Local winery uncorking new expansion

FREMONT, Ind. (WANE) - Northeast Indiana's only winery announced an expansion. Satek Wine will soon uncork a wholesale distribution branch of its business.

Owners, Larry and Pam Satek just celebrated their company's 8th anniversary. The winery and its 16 employees produce 30 different wines. Sometime in July some of those wines will be available in select retail stores and restaurants.

"Having a new type of business and a new set of [clients] is really just going to be an exciting thing," said Pam Satek.

The availability of the wine will be mainly focused on the company's customer base in Allen, Dekalb and Steuben counties.

Behind the scenes, workers go through a bottling process at least once a week. Around 700 bottles can be assembled in an hour, that's 500 gallons of wine. Granted that work load will probably increase with the expansion to wholesale distribution. However, that's something the owners said they won't "whine" about.

"We'll make as much wine as people seem to want from us, as fast as we can," said Larry Satek. "[As long as we] maintain the quality. That's very important to us."

The Sateks work to stay true to their original motto, "Good wine. Good fun!"

"We've heard a lot of people in northeast Indiana talk about 'our winery' meaning it has become a part of the community," said Pam Satek. "We're very happy to be apart of that."

Satek's Fremont tasting room is open daily 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.