(Hannah Gunnell/South Indy Connect photo) The owners of Mallow Run Winery John, Laura and Bill (not pictured) Richardson are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their Bargersville family business in September.
By HANNAH GUNNELL
Bargersville’s Mallow Run Winery started two decades ago as John Richardson’s retirement project.
“I taught in Southern Indiana for 35 years, but made wine in my basement as a hobby,” he said. “After I retired, I saw an article in a Louisville newspaper that said Indiana winemakers are wanting farmers to grow grapes. I grew up on this farm, so I thought, ‘Aha, there’s my retirement project.’ So I moved back to Johnson County and grew grapes to sell.”
Richardson planted one acre of grapes in 2000. Then he asked his son Bill if he wanted to be a part of this project. After Bill agreed, they planted the second acre of grapes in 2001.
Bill married his wife Laura in 2005, and that’s when they decided to do more than just grow grapes. The Richardson family turned the dilapidated barn on the property into the winery’s tasting room, and 20 years later still hosts tastings.
“There was a Barn Again meeting in Franklin — Barn Again is part of Indiana Landmarks,” John said. “The speaker was Amos Schwartz, who had moved the round barn from Rochester to Michigan and part of that vineyard became the Round Barn Winery. We spoke to him after the meeting and asked if he’d come look at our barn, if it was ripe for saving, and if he would do it. He said yes.”
In fact, Bill and Laura’s wedding reception was the first event they held in the renovated barn.
John named the winery for George Mallow, the first of his family to settle on the farm in 1835. John was born and raised in the 1835 house Mallow built, and Bill and Laura live in the house now.
When they opened the winery, they thought it would be small. Laura was working as a speech pathologist at the time.
“I thought I would just maybe help on the weekends and it would be kind of tiny,” she said. “We had steady growth for probably the first seven years maybe, and then I feel like it’s been pretty consistent over time.”
Then the following year, she began working half time, and the year after that the winery became her new full-time job. Mallow Run Winery now has 6+ acres of grapes, a stage for live music, and a separate event venue, the Sycamore at Mallow Run.
“We had lots of inquiries for weddings — they wanted them on Saturday, they wanted them for 250 people, and they wanted beer — all three no-nos, because we have our concerts on Saturdays, so that spurred our event facility next door,” John said.
Operations at the winery include growing, harvesting and juicing grapes, fermenting them into wine, and bottling them. Over the years, the Richardsons have learned what types of grapes to plant to get the biggest yield.
“The things we planted in 2000-2001 didn’t survive the winters as well as we’d thought,” Bill said. “You have to make sure you have a decent yield. You can’t get one ton of grapes off of an acre of chardonel — that was the chardonnay hybrid we used to grow.”
Brianna grapes are now Mallow Run’s biggest yield. The winery began harvesting grapes last week. The Richardson family said they are grateful for the nearly 40 volunteers they’ve had so far to help with the harvest.
Mallow Run has all of the equipment needed to juice, ferment and bottle on site, including 1600L and 6000L tanks, which makes thousands of bottles of wine. They bottle wines by hand.
John said even 20 years later, running a winery is still fun. Bill stays in it because he enjoys the heritage and family aspect of it. Laura said it gives her a sense of responsibility and dedication to the Bargersville community.
“I think it’s important that you do things right and well,” she said. “Something gratifying that I never really thought about early on is that we can do a lot of community service.”
Mallow Run Winery does a run/walk every fall that raises funds for different charities every year. The Sycamore also supports local nonprofits in the off-peak season.
“It’s been meaningful just to have the opportunity to be able to do more than we could as just a single person running a business,” Laura said.
The winery has a handful of full-time employees, and about 60 part-time and/or seasonal employees. In addition to the operations and events at Mallow Run, the winery also takes its wines to various festivals in Johnson and Morgan counties, and formed partnerships with other local businesses.
“We sell some of that wine to Haberdasher, a distillery in Franklin, and they’re going to be making brandy with that,” Bill said. “We have sold the pressed grape skins to Taxman Brewing Company and they’ve incorporated that into a beer.”
The 20th anniversary celebration is set for Labor Day weekend. Festivities include fireworks, evening and daytime concerts. The winery has already taken art entries for a new wine label, which they’ve chosen but haven’t released yet; and other anniversary wines are being sold with “throwback” labels. The winery is planning on bringing back its hog roast, an event they used to do annually, as part of the celebrations.
More information about Mallow Run Winery and its events is available on its website, https://www.mallowrun.com.
