Over the Labor Day weekend, the vineyard team harvested 44.3 tons of Edelweiss at the Tassel Ridge vineyard. These grapes will be used to make Iowa White Blossom, Iowa Edelweiss, Star Spangled White®, and Oskyfizzante® Iowa White. We now have harvested almost all of the grapes that
Read more →After hand-harvesting some Brianna, St. Pepin, and La Crescent last week and the week before, the harvest really got started last Tuesday with machine harvesting of Brianna. This was some of the best Brianna we’ve ever tasted. And, the total quantity was astounding: 8 tons per acre.
Read more →Sit in the cab of the Grape Harvester at Tassel Ridge Vineyard as we harvest Brianna on Tuesday, August 23. Fruit quality is outstanding this year. And, the total yield was an astounding eight tons per acre! This translates to about 26 pounds per vine or 1600 pounds per 500
Read more →We started hand picking Brianna last week and will continue with St. Pepin and La Crescent. These grapes will be frozen and then used in making Iowa Prairie Snow®. We expect to move next to machine harvested Brianna. All other white varieties will be tested for Total
Read more →All of our grape varieties are now ripening. The acid levels are starting to decrease and sugar levels are growing. The grapes are becoming very flavorful, however, they are still high in acidity. The color of the grapes has changed. White grapes have become somewhat translucent and
Read more →We’ve planted one each of most of the grape varieties we grow in our vineyards right in front of the Winery. You are welcome to look them over carefully and then when the grapes are ripe, taste them for yourselves. Each vine is labeled with its name
Read more →All of our grape varieties are nearly finished with Veraison. Veraison is when the grapes stop growing and start ripening. The acid levels start to decrease and sugar levels grow. The color of the grapes starts to change. White grapes usually become somewhat translucent and golden whereas the
Read more →The big news in our vineyards this week is that the grapes have started veraison. Veraison is when the grapes stop growing and start ripening. The acid levels start to decrease and sugar levels grow. The color of the grapes starts to change. White grapes usually become
Read more →Recent rains make spraying of fungicide essential. We are spraying almost every morning this week when there is no wind. We will be doing lots of routine maintenance in the vineyards. Mowing is almost a continuous task when it is raining regularly. And after wind storms, we
Read more →The vineyard crew prepared their harvest estimate and because of heavy fruit loads, it looks like this will be a record harvest with significant increases in most of the varieties we grow. But, just as the forecast was presented, we had a high wind event (with no
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