Meet Nyssa, the new owner and heart behind Wildcat Creek Winery in Greater Lafayette. She recently purchased Wildcat Creek Winery. We met up with Nyssa and asked her to share her story. Discover her passion for Indiana wine!
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How long have you been with Wildcat Creek Winery? Why did you decide to purchase the Winery? Or how did that come about? 12 years as winemaker. After working here for so long, it seemed like the natural next step for me to take over the business. My bosses were at a point where they were ready to move on to retirement and I was ready to learn new skills beyond just my winemaking job. Don't get me wrong, though- winemaking is still my favorite part of being here!
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What drew you to this line of work? I have a BS in Food Science from Purdue University. After getting some experience in the industry over a summer or two, it became clear that the traditional food science career path would not make me happy in the long term. Luckily, Wildcat Creek Winery was looking for an assistant winemaker the same semester I was graduating so the timing there could not have worked out better.
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Tell us about you… are you from Lafayette? Have you worked other places? Anything about your family you want to share? I'm originally from Southern Indiana, from a tiny town called Pekin less than an hour's drive away from Louisville. I came to Lafayette to go to Purdue and then met my husband and got my dream job! I've also worked summer jobs in quality control labs for a label printing company and in an egg processing facility. My most fun job was in the Purdue sensory lab where we gave out free food for consumer feedback on products being trialed by different food companies. My family is mostly still in southern Indiana, in the New Albany/Jeffersonville area.
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Do you have any other wine making experience? How did you learn to make wine? I didn't know much about wine when I started here except for what I picked up in the Wine Appreciation class at Purdue. I initially learned a lot about winemaking from the original owner so that I could take over the quality lab. I have since attended several workshops and webinars to broaden my knowledge of winemaking. The best teacher has been experience, though!
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What is your favorite thing about making wine/ the winery? I love how every batch is a little different and presents its own challenges and changes over the course of the winemaking process. It's really satisfying to take cloudy grape juice and turn it into a delicious, higher-end product that people can enjoy both on our property and also for their special occasions.
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What’s something that people may not realize you have to do to make wine? There is a ton of testing and lab work involved to get a high-quality end result! Even when a wine ferments exactly how it is supposed to, I still have to get it clarified and stabilized before I'm willing to put it in a bottle and sell. There is also a ton of cleaning and sanitation involved in winemaking to make sure we don't accidentally introduce any problematic microorganisms to the wines.
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Is there a wine or a project at the winery that you are most proud of? I'm so proud of our Traminette, which has won best Traminette at the state fair for the last couple of years. And it's grown in Indiana!
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Has anything changed immediately with the ownership change? We started offering wine slushies and added new picnic tables. I also implemented credit card tipping.
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Any future plans you’d like to share? I’m working on some ideas for new wines and new events, although it will probably be a while before you see any new wines being sold in our tasting room.
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Any funny winemaking stories to share? I once made a small batch of port style wine in a trash can in my basement! I didn’t have enough room for all the crushed grapes in my “fermentation bucket” that came with my home winemaking kit, so I had to go buy a trash can made of food-grade plastic and use that. It turned out great!
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Do you have a favorite local spot (besides the winery) to visit in town? Could be an attraction, restaurant, festival, activity, etc. I’m a big fan of Capo Wine Bar! They have “build-your-own" charcuterie boards and a good variety of wines. The owner, Julie, is a really sweet lady; she was excited to hear that I had bought the winery!
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Anything else you’d like people to know? I’m really excited to become a business owner and I hope to serve our community and visitors well!
