thieves can steal them. So what means more to us than any medal is the stack of thank-you letters we've collected over the years from local organizations we've been able to support.

The thank-you letters sit in our own version of a "trophy case" in the production area where we see them often, because they're a better measure of whether we're actually living out that mission than wine judges and a scorecard ever could. We don't talk a lot about our charitable work much because we want to keep our motives pure (see Matthew 6) but this felt like a time to do so because making the medal winning wine is what enables us to with our most coveted "award". And, we hope by sharing our behind the scenes efforts it encourages you to Cultivate Life in your own way. As I write this in late August, we have given to over 50 charities and organizations in the Indy area this year alone and while we by no means expect anything in return when we receive a thank-you letter back we cherish it.

One particular note and organization we wanted to highlight and lift up in this post is Teter Organic Farm in Noblesville. Teter Organic Farm is a kindred spirit and is growing produce organically, stewarding the land, and using it to feed underserved families in our community. Feeding families not with just any produce but with fresh, nutritionally dense, sustainably and organically grown produce! And that's not all. Teter isn't just a farm, they're doing the harder, slower work of building an equitable food system. Beyond growing and donating produce, they run a CSA, host ecological education programs, and have a whole Food Justice initiative aimed at getting fresh food to families who need it most.

A letter they sent us after their Farm to Table Dinner last year is a good example of why we're proud to support them. They wrote that with our support (and others) they were able to deliver more than 60,000 servings of organic produce to our community. That's the kind of number that sticks with you. A gold medal feels wonderful, but it pales in comparison to knowing we played a part in getting 60,000 servings of fresh produce onto tables of people who need it.

I encourage you to look into Teter and the wonderful things they're doing. And if Teter's mission resonates with you the way it resonates with us, we'd love for you to consider donating directly to Teter Organic Farm or volunteering on the farm. It's a small, tangible way to help feed families in our own backyard and you don't have to own a winery to be part of it.

I digress, back to the trophy case. I don't mean to take anything away from the medals, we're genuinely thrilled. It's just to say: when we talk about wanting to Cultivate Life, we mean that literally as much as figuratively. We're tending vines, but we're also tending community. We care about what we pour into your glass AND we care even more about what we pour out into the community.

If you work with or know of a non-profit looking for help or donations, send them our way or share our donation request form with them. We would be honored to help.

And lastly, if you ever have to choose between filling a trophy case or filing a box with "thank you, this mattered to us" notes, we pray you'll choose the box.

Come Taste Indiana Wine at The Rejoicing Vine

Every one of these medal winners is available to taste at our Indiana winery in northwest Indianapolis near Zionsville and Brownsburg. Come by, pull up a seat, and decide for yourself. And keep an eye out this November for the Merlot's official release.

Cheers, and thank you to the judges, and even more so to this community, for making this work worth doing.

The Rejoicing Vine is a family-owned Indiana winery near Indianapolis, producing white, red, and sparkling wines using low-intervention and natural winemaking practices. Follow along for more on Indiana wine, natural winemaking, and what's next from the vineyard.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Rejoicing Vine and Indiana Wine

What Indiana winery won awards at the 2026 State Fair Wine Competition? The Rejoicing Vine, an Indiana winery producing white, red, and sparkling wines, won a medal for all 10 wines it entered — 1 Gold, 5 Silver, and 4 Bronze — in the Commercial Winery category of the 2026 Indiana State Fair Wine & Spirits Competition.

Does The Rejoicing Vine make natural wine? Yes. Several of our wines, including Riesling Natúr and Regen Rosé, are made without fining, filtration, added colorings, or flavor enhancers — a low-intervention, natural winemaking approach that's less common among Indiana wineries. These two wines have very minimal sulfite additions as well with less than 15ppm free at the time of bottling for anyone concerned with sulfite intake.

Are there any certified-sustainable wines made in Indiana? To our knowledge we produce the only wines made from certified-sustainable grapes. Those wines are The Rejoicing Vine's Riesling Natúr, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, & Merlot.

Where can I try Indiana wine from The Rejoicing Vine? All of our medal-winning wines are available to taste at the winery at 8440 W 82nd St, Indianapolis, IN 46033.

Do you ship your wines? Yes! We ship to most states in the United States using a platform called Vinoshipper. Visit the Rejoicing Vine Vinoshipper page and you can order our award winning wines on Vinoshipper and have them delivered to your door.

When will the Merlot be available?  For wine club members we'll taste the Merlot on Oct 11th. The Merlot will be released to everyone by November 2026.

Is there a winery near Indianapolis that makes natural wine? Yes. The Rejoicing Vine, located near Indianapolis, produces both conventional and natural, low-intervention Indiana wines, including two medal-winning natural wines at the 2026 Indiana State Fair.