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You might not think of Iowa as
quintessential wine country.
But the state has seen
incredible growth in vineyards,
wineries and Iowa wine.
Doug Frost: Iowa has become very
active in the wine game.
There's a lot of wineries here.
And it's remarkable.
It is an amazing growth.
I think it is in many ways
because of Iowa's agricultural
heritage, people are looking for
other products and value added
products like wine in which you
grow grapes and then convert it
into something even, hopefully
even better.
Like a fresh tomato or
strawberry at the farmer's
market, a regional wine will
provide a flavor unique to its
area.
Many of the best local wines are
entered into the MidAmerican
Wine Competition.
Since 2008, this event has been
judging wines in a unique
format.
Frost: One of the iterations of
the MidAmerican Wine Competition
is that we allow wines to have
their wines tasted with food
which is how most people drink
wine, with the food.
So we select really kind of
basic food types like grilled
hamburger and smoked ribs and
chocolate brownie and stuff like
that, just really
straightforward food that
everybody knows what it tastes
like and then we allow the
wineries and the winemakers to
say, I want this wine, I want
this particular wine from my
winery to be tasted with this
particular food.
And sometimes they choose well
and sometimes they don't choose
so well but that is part of the
learning curve as well.
But I think it's a fun
iteration.
I think it's also the fairest
way to evaluate a wine.
A successful winery is a labor
of love with a heavy helping of
determination to get those good
wine grapes, even in Iowa's
diverse weather.
Randall Voss: The climate is a
big factor.
The climate limits what
varieties or cultivars you can
grow and so we can't grow Merlot
because it won't make it through
the winter here.
Dr. Murli Dharmadhikari: We have
a really cold climate, our
winter temperatures are really
low.
These grapes can withstand low
temperatures like minus 20 to
minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
So these grapes can withstand
cold temperatures and still
produce quality grapes and
therefore quality wine.
Voss: But the other factor is
with climate it's not just the
winter, it's also the length of
the season.
We do a challenge sometimes to
keep our vines in balance and
balance is getting the right
ratio of fruit to foliage.
Too much fruit and too little
foliage the fruit doesn't ripen.
Too much foliage, too little
fruit and the fruit is in the
shade and it doesn't ripen well.
Frost: With every grape, in
every place you've got to learn
a whole new set of practices and
these things happen by trial and
error and the trial and the
errors happen basically once a
year at harvest.
So the learning curve is very
slow.
It is very, very gradual curve.
So you've got to pick the grape
you're going to grow here very
carefully and cautiously,
frankly.
Richard Grant Peterson: Of all
the grapes around you try to
make wine from them and the ones
that make good wine are the ones
you keep and you make them over
and over and over again.
Those are good wine grapes.
As Iowa's wine industry
continues to mature with more
quality grapes, the local wines
will comprise more of the
market.
Dharmadhikari: A lot of room to
grow and these varieties are new
and we have some nice varieties
coming online.
So as we learn about these
varieties and figure out the
best way to grow and figure out
the best way to make wine we'll
have a tremendous increase in
the quality of wine.
Frost: I've seen Iowa wines
improve.
We're getting more wineries but
we're getting better wineries
and better wines as well.
Richard Grant Peterson: Iowa has
got a terrific future in wine.
Every year that I've been here I
see better and better and better
Iowa wines.