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| » Winery Hours |
Wednesday - Sunday
Noon to 7 PM
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| » Featured Wine |
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| » Winery Events |
June
8: Bejae Fleming, Folk Rock
15: World Port, World Beat
22: Mike and Amy Finders Band, Bluegrass
29: Soul Searchers, Blues
July
6: Larry Myer, Folk
13: Erick Hovey Band, Blues
20: The Bob Pace Band, Blues
27: Brother Trucker, Folk Rock
August
3: The Scott Davis Trio, Jazz/Blues
10: World Port, World Beat
17: TBA
24: Andy Schnieder Trio, Folk/Blues
31: Joe & Vicki Price, Americana/Folk
September
7: Mr. Baber's Neighbors, Bluegrass
14: The Flatland Ramblers, Celtic/Bluegrass
21: TBA
28: TBA
All events from 3 - 6 PM
Host your event at the Winery..
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Our Method: The Process of Organic Viticulture
 The process of creating organic wine from beginning to end is a long process. It begins in the field with the vines. Before planting any of the vines, the positions of the rows were carefully selected to make for optimum light conditions. The vines are then planted and trellised according to the varietals. Some grow higher and are trained with two main branches forming a "Y" shape on the trellis while others are closer to the ground with only one main shoot traveling down the wires. All this training and pruning of the vines is so they grow for optimum production however it requires a lot of labor and time. After the vines have been properly trained we plant a cover crop over the bottom of the vines to suppress weed growth, replace nutrients, and to prevent erosion. As for survival of the crop against pests, there are a few ways to protect the vines organically. Spraying with mineral oil or sulfur are some of the approved ways we deal with pests. Another big problem is the tender varietals in the winter, to protect these from substantial root and trunk damage they are covered with a generous layer of hay in the winter. This helps, but there are still a few causalities every winter.
 After the fruit has ripened and been handpicked the grapes are hand sorted and put into the press. The grapes selected are only those that are perfectly ripe, those that are still green and those that have rotted are thrown out to ensure a quality product. The different varieties of whites are put in to the press one at a time and the juices are extracted. The white juices are carefully pumped into closed stainless steel containers where they will be fermented. The red grapes are not put into the press, but they are de-stemmed and carefully crushed, then put into large open top containers with the skins and seeds.
Both begin their fermentation process at this point. Different yeasts are added to the whites and the reds. The white yeast is selected to bring out the fruity flavors that are characteristic of a good white wine. The batches are fermented at cool temperatures because this is a very delicate process. The reds on the other hand the reds are fermented with a different yeast to enhance those full flavors of a red wine. The mixture of juice, skins, and seeds is hand-punched, which means stirring it with a large paddle. This ensures more extraction of the flavors and keeps the fermentation process going to make sure most of the sugars are turned into alcohol.
 After fermentation is complete the white wines are allowed to settle for a few months and then bottled. It is not typical for them to be aged for very long. The reds however are put through the press to remove all the skins and seeds that were involved in the fermentation. The reds are then put into oak barrels to age for about two years. These oak barrels used are crafted from local Iowa oak trees. After the reds have been sufficiently aged they are ready for the bottle. Most wines that could be placed in the refrigerator need to be "cold stabilized" before bottling. This removed any potential acids that could crystallize during extended cold exposure.
Almost all of the wines are final filtered to remove any contaminating microbes. Reds are not filtered unless necessary to remove haze from the wine.
The last step is the edition of the label, which makes the wine ready for sale. It is quite a long process, but there is no room for errors, and we believe we have achieved this and more to bring the best quality product to the table.
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