ISU Extension specialist reports on progress of new operations
(A recent newsletter from the Midwest Grape and Wine Institute featured comments from ISU Extension Field Specialist Michael White, who visited the vineyard and winery at Kirkwood Community College. The following are his comments.)
Tom Moore, Viticulture/Enology Instructor at Kirkwood invited me up May 25 to see the new teaching winery the college has established on the campus at Cedar Rapids….
The first plantings for The Vineyard at Kirkwood were started in the spring of 2006. Since then the vineyard has been expanded to more than 1.2 acres, with new varieties added each year. There are currently 16 different grape varieties planted. This year, Kirkwood will be one of the first vineyards in Iowa to plant the new variety “Petite Pearl.” Kirkwood Continuing Education offers an eight-course series in viticulture.
Construction on the winery at Kirkwood was completed in January 2010 and the first crush of grapes, frozen from last year’s harvest, was performed by the enology class in April. There are 11 varietal wines now in stainless steel tank storage. The first release of Kirkwood’s wine is scheduled for fall 2010.
Kirkwood also offers a six-course series in enology. All the viticulture/enology classes are divided between 50 percent classroom instruction and 50 percent winery/vineyard experience. The wines produced will be sold at the new 71-room Hotel at Kirkwood Center. This new teaching facility and event center is presently nearing completion just southwest of the winery (in Washington Hall) on the south side of the main Cedar Rapids campus.
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More information on the Midwest Grape and Wine Institute, a service of Iowa State University Extension, is available online: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Wine