Vineyards and wineries can be found not only in obvious places such as California but also in Iowa.

Max Brewbaker is part-owner of White Oak Vineyards, 15065 NE White Oak Drive, a family-owned vineyard and winery.

“It’s been a dream to make our own wine,” Brewbaker said.

Matthew Nissen is an ISU alumnus who is manager of Prairie Moon Winery, 3801 W. 190th St., also a family-run vineyard and winery.

The vineyard began as a hobby and turned into a business, Nissen said.

From grape to glass:

The process of making wine is time consuming – from planting the grapes to letting the wine age.

White Oaks planted their first grapes in 2000, and again in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

All together there are three red fields and two white fields on a total of nine acres, Brewbaker said.

White Oaks got their grapes from Nebraska and other places in Iowa, Brewbaker said. With time, the grapes produced long vines and these sticks were cut off. The sticks were trimmed and propagated to grow in the dirt, from March until the end of May, when they are ready to grow. The grapes are grown along a trellis, posts and wires. Grass seed was planted between the rows for soil erosion control, Brewbaker said, in order not to lose topsoil.

The first four years, Brewbaker said, his wife, their daughter and son-in-law, who are all owners, focused on grape growing until the winery began in 2006.

The grapes are harvested from mid-August to late September, Brewbaker said. Volunteers sort bunches of grapes and put them in large bins.

Then the grapes are put in a machine, the crusher-de-stemmer, which removes grapes from the stem, and mildly crushes the grapes, skin, seeds and pulp into juice.

Next is the fermentation process, Brewbaker said, when yeast is added to the grapes – converting the grape sugars into alcohol.

For dry wines, no sugar is left after fermentation, Brewbaker said, but for sweeter wines, sugar is added after the fermentation. The wine then sits in a tank and ages, Brewbaker said, affecting the wine’s taste. White wine ages five to eight months and the red wine ages for year or more in a tank, Brewbaker said. The color of red wine comes from the grape’s skin color – the yeast brings out the red color.

Once Brewbaker and his team has decided the wine is ready for bottling, the clarification process begins, then the bottle is filled and the cork and label are put on.

The winemaker comes up with different blends from the grapes and the owners decide upon the final wine.

“We feel if it’s something we don’t like,” Brewbaker said, “the public won’t like it either.”

Prairie Moon began their vineyards in 2001, through 2003. Today, the vineyards cover 19 acres and the winery began selling wine in July 2006.

Nissen said they first got their grapes from a nursery in upstate New York.

Techniques used to make the wine, Nissen said, include small-batch fermentation when the wine is made in small batches.

The grapes are grown organically, through organic viticulture, Nissen said, in which the grapes are sprayed with mineral oil and sulfur.

“We don’t use conventional pesticides or chemicals,” Nissen said. “We use everything organic – naturally occurring fungicides and pesticides.”

White Oak Vineyards and Prairie Moon Winery wines are based on different blends of grapes.

Unique challenges:

Iowa’s warm and humid summers provide difficulties grape growers in California may not experience.

“Our growing season is shorter,” Brewbaker said.

In California, grapes are grown on loose and volcanic soil, Brewbaker said. Fortunately, White Oaks’ location in a valley is sandier, enabling better drainage.

“Our soil is too rich, [as a result we] get a lot of plant growth,” Brewbaker said.

Grape growing is easier in California, Nissen said, since weather is more consistent.

Another problem is lack of air movement underneath the vines, causing fungus and mildew problems.

“We have to cut [the vines] up off the ground a foot,” Brewbaker said.

In California their warm days and cool nights are beneficial to vine growth.

“We’re at the mercy of the weather,” Brewbaker said.

Since wine cannot be instantly replaced when it runs out, Brewbaker said it can be difficult to make sure they’re stocked.

Nissen said running a winery takes money, time and staff to help with harvesting and wine tastings.

“It’s tough to make [a winery] succeed,” Nissen said.

Here to help:

Craig Tordsen, program manager for the value added agriculture extension department, conducts feasibility studies for ag marketing and industries – including some for winery owners and those wanting to start a business.

Feasibility studies look ask: “Is this feasible?” and “how much money is in market?” which is helpful for people looking to start a business, Tordsen said.

“We look at economic impact of the wine industry on Iowa,” Tordsen said.

Bankers will have clients do feasibility studies for potential success of wineries before they will give out a loan, Nissen said.

“You’re investing a lot of money in the capitalism of the business,” Tordsen said. “Wineries are very expensive to start up.”

It costs approximately $80,000 per 1,000 gallons of wine-making capacity, not including the cost of land and building, Tordsen said.

“We’d like to see them invest 40 percent of [their] own money and borrow the rest,” Tordsen said.

Building wine inventory takes time, Tordsen said, since it takes five to seven years for growing the grapes, making the wine and letting it age.

Tordsen said most individuals who start a winery don’t have experience making or selling wine, although those who are successful enjoy wine and are at an age where they want to do different things.

Many of the wineries in Iowa have been around one to three years, Tordsen said, so individuals are just beginning and learning.

“It’s going to take time for [wineries] to develop,” Tordsen said.

Iowans drink about 33 gallons of beer yearly, Tordsen said, while they drink a little over a gallon of wine per person yearly.

“A winery is an unusual business because Iowans don’t drink much wine,” Tordsen said.

Wineries must work to establish the brand loyalty of beer, also to wine.

The national average of wine consumed is 2.4 gallons per person, Nissen said, while France’s national average is 15 to 16 gallons per year.

Another component of a successful winery, Tordsen said, is having marketers who are outgoing, comfortable with face-to-face company and going to places to sell their wine.

About 10 years ago, there were 2,400 licensed wineries, Tordsen said, now there are 6,000 licensed by the federal government, while 10 years ago Iowa had 10 wineries and now has 70.

“The potential for the [wine] market is up,” Tordsen said. “A lot of the wineries in Iowa are developing some pretty good wine.”

Sebastian Donner, wine lab supervisor and assistant scientist for the food science and human nutrition department, runs the wine lab at Iowa State.

“We are running samples and analysis of wine around the state,” Donner said. “We test for different components to local wineries and grape growers to improve their product.”

Grape samples are collected and their organic acid profile of sugar and nitrogen content are studied.

“We can enable wineries to make a more quality product, [and] offer solutions to deal with problems.” Donner said.

Donner and his team of undergraduate assistants are currently working on collecting data from grapes and wine and putting it into the database.

This information will eventually be made available to grape growers and people in the wine industry.

“It will allow them to see the challenges,” Donner said.

One thing Donner is working on adjusting the fermentation process to get a quality process concerning wine faults and the taste of wine in the end, improve taste concerning acid and changes with fermentation.

Another challenge Iowa grape growers face is the high acidity of Iowa grapes, Donner said, causing the wine to have a tart taste more prone to spoiling. The research they are doing will help address issues such as acidity.

Donner is currently working on lab analysis for the Vinters Quality Alliance, which will be a set of quality standards for wine.

Look for these labels to begin appearing on wine bottles next year, Donner said, and this will be useful to wineries and consumer marketing.

The future:

Eventually Brewbaker would like to find growers in Iowa to bring their grapes in after harvest.

“Our goal is to someday use all Iowa grapes,” Brewbaker said.

Another goal of White Oak Vineyards, Brewbaker said, is “to be profitable someday.”

“We’re sure hoping in the near future,” Brewbaker said, “we’ll meet that goal.”

Currently White Oak Vineyard wines can be found in 25 retail locations around Des Moines and Ankeny. Brewbaker said they hope to be in 50 locations in 2008.

Nissen said Prairie Moon Winery hopes “to have 75 to 100 percent of our wines made from Iowa-grown grapes.”