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Upcoming Events!
Next Iowa Winemakers Roundtable
Monday, October 7 at Tycoga Vineyard and Winery
- Featuring St. Pepin, Frontenac Blanc, and La Crescent
- Winemakers are highly encouraged to bring any of the selected wine varietals/styles produced at your winery. You will be asked to share as much information about the history of the wines through submission of the registration form detailing the winemaking production information on the wines. All information will be kept confidential unless the group agrees to disclose their wines at the conclusion of the event.
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Newsletter Spotlight:
Purgatory Cellars Winery in Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Sarahi Trejo
James Brejcha, is an Alum of Iowa State University. When he was senior, he was called up for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. At the time he was in the Army National Guard. When he came back he finished school and graduated with a Business Degree. He continued his Master’s in Business Management from Regis University. Fast forward a couple years and he now owns his own business, Purgatory Cellars Winery in Highlands Ranch, Colorado!
James was a home brewer for many years making beer and wine at home. He then met his business partner Marko, who came from Croatia and was a master wine maker. He is now making red, white, dessert, and sparkling wines. He makes wines in oak barrels, stainless steel, and clay amphorae. He sources grapes from Palisade, Colorado.
Most of James’s wines are being distributed in three tastings rooms in Colorado. He is in a few local liquor stores but he finds that the profit margin is low in liquor stores. He shares his main source of income is from customers that come into their tasting rooms. He says, liquor stores need to buy the wine cheap so they can mark it up to make a profit, but since they are a smaller winery they don't have the scale or production size to make wine cheap. He notes that maybe at some point they will get there but they specialize with smaller batches of wine, compared to larger wineries in California.
What makes his winery stand out from the rest is his production technique. Purgatory Cellars is proud to be the first winery in Colorado to utilize the ancient Croatian/Georgian method of Amphora-aged wines. Using Georgian Amphorae (to store and ferment wines) is a tradition in wine-making dating back to 6th century, B.C., and it is an incredible experience to try these wines. Amphora-made wines show complexity and soft tannins on the pallet, with a long maceration period (up to 9 months) on the skin and seeds which creates deeper and darker colors. It can turn a white wine into more of a red wine. Fermenting in clay amphorae creates a neutral state, so there are no hints of oak with the wine. They also ferment on the skins and seeds which makes the wines exciting and different from what you have ever tried before. James also supports and host fundraisers for different Veteran groups once a month. He donates a % of his sales to these groups and has a collection box. He has currently hosted fundraisers for Wounded Warrior Project, Team Rubicon, and Victory Service Dogs.
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Recap: Summer in the Lab from our students
Sam Anderson
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Time flies by when you’re having fun! The fall semester begins very shortly for ISU students, including myself, an undergraduate who has been working in the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute’s laboratory this summer. The past three months here have been filled with learning, research projects, some field time, and lots of wine analysis in the lab.
As far as the laboratory goes, the backbone of the workload this summer has included running analysis on wine (and mead!) samples in order for winemakers to understand where their wine stands on a number of measures. Winemakers send in their samples, whether the wine is finished or not, and choose from a variety of tests to have performed. Some of the most popular tests run in the lab include alcohol percentage, free and total SO2, and a variety of enzymatic assays (such as residual sugars, malic acid, and acetic acid). This summer, we have even had a few samples from out of state!
As a lab group, we have also had time to make a few trips out to the grape vines that are north of Ames at the ISU Horticulture Farm. There are both La Crescent and Marquette grapes growing currently, both of which will be used for a variety of research projects for the Institute come harvest time. Each of these varieties is split into research two groups: those that have the vines growing on a single high wire, and those that are growing using a Geneva double curtain. My duties in the field so far have included marking the specific randomly-generated vines that will be used for certain research projects and pulling leaves in order to expose some of the Marquette grape clusters to more sunlight. We are lucky enough to have field specialist Dr. James Schrader on our team, as he is sampling grapes for us leading up to harvest. For now, we are using berry sampling methods as to not over-pick the vines. Back in the lab, with the grapes that have been sampled, myself and fellow undergraduate Chelsea Nelson have been busy crushing grapes and performing analysis. This allows for us to have a baseline of where the grapes are at in regards to harvest time. Harvest will be here before we know it!
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Building Skill and Confidence in Your Wine-Tasting Palate
Maureen Moroney
I recently had the privilege of attending the International Cold Climate Wine Competition (ICCWC) as a judge. The competition was organized by the Minnesota Grape Growers Association and the University of Minnesota, and featured more than 300 wines from cold-climate varieties, plus 24 judges and numerous hard-working volunteers.
Earlier in my wine-world career, I would have laughed at the idea of serving as a judge at a
wine competition. Now I have three under my belt, and I don’t find it at all uncomfortable or stressful.
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Flight of wines for 2019 ICCWC Governor’s Cup consideration
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Imposter Syndrome vs. Arrogance
The people we serve through our work at the Institute have an established presence in the world of wine, whether as growers, winemakers, retailers, or consumers. Still, a fair number of the calls and emails we get are from extremely capable wine industry professionals who really just need to talk themselves through something they already have a good handle on.
When I have those conversations with people, I am almost always reminded that in winemaking, where every case is different, two things are usually true:
1. There are no simple, concrete answers that apply all the time across the board.
2. As a winemaker, you have a deeper understanding of your own wines than anyone else does.
And those two truths usually lead to two more:
Because of #1, it’s understandable to second-guess yourself.
Because of #2, your instinct at navigating most winemaking questions is incredibly valuable.
However, our palates are both highly complex and highly variable, and they can also be fallible. Even when we feel confident in our abilities, we should avoid becoming complacent and remember that we can always continue to grow and improve.
Which brings me to the opposite problem we sometimes run into: Winemakers who are unable to acknowledge any room for improvement in their wines or their production practices, and are uninterested in seeking out new information or constructive feedback. The wine industry, as a whole, unfortunately has a reputation for snobbery and big egos, whether it deserves it or not. While we may often think of that in a service context (e.g., the snooty sommelier), sometimes that arrogance also extends to winemakers. It can become a problem when the commonly observed (and totally normal) “house palate” is combined with a stubborn refusal to do anything to challenge or expand it.
So how do you learn to trust yourself and be confident in your abilities, without risking developing a big head and feeling infallible?
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Crushing it, with SO2
Jennie Savits
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It’s common practice to add sulfur dioxide (SO2) at crush as an antimicrobial and antioxidant to protect juice/must ahead of fermentation. The antimicrobial action prevents spoilage and wild yeast fermentation, while the antioxidant action prevents enzymatic browning by polyphenol oxidase (the same enzyme responsible for the browning of sliced apples).
*A quick refresher on forms of SO2* At grape/wine pH SO2 exists in equilibrium mainly in two forms, while the third form is negligible. The most abundant form is bisulfite and the rest is molecular SO2 (see table at right). The molecular form provides all the protection, while the bisulfite has some anthocyanin bleaching and other binding capacity
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Additions of SO2 in winemaking post-fermentation are based on the pH of the wine to determine the amount of free SO2 necessary to achieve a 0.8 part per million (ppm) molecular concentration to protect wines. At crush, a rule of thumb is used. Generally, 25-75 ppm SO2 added to must/juice will keep microbial load and enzymatic browning in check. There are several factors to consider when deciding the most effective dose, especially the pH of the juice and the condition of the fruit. At lower pH values, the SO2 is more effective because there is more present in the molecular form. An added benefit of managing pH (<3.5) is that problem bacteria (Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, acetic acid bacteria) are also less likely to grow. When pH is low and fruit condition is sound, there is lower incidence of spoilage and thus a lower dose of SO2 (25-50 ppm) may be sufficient. When pH is higher, and if fruit condition is less than ideal, a higher dose (50-75 ppm) may be better suited. Temperature of fruit at harvest and travel time from the field can also be factored in, as increased temperature will speed up spoilage and wild yeast fermentation.
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Comings and Goings at the MGWII
Erin Norton
With August comes the start of another school year here on campus at ISU and even more importantly another grape harvest of our locally grown grapes. There’s also been plenty of change around the Institute, so I thought I would take the opportunity to update you all.
- Mike White retirement
- Mike’s family was able to keep the secret and threw him a surprise retirement party at Annelise Winery in Indianola on Aug. 4.
- Many industry members attended, as well as ISU VP Extension John Lawrence and Interim VP Ag & Natural Resources Jay Harmon.
- Please reach out to the MGWII with any viticulture related questions and we will do our best to answer or to find the appropriate resource.Grapes are still growing in Iowa, and we intend to continue supporting those efforts.
- Diana Cochran departure
- Early in August we bid farewell to Diana Cochran, Asst. Prof. in Horticulture, as she took a new position at the University of Maryland.We wish her all the best on the east coast.
- Aude Watrelot arrival
- On Aug. 19, Aude Watrelot, Asst. Prof. in Food Science (enology focused) arrived and began working at ISU.Aude will be working closely with the MGWII and is excited to get out and meet Iowa grape and wine industry members.Look for a more detailed bio in an upcoming newsletter.
- IDALS Grants
- The MGWII was recommended to receive two IDALS Specialty Crop Block Grants which are anticipated to begin this fall.
- The first titled “Development of a Signature Iowa Wine: Identification of Consumer Preferred Cultivars and Styles” will have several components.Firstly, a short industry survey will be distributed in the next few weeks to gain information and opinions about how industry members feel about wine styles and cultivars grown in Iowa.In the spring, a consumer sensory evaluation will be performed (based on the survey results) to understand consumer preferences for wine styles and local cultivars.We really need your support in filling out the survey in order to make the study as meaningful and representative as possible.Early next summer we hope to disseminate results to you.
- The second titled “Using Life Cycle Assessment for Evaluation and Recommendation of Sustainable Practices in the Grape and Wine Industry” is being led by Jim Schrader of the Department of Horticulture.He will apply the methods of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to develop and deliver the first LCA-based recommendations of sustainable practices for the Iowa grape and wine industry. LCA is a standardized, science-based tool for quantifying the environmental impacts and efficiency of products and processes at every stage of a product’s life cycle. The holistic and quantitative character of LCA makes it the most objective method for evaluating sustainability and efficiency of production for all types of operations.
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ISU Viticulture Weather Station Reports
From our Ag Specialist & Vineyard Technician Jim Schrader
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