Iowa's Wine Heritage

Iowa has a long, rich history as a grape and wine producer. As was true for most states in the Midwest, Iowa's pioneer families found that some wild native grapes where already growing in Iowa when they arrived. One of the earliest historical references to Iowa grapes is found in the book History of Western Iowa published in 1882. It states that ". . . the finest quality of wild grapes are found in great profusion. In 1867, over five hundred barrels of wine were made from these grapes and shipped to Chicago, besides large quantities which were used at home." Before long, the pioneers introduced other grape varieties to the state.

The first commercial vineyard in Iowa was planted just outside of Council Bluffs in 1857 - just eleven years after Iowa became a state. In 1893, the Council Bluffs Grape Growers Association was formed with twenty one member growers and 100 acres of grapes.

The 1900 US Agriculture Census indicates that Iowa produced nearly 7.5 million pounds of grapes and over 76 thousand gallons of farm-processed wine. Iowa ranked sixth in U.S. grape production in 1919 with more that 12 million pounds. The Council Bluffs area continued to be a major grape producer during this period with more than 200 grape growers and over 700 acres of grapes under cultivation. Iowa's grape production peaked in 1929 with a yield of 15.8 million pounds. 

The downfall of Iowa's grape and wine industry, like that in neighboring Midwest states, was attributable to several major events. The first was the severe winter of 1898-99, which will long be remembered in the upper Mississippi valley as one that caused widespread disaster for nurserymen and fruit growers. The most serious damage was done to vineyards. In many localities the destruction was complete, leaving few surviving vines - even of those varieties, which until then had survived the coldest winters. The roots of grape vines were found to be entirely killed or so badly damaged that they could not be saved.

Just as the industry was recovering, Prohibition dealt the wine industry a blow when it became the law of the land from 1920 to 1933. Seven years after Prohibition ended, the Armistice Day Blizzard of November 11, 1940 killed nearly all the orchards and vineyards in the state. The final punch (and according to some, the most lethal) was the indiscriminate use of 2,4-D herbicide on corn starting in 1944. Of the few vineyards that survived the freezing winters, Prohibition and the Armistice Day Blizzard, not a single one escaped damage from the uncontrolled drift of 2,4-D. By 1954 every vineyard in Iowa was affected. By 1997, the Agricultural Census reported only 56,536 pounds of grapes harvested in the State. Yet Iowa's grape and wine industry was not dead.