In the past 10 years, the Iowa wine industry has flourished with a continued upward trend in production along with a boom in the number of wineries across the state.

By Alex Kramer
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In the Hawkeye State, corn isn’t the only crop worth noticing. With vineyards sprouting up from Council Bluffs to the Mississippi River, wine is becoming a state favorite, one glass at a time.

Since 2005, the Iowa wine industry has grown to include 97 wineries and more than 300 commercial vineyards, said Michael White, a viticulture specialist at Iowa State University who has been in the industry for years.

“It’s leveled off into a mature industry,” White said. “There have been around 100 wineries for the past five years now.”

Nicole Eilers, the marketing director of the Iowa Wine Growers Association, a nonprofit organization formed to promote the industry, said the growth is due to consumer demand.

“People are wanting to try different types of wine,” Eilers said. “With the increase of product, people are more interested in the local wine and local flavors of their area.”

Though Iowa is not traditionally known for it, wine from the state is gaining increased recognition by the state’s consumers. Most people do not have to travel far to try a local Iowa wine, Eilers said.

“A lot of people in the past were so used to California or international wines,” Eilers said. “They didn’t realize that there are really great wines being made from Iowa grapes.”

Many grapes used for wine in Iowa were specially developed, said Jamie Siefken, the general manager of Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery near Swisher.

“The boom of the industry can be credited to the fact that many French-American hybrid grapes were developed to grow in this region,” Siefken said. “They’re still working on hybrid grapes today, because it’s a never-ending industry.”

Eilers said the industry continues to grow.

“We do tend to see a continued upward trend,” she said. “I think that the industry will continue to expand, but the best will rise to the top.”

The success of the industry in Iowa cannot be attributed only to the wine.

Siefken said Cedar Ridge has maintained its status as one of the largest wineries throughout the growth of the industry.

Cedar Ridge is the only winery and distillery in Iowa, and it has produced wine and spirits since 2005.

The idea was to differentiate the business from the ever-growing population of wineries in Iowa, Siefken said.

“We have four revenue sources: wine, spirits, food, and events,” he said. “Without all four of those, we don’t think we’d be as successful as we are today.”

Siefken also said wine is more of a local industry rather than a big export, and not a lot of wine is sold outside of the state, though their wine will continue to grow and develop.

“Wineries are big businesses now,” White said. “They’ve expanded themselves into restaurants, distilleries, breweries, event and meeting centers, and popular wedding locations.”

White added that every county in Iowa should have at least one winery for this reason precisely.

“That’s one of the biggest aspects of the winery; it’s a place for people to get together,” he said.