Eagle City Winery - Email Newsletter #55 (May E-Newsletter)

From: "Eagle City Winery" <winemaker@eaglecitywinery.com>
Subject: Eagle City Winery - Email Newsletter #55 (May E-Newsletter)
Date: Fri Mar 29 01:41:33 2024

 


Hello Wine Friends!

We're gearing up for our big Spring Open House (June 11-12) and it's always a great weekend to bring family and friends to enjoy an afternoon at Eagle City Winery. The grapevines are reawakening and beginning to show the promise of another wonderful year of grape growing and winemaking.

Make sure to stop by the winery soon to try our wines and spend some time sipping wine and relaxing in our gathering room, wandering in our vineyard, and checking out our latest gift shop items. We're open Tuesday-Saturday: 10am to 5pm; Sunday: 1pm to 5pm; and closed Mondays. 

Hope to see you soon!
Ken & Carolyn

 

SPRING OPEN HOUSE: Eagle City Winery is pleased to announce our Spring Open House will be held on June 11-12, (1-5p) at the winery. Each spring and fall we welcome our old friends, new friends, and those who want to know more about us to our open house. It's a family-friendly event jam-packed with fun activities for all: tractor trolley rides to the upper Eagle City Park and Ken's famous Donkey Cart rides behind EC, the winery donkey mascot.

Our Spring Open House also features free wine tastings, live music and a chance to learn more about how wine is made, and an opportunity to stroll the vineyard grounds. Bring your friends for a great afternoon of entertainment.

2016 IOWA WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR!  Congratulations to Eagle City Winery owner/winemaker Ken Groninga for this important achievement.

 

 

 

PARTY SPACE?  Do you need a special place for your upcoming holiday party?  Are you looking for a location for your wedding?  Need a venue for your upcoming special event, business retreat, reception, reunion or party?  Eagle City Winery has facilities and space available to rent.  Please visit our website: www.eaglecitywinery.com or call 641-939-7755.

ASK FOR QUALITY WINES.  Eagle City Winery is proud to report 18 of our 20 wines are IQ certified!   What does that mean? 

Quality Wine Assurance - To increase consumer awareness of Iowa's wine quality the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute has assisted the Iowa Wine Growers Association (IWGA) to establish the Iowa Quality Wine Consortium (IQWC).To be awarded IQWC status, wines submitted will need to pass both laboratory chemical analysis and sensory evaluation to be recommended by the Wine Institute Director and approved by the Iowa Quality Wine Consortium (IQWC) board.

GIFTS AND WINE SUPPLIES - Our gift shop, inside our tasting room, is filled with a wide variety of gifts and supplies for the wine lover in your life.  We've got a fantastic selection of functional and attractive wine racks, wine supplies and tools, and cork cages where you can keep your collection of wine closures. 

ONLINE STORE:  Have you ever wanted to send a gift bottle or case of Eagle City Winery wines to your family and friends living out of state?  Good News!  We currently ship our wines to 20 states across the US.  Give your family and friends a taste of Iowa by sending them a bottle or case today!  Check out our online store: https://www.vinoshipper.com/wines/eagle_city_winery

WINE 101:  Malolactic Fermentation also called, secondary fermentation, is a process in which the tartness of malic acid in wine is changed into a smooth, less tart sensation on the palate. Wines that undergo Malolactic Fermentation are often described as "buttery" or "creamy."

WINE UPDATE:  We are out of our delicious Edelweiss wine until next fall.

DID YOU KNOW?  You can save 5% at the winery on your Eagle City wine purchase when you buy six or more bottles?

RETAIL OUTLETS.  Eagle City Winery wines are available across Iowa at many retailer locations. Wonder if we're near you?  Visit: www.eaglecitywinery.com and click on "Retail Outlets."

EC WINES IN IOWA:  Does your favorite wine store carry Eagle City wines?  You can help us find new homes for our wines, simply by dropping us a note winemaker@eaglecitywinery.com or posting a note on our Facebook page. 

You can find Eagle City wines at many Iowa locations:  http://eaglecitywinery.com/pages/ - click on the Retail Outlet tab.

FACEBOOK - We're on Facebook and post regularly.  If you haven't yet, please "Like" us on Facebook, share your memories and photos.  Feel free to ask any wine-related question and we'll do our best to answer them promptly.  Find us here:  www.facebook.com/EagleCityWinery

EAGLE CITY WINERY HISTORY: In 1962 Dr. Ken Groninga received a degree in veterinary medicine from Iowa State University and following that he practiced food animal or large animal medicine for over 30 years, primarily in northwest Iowa.  In 1994 he retired from practice and began working as a consulting veterinarian for a veterinary biologic company from that time until the present. In 1991 Ken and his wife Carolyn bought an acreage in a wooded area alongside the Iowa River near Ackley, Iowa (Ken's hometown). Between 1850 and the turn of the century a small village, centered around a gristmill (flouring mill) and sawmill, existed in this area.  The village was called Eagle City.

The year after they moved to the area Ken began making wine from the various wild fruits and berries that grew on and around their acreage such as elderberries, raspberries, mulberries, chokecherries and wild plums.  He began entering wine competitions in 1995 such as the Iowa State Fair, Clay County Fair in Iowa and the Steele County Fair in Minnesota. Ken did quite well in these competitions including the Best of Show for a non-grape wine at the Iowa Sate Fair in 1998.

Ken enjoyed making wine and after doing well in competition, he and his wife Carolyn decided that operating a small vineyard and winery during their retirement years would be something that they would both enjoy.  So in 1996 they began planting a small vineyard and started making plans for the construction of a winery and tasting room.

The Eagle City Winery was completed in June of 2000 and obtained state and federal Class A wine permits as well as label approval for 5 varieties of wine.  These are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling and Cranberry wine. They started selling wine, both retail and wholesale in mid-December of 2000.

The Eagle City Winery is a small operation and is currently producing 15 wines with a volume of about 3000 gallons per year.

 
 
Cheers!
Eagle City Winery
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