New From Iowa

[AncoraImparo]

Hey, folks.

New to Iowa, new to vineyards, and new to winemaking. At the beginning of the year, we purchased a property outside of Des Moines that has six acres of wine vineyards. Our original goal was to open a very small destination brewery and experiment with beer-wine hybrids. We'd be using some of the grapes from the property for our beer, but selling the majority of the grapes to wineries.

We thought someone else would be managing the vineyard, but that ended up falling through. So we've been head first into learning viticulture and managing our Chancellor, Seyval Blanc, and La Crescent vineyards. Virtual Viticulture Academy has been a tremendous help in that regard. Some new friends at a local winery suggested to us that we should make our own wine. After experiencing how much work and expense is involved with the vineyard for the price of grapes in this area, we've decided they are right!

So, while we still want to focus on creating a unique small brewery, and we still want to sell some of our grapes, we're excited about eventually adding wine to our portfolio.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[AncoraImparo]

Thanks, Bob. Looking forward to getting some inout on a few questions. Cheers!

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Hey, folks.

New to Iowa, new to vineyards, and new to winemaking. At the beginning of the year, we purchased a property outside of Des Moines that has six acres of wine vineyards. Our original goal was to open a very small destination brewery and experiment with beer-wine hybrids. We'd be using some of the grapes from the property for our beer, but selling the majority of the grapes to wineries.

We thought someone else would be managing the vineyard, but that ended up falling through. So we've been head first into learning viticulture and managing our Chancellor, Seyval Blanc, and La Crescent vineyards. Virtual Viticulture Academy has been a tremendous help in that regard. Some new friends at a local winery suggested to us that we should make our own wine. After experiencing how much work and expense is involved with the vineyard for the price of grapes in this area, we've decided they are right!

So, while we still want to focus on creating a unique small brewery, and we still want to sell some of our grapes, we're excited about eventually adding wine to our portfolio.

Welcome to WMT!

 

[ChuckD]

Well there is jumping in with both feet… then there is diving in head first! Welcome to WMT.

Im curious, what was the original owner doing with the grapes?

 

[AncoraImparo]

Yeah, it's been a firehose in the face, especially since we were/are in a gradual transition from Texas. So we weren't able to be here all the time this Spring. That made it really hard to get sprays in on time and tend to the vineyards the way we needed to. We were always playing frantic catch up, it seems. So we're looking forward to next year, when we can hit the ground running and do things right at a reasonable pace. Fortunately, the grapes are looking good right now, and we actually harvested some last weekend. The biggest hit turned out to be winter kill from a -18 cold snap this winter, which was rough on our Chancellor and Seyval.

The previous owners sold the grapes to wineries in the Des Moines area through a third party manager. One winery in particular bought most of them, and intends to keep buying a lot of them from us. And we have other buyers interested in the rest. But the price per ton here for these types of midwest grapes is pretty low, considering the expenses on chemicals, equipment, and labor to harvest. We're actually enjoying the work, but it is a lot. And the margins on wine are better than those on grapes. Not that it's about the money for us or we expect to sell a ton of it; but it is an extra revenue vector, and we'd rather not lose money doing all this work. Besides, our goal was (and is) to make beer professionally, so adding wine isn't too far of a stretch.

 

[AncoraImparo]

Welcome to WMT!

Thanks! We're actually moving to Iowa from Central Texas, not too far from you.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* it has legal questions from ATF and state regulators, This really will control everything, ex next door in Wisconsin hard cider 5% requires a winery license for the rules.
* you lucked out if you missed spraying

 

[David Violante]

Welcome to WMT! It sure does sound like you jumped into an immersion experience! There’s lots of good help and experience here. Looking forward to hearing how it’s going~

 

[VinesnBines]

Welcome and you fell in the deep end! Six acres is a lot but don’t expect much less of a frantic pace. There is always a ton of work in the vineyard, all year. Good luck.

 

[Jovimaple]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[newbiegj]

Hey, folks.

New to Iowa, new to vineyards, and new to winemaking. At the beginning of the year, we purchased a property outside of Des Moines that has six acres of wine vineyards. Our original goal was to open a very small destination brewery and experiment with beer-wine hybrids. We'd be using some of the grapes from the property for our beer, but selling the majority of the grapes to wineries.

We thought someone else would be managing the vineyard, but that ended up falling through. So we've been head first into learning viticulture and managing our Chancellor, Seyval Blanc, and La Crescent vineyards. Virtual Viticulture Academy has been a tremendous help in that regard. Some new friends at a local winery suggested to us that we should make our own wine. After experiencing how much work and expense is involved with the vineyard for the price of grapes in this area, we've decided they are right!

So, while we still want to focus on creating a unique small brewery, and we still want to sell some of our grapes, we're excited about eventually adding wine to our portfolio.

Would this happen to be north of Adel?

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[AncoraImparo]

Would this happen to be north of Adel?

No, we're out in Knoxville, actually.

 

[AncoraImparo]

Welcome and you fell in the deep end! Six acres is a lot but don’t expect much less of a frantic pace. There is always a ton of work in the vineyard, all year. Good luck.

Thanks, we're prepared for it to be a lot of work. And that's okay. The big challenge this year was coming into it late and not being here all the time. So when we were here, it was trying to pack three weeks of work into one. Looking forward to being permanent residents to spread out the work a little.

 

[VinesnBines]

Thanks, we're prepared for it to be a lot of work. And that's okay. The big challenge this year was coming into it late and not being here all the time. So when we were here, it was trying to pack three weeks of work into one. Looking forward to being permanent residents to spread out the work a little.

We are growing 2.5 acres and only able to be on site for about five days every other week. Squeezing two weeks into four or five days is a challenge. Hedging is impossible to stay ahead with some varieties. At least hybrids are more forgiving.

 

[TechAdmin]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[heatherd]

Welcome to the hobby and the forum!

 

[Texas Winer]

Hey, folks.

New to Iowa, new to vineyards, and new to winemaking. At the beginning of the year, we purchased a property outside of Des Moines that has six acres of wine vineyards. Our original goal was to open a very small destination brewery and experiment with beer-wine hybrids. We'd be using some of the grapes from the property for our beer, but selling the majority of the grapes to wineries.

We thought someone else would be managing the vineyard, but that ended up falling through. So we've been head first into learning viticulture and managing our Chancellor, Seyval Blanc, and La Crescent vineyards. Virtual Viticulture Academy has been a tremendous help in that regard. Some new friends at a local winery suggested to us that we should make our own wine. After experiencing how much work and expense is involved with the vineyard for the price of grapes in this area, we've decided they are right!

So, while we still want to focus on creating a unique small brewery, and we still want to sell some of our grapes, we're excited about eventually adding wine to our portfolio.

This sounds amazing! I'm new to everything too, except I'm in Texas. That is so great that you already have vineyards! I will have to check out Virtual Viticulture Academy, and thanks for that tip!

 

[AncoraImparo]

We're actually moving from the Texas Hill Country to Iowa. But the guy who spearheads VVA, Fritz, is now based out of Texas. He has a lot of Texan clients, so it may be an especially good resource for your particular challenges.