Sweet Roxie Red® is a refreshing, semi-sweet, fruity red wine with cherry and citrus on the nose and sweet cherry and candied fruits on the palate. Made from a blend of Marquette grapes grown in our Mahaska County, Iowa, vineyards and Muscat, Sweet Roxie Red is a great
Read more →We got the Marquette all pruned at the end of last week and got a nice start on LaCrosse in beautiful weather on Monday of this week. Rain on Tuesday and Wednesday kept us out of the vineyard but we expect to get more done on Thursday
Read more →We had planned to harvest St. Pepin late last week but decided it was not ready. So, on Saturday, we harvested our LaCrosse and then on Sunday, started harvesting Marquette. Most of the Marquette was harvested on Sunday with the rest harvested on Monday. We hurried to
Read more →The rain last week and again this week has created some short days and many tasks were not complete. The top priority is to complete the harvest estimate and then to thin leaves in our Marquette blocks. We will finish removing Mulberry trees at Newport Lane, start
Read more →Our vines are all dormant and are asleep for the winter. Some of our vineyard staff will take some time off and others will move indoors for the next two months. We are looking for a new source for rooted Steuben cuttings. Our former supplier lost their
Read more →
Jonita will speak at Grandfather’s Barn at the Iowa State Fair about La Crescent on Wednesday. Come and see us. The floors in the cellar are squeaky clean after Jonita and her crew got them cleaned within an inch of their lives. I find that I can
Read more →
So, what is veraison? Veraison is when grapes start to change color. Purple grapes change from a milky green to purple and green grapes change from a milky green to yellowing, almost translucent green. This is like the sprint to the finish line (harvest). Acid levels (especially
Read more →
Our vineyard team will be tying up new Brianna and St. Pepin vines at Maple Woods and the high wires at Newport Lane and Meadowcreek. They will be tying up several varieties at Tassel Ridge. Removal of suckers is essential to keep vines focused on producing grapes
Read more →