The grape harvest for Iowa’s wine industry is just getting started, but finding enough grapes to crush is a problem according Jean Groben of the Jasper Winery in Newton. Groben says trying to find enough grapes in the state is a real challenge and she’s on the phone constantly looking for grapes.
Groben says they want to find grapes grown in Iowa to make wines with a regional flavor. Groben says French American grapes are the ones grown for Iowa’s wines.
She says they’re learning how to make wine out of these grapes and the more they learn, the better the wine gets. The Jasper Winery opened in 2004 and currently has six varieties of wines.