How much wine will the grapes from an acre of vineyard produce? (The answer is at the end of this article.)

Picture a couple sitting on their porch watching the sunset sharing a glass of Red, White, and Blue wine as they wait for the 4th of July fireworks to explode across the night sky. Those living in the Des Moines area probably heard something similar in an ad for Tassel Ridge Winery wine on the radio. I enjoyed the ad because it pushed all the right buttons for me with romance, a porch swing, and a warm summer night.

My guess is that when people think of wine, Iowa probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. It wasn’t always that way though. Bob Wersen, president, owner, and head of marketing at Tassel Ridge, says, “One-hundred years ago, Iowa ranked sixth in the nation for grape production.”

According to the Iowa Journal, a combination of things affected the grape market in Iowa, including prohibition in 1919, a severe storm in 1940, and the use of herbicide 2,4-D in the 1960s. Finally, in the 1990’s, conditions improved enough to allow the industry in Iowa to be restarted. The top four states for the grape industry currently are California, Washington, New York, and Oregon. Bob says the local grape industry is enjoying the fact that Iowans have a great interest in consuming locally produced foods.

Bob moved to Iowa from California. When I asked him if he’d been involved in the California wine business, he said that he moved here due to an opportunity with another one of his businesses, Interpower Corporation. He started this business while attending the University of California at Berkeley, and it paid his way through school, he says.

Bob actually became interested in the wine business when he and a friend decided to plant grapes. Their planning hadn’t gone far when they both realized that they would need an outlet for their grapes. It was at this point that they decided a winery was the best answer. They next started looking for sites, and in 2003 concluded the purchase of their current site. In 2004, they completed building, and in May 2006, they opened to the public.

Bob says that people tend to look at running a winery in an idealistic manner. They are usually people who want to make a change in their life, and they think it’s an easy business to get into. Bob says it’s like any other business though. You can’t expect to jump into it without planning. There are profit and loss statements and “people problems.”

You can expect to live in a period of real insecurity, especially in the beginning, he advises. So much depends on the crops and the weather that things are out of your control. Bob’s advice to anyone thinking about starting up a winery is to have enough capital. He says it’s easy to underestimate how much you will really need.

He also advises to double your estimate of expenses and cut your estimate of revenue by 50%. Be conservative in all your estimates. First you have to have a good product, and then don’t be afraid to toot your own horn with a passion once you’ve put it all together, he adds.

Now that his business is up and running, he is focusing on brand building. Bob says, “The general perception of Iowans is that all Iowa wine is sweet and awful.” Bob says that we do in fact have good dry wine in the state. He wants Tassel Ridge to be recognized as a reliable dry wine supplier, and his major goal is to have a good dry red. Besides its Red, White, and Blue wine, which is a bestseller, Tassel Ridge has a variety of other wines available. The list includes dry, food-pairing wines, semi-sweet wines, sweet fruit-based wines, and dessert wines.

As one descends into the bottling area at the winery, fruity scents tickle your nose. Surprising to me is that fermenting grapes smell like strawberries. Employees were cleaning the equipment after bottling a batch of Pink Catawba during my visit. The Tank Room has huge metal vats of fermenting wine. There are also large oak barrels that are used to give an added spice to the many varieties of wine.

Those large oak barrels come from Europe, while the smaller American oak barrels are in the Bond Room. They also use some toasted barrels to add even more to the taste of the finished product. The Bond Room is a chilled location that holds barrels as well as bottled cases of wine. They call it the “Bond Room” because as long as the wine sits there, it’s a pre-taxed product, Bob says. The minute it leaves the area, they have to pay taxes on the wine.

A small room off the bottling area is the lab where a winemaker tests the quality of the wine. Upstairs is a gift shop. Relaxing music plays in the background as shoppers step up to the “tasting bar” or browse among the wine- and dining-related products for sale. You don’t have to limit your tour to the winery; you can tour the vineyard too.

Bob also suggests attending some of the special events at the winery in order to get the full wine experience. Tassel Ridge schedules pairing events that allow you to dine in a tent overlooking the vineyard while you eat a meal paired with wine. For the adventurous taster, you can arrange to attend a three-course mystery dinner that entertains you with actors and the chance to participate in the play. If you’d rather do your own cooking, the Web site lists all of the wines and which entrees to serve with them, as well as some recipes.

Bill Stearns, manager of the Altoona Fareway store, says that he met Bob while touring the winery. Bill says, “I think it’s an awesome winery, and that they make a very good product. The winery itself is in a quiet, beautiful setting, and the people are all friendly.” He says that he stocks Tassel Ridge wine because it is local to the region and because of the variety of products and their quality.

How much wine will an acre of grapes produce? The answer is 2400 bottles! Tassel Ridge Winery is located at 1681 220th Street in Leighton. You can also visit them on the Web site at www.tasselridge.com or call 641-672-9463 for more information.