By: David Freeman

A look inside one of Iowa’s unique and unexpectedly thriving industries.

On an uphill curve of Iowa’s southbound Highway 14, surrounded by the multicolored leaves of trees in the midst of their autumnal senescence, Nearwood Winery’s driveway is easy to miss. Nature’s effortless tranquility gives way to a different sort of beauty on the gravel-strewn path to Nearwood’s front doors. 

While orderly rows of grapevines flanking Nearwood’s entrance betray no hint of the countless hours of labor they took to cultivate, the unmistakable scent of wine piercing fall’s crisp air dispels any such notion. 

Owned and operated by Iowa couple Michael and Joann Van Natta, Nearwood is a microcosm of the unexpectedly thriving wine culture nestled in the heart of the Hawkeye state. 

For many, the mere mention of wine immediately conjures images of the sprawling vineyards of California’s Napa Valley or the languid, picturesque Italian countryside. Even the names of many varieties of wine—Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and  Cabernet Sauvignon—can create the impression of a culture foreign to America’s Heartland. 

Local Iowan wineries, however, such as Nearwood and Thunder Creek Winery in Pella, prove that Midwestern values of community, dedication, and patience can create a thriving winery culture in their own right. 

Both Nearwood and Thunder Creek are small wineries, even in comparison to some others in the state of Iowa. According to Michael Van Natta, Nearwood makes around 1,800 gallons of wine annually. In contrast, Tassel Ridge Winery, the largest winery production-wise in Iowa, produces about 100,000 gallons per year, according to Van Natta. 

While it could seem odd that Van Natta knows this exact number at first, this level of communication between wineries in Iowa is not uncommon. 

Ron Vande Lune, owner of Thunder Creek, shared how Tassel Ridge’s owner Bob Werson served as a mentor for him. 

“I remember one time he invited us to come for dinner out at the winery, and I thought, what [in] the world does he want? Well, basically he just invited me to explain what his plans were for the coming year as far as their process for the year,” Vande Lune said.

This collaborative spirit is foundational to Iowa’s wine culture. Nearwood, in particular, serves its community as more than just a winery—Michael and Joann are both published authors and have hosted a weekly writers’ workshop for Marion County every Thursday since 2003. 

In true authorly fashion, Van Natta likened wine-growing to writing. 

“In both, there’s a forever learning curve; there’s a lot of standing on the shoulders of people who came before you,” Van Natta said. 

This collaborative spirit is especially crucial to winemakers in Iowa compared to those in areas such as Napa Valley in California or Willamette Valley in Oregon. Cultivating grapes in Iowa can be difficult due to its cold climate. In fact, it is impossible to grow Cabernet, Riesling, or Vinifera in the state, all of which are winemaker’s staples in Europe and on the West Coast of America.

Van Natta described how Iowan winemakers overcame this.

“We can grow grapes that have been hybridized with American grapes to make clones,” Van Natta said. “Then clone, after clone, after clone, they discover what tastes good as wine and what survives sub-20 degree temperatures.”

Another obstacle Midwestern wineries face is their audience’s preference. In the most popular wine regions worldwide, wine is much more commonly served with meals, which favors dry wines as they pair well with many varieties of food.

Throughout the years, local winemakers like Van Natta have discovered that wine is less commonly served with meals in the Midwest, resulting in a general lukewarm feeling towards dry wine. Realizing that many Midwesterners may enjoy sweeter wines, they have adjusted their growing techniques accordingly. 

“About 75% of the wines we sell are sweet wines just because that’s what people want,” Van Natta said.  

These growing choices are also noticeable at Thunder Creek.

“We have about 18 to 20 wines, and only five to six are dry,” Vande Lune said. “The rest of them are all sweet or semi-sweet.” 

These shared obstacles would have made it easy to dismiss the potential for any true, lasting wine culture in the state. Instead, winemakers around the state persevered—thanks to an ability Van Natta describes as “standing on the shoulders of people who came before”—creating a culture that people from around the world travel to experience. Both Nearwood and Thunder Creek have received visitors from countries across the globe, ranging from the UK to Italy to Japan. 

The big-picture statistics suggest Iowa should be on the radar for those passionate, interested, or curious about wine culture. 

Population-wise, Iowa ranks in the bottom half of all states in the United States, coming in at #31 according to 2023 estimates. However, according to the Economic Impact report of the wine industry in Iowa, the state ranks in the upper half of wine-producing states by gallon. With 180 wineries across Iowa, it also ranks in the upper half of states in the country for the total number of wineries, according to Statista. A state outperforming its population size in terms of both wine-producing statistics and the total number of wineries is a key indicator of a healthy wine culture. 

While excellent, community-oriented wineries are crucial to creating a thriving wine culture, an organized infrastructure is also necessary to maintain the health of the industry in the long term. The state looks to be in good hands thanks to the Iowa Wine Grower’s Association (IWGA). 

The IWGA created eight separate “wine trails” across the state to draw tourists looking to experience Iowa’s wine culture. These wine trails crisscross the entire state and have anywhere from two to eleven wineries per trail for tourists to visit. 

Stephanie Neppl, tourism liaison at the Iowa Tourism Office and member of the Iowa Beer, Wine, & Spirits Promotion board, described their function. 

“By giving people a little bit of an assist in the form of an itinerary of wineries to visit, we can elevate the impact that each of them has,” Neppl said. 

As long as Iowan wineries maintain their collaborative, problem-solving ethos and a well-organized, efficient infrastructure, it is easy to see the wine culture in Iowa continue to be one of the most unexpected industry successes in the state.

“It’s a different kind of experience, because we’re not talking about internationally-known, huge companies,” said Neppl. “Instead, we have a lot of small, family-run wineries that just deliver a really great product that may not be expected even by people that live in Iowa.”