Eagle City Winery- Email Newsletter #67 (September E-Newsletter)

Hello Wine Friends!

Summertime is coming to a close, the kids are back in school, and harvest time is beginning all around Iowa. It's been a wonderful summer seeing old friends and making new ones and if you haven't been back to Eagle City Winery in a while we're having our Fall Open House on the weekend of October 7-8^th (1-5pm, daily). We'd love to see you!

When was the last time you visited us at our winery near Iowa Falls?  We'd love for you to visit us! 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.

See you soon!
Ken & Carolyn

FALL OPEN HOUSE - Join us for our Fall Open House October 7-8 (1 to 5pm daily) an afternoon of wonderful Live Music, Donkey Cart Rides, Snacks, and of course Wine Sampling. Our Open House events are always fun-filled and family friendly.  Mark your calendar and join us!

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 38 states across the US.

We can ship Eagle City Winery wines to these states: Alaska, Washington DC, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. *Special Process Shipping to: Alabama and California

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

IOWA GRAPE GROWING FACT: Did you know Iowa has 103 wineries, more than 300 vineyards with 1,300 acres of wine grapes in production? The economic impact of the Iowa Wine Industry is more than $420,000,000 for the state!

PARTY SPACE?  Do you need a special gathering place for 2017?  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) 648-3669

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

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.

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."

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

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.

KEN ON CAMERA:  The Wine Diamonds documentary film team visited us late last winter and filmed an interview with owner/winemaker Ken Groninga and then afterwards shot a short web series episode called, "on the road."  Click here to watch the short video: https://youtu.be/w_djLgueJOg - learn more about the film project by visiting: www.winediamondsfilm.com\

IMPORTANT NEWS:

Dear Friends,

As many of you know Eagle City Winery is Iowa's third oldest winery crafting Iowa wines since 2000 and during this time we've made and shared some delicious wines with you, our friends, have helped launch a thriving Iowa wine industry (now more than 100 wineries strong), and enjoyed every minute of it.

This all began as a post-retirement plan to start a winery and after retiring from practicing Veterinary Medicine we started Eagle City Winery. We remember planting our first grapevines, watching them grow, tending to our vineyard, making our first wines, and selling our first bottle. It's been a great and rewarding ride.  And today, at age 80, I feel like it's time to retire and pass the reigns on to the next generation of winemakers. My hope is not to close the winery, but rather sell it to someone with a passion for winemaking and a desire to continue what I started by growing this business. A winery business isn't for everyone but I bet there are a few of us out there that have a desire, a yearning, to have a winery and I'd like to be able to work with them. My hope is to stay on to show the new owners how to make the wines I've created for nearly the past two decades and make the transition as seamless as possible.

So, it is with a sense of hope that today I formally announce Eagle City Winery is for sale. If you'd like to learn more about this opportunity please follow the link below to view the realty listing and connect with my agent, Jason Bergan (Urbandale Century 21).

To our friends and fans we hope you know much we've valued your friendship and business over the years and that we are still open. Don't miss our upcoming CASE SALE (save 20%) on August 18-19; and our upcoming Fall Open House (October 7-8); and remember we are open Tuesday-Sunday. We invite you to stop by and visit with us soon!

Link to Listing: http://iow.mlsmatrix.com/matrix/shared/ltyLy1hc3/28536160thStreet

Best Regards,
Ken Groninga, Winemaker & Owner