If your ideal fall weekend favors tasting over touchdowns then it might be time to trek the Indy Wine Trail. You can still tailgate and root for the home team, but your destinations will include history, personalities, scenery, shopping and oh yes, great wine. BYOF. (Bring your own football)

Each of Indiana's three wine trails offers its own localized interpretation of Hoosier hospitality, which means you get to visit some of the best owner-run wineries, restaurants, markets, shops, craftspeople and bed and breakfast/hotels in the state. (Visit www.indianawines.org for info and maps)

If you're a BRG reader then you can hop the closest and newest trail that includes seven of the states' 30-plus wineries without driving more than 30 minutes out of Metro Indianapolis.

You can do the entire trail in one day, but we don't recommend that for various reasons. Not the least of which is that leisurely trekking the trail gives you time to talk with winemakers, taste their wines, shop their stores and learn and taste as much as you would like.

Pick up a passport at your first stop. Get it stamped at each of the seven Indy Wine Trail wineries and you earn a FREE 18 OZ ENGRAVED WINE GLASS. Plus your completed passport goes into the grand prize drawing for even bigger prizes to be held at Vintage Indiana 2007.

www.vintageindiana.com

Buck Creek Winery - Seyval Blanc - Though its one of the state's newest wineries, Buck Creek has some of the oldest vines. That's because Jeff Durm dreamed of growing grapes and making wine for many years. He took the first step in its becoming reality in 1991, when he bought land and planted vines. His career with the Marion County Sheriff's department as a deputy and his role as husband and father to a growing family kept that dream dormant until 2004 when he retired from the force and started building his winery. This past April, he and wife Kelly and her mother and stepfather opened the doors and started the pours at Buck Creek Winery. It is located just off I-74 in the southeastern part of the county, about 30 minutes from Broad Ripple, and is part of the Indy WineTrail. You can see if dreams come true by tasting Jeff's award winning wines with a visit to the winery. www.buckcreekwinery.com

Don't miss the Seyval Blanc. This off dry, white hybrid offers up juicy aromas and flavors of white grapefruit and honeydew melon. Serve it chilled with a plate of Monterrey Jack and Gruyere cheeses, black olives and whole grain crackers. Lovely paired with grilled halibut or baked tilapia, garlic shrimp Alfredo or stuffed pork chops. A delicious locally grown wine that's worth the trip to the winery to buy.