we actually have a lot to brag about

As you may have noticed, our genius winemaker– Anne– has been nominated for Winemaker of the Year in Iowa. This award comes from the Iowa Wine Growers Association. She was nominated, and will be voted on, by her peers.

It’s an honor to be nominated, of course, but we think Anne has the talent to win this award. Hands down, we are so proud to call Anne our winemaker and we are so beyond happy that Anne puts so much effort into testing, and so much hard work into creating the most delicious wine for Soldier Creek Winery.

Things you might not know about anne in the winery

First. Let’s call her by her proper name (that I’ve given her and I believe it should stick), the “Wizard in the Winery”. I call her this because she does things with Iowa grapes that others can only dream of. Last week, I got a chance to put a little drop of heaven in my mouth– the 2016 Marquette– I have to say, with this one, Anne has come so so close to creating a wine that has the tannins and complexity of a wine from California. I mean, we already have our own, unique Iowa complexities to our wines, but I swear, I thought this was a Pinot Noir.

Okay, enough of that, I know I’m just making you jealous…

When Anne makes wine, it’s not what you would expect.

 

via GIPHY

She’s in the “wine lab” testing and re-testing the fermenting juice. She’s finding flaws and fixing them. She’s analyzing it so much that there’s no room for error. If you recall— she spent a lot of her undergrad and masters work doing chemistry-related research, so this is right up her alley.

 

 

via GIPHY

And, Anne isn’t a ‘work alone’ type– when she’s analyzing (with senses, it’s not all chemistry) the wine, she’s often asking the rest of us for our opinion without giving us hints. So, that’s sort of amazing as well, isn’t it? She wants our input, but she also wants to continue the education.

when  it comes to winemakers

We think we have the best one, and we hope her peers feel the same way!

The Iowa Wine Awards & Super Bowl Banquet is open to the public and always a delicious meal, paired with fabulous Iowa wine. It just so happens that this year’s meal will be served with your favorite Soldier Creek wine!

Get signed up soon, it’s always a great meal and party!

Oh, yeah, and #nottobrag

Maybe you also saw this earlier in the week– but Soldier Creek Winery’s day to day operation, production, and management is driven by 3 women. #LadyBoss

Share YOUR #IowaBrag!

with midbest love

Meg

 

 

Here it is! Part 2!

Do we need a preamble? Nah, let’s just jump in:

(WAIT! Did you read Part 1? No? Go back!)

where I left you

We know a little bit about this family: we know that Bill Jr., Bill Sr., and Tammi set a precedent for trying new things, we know the family as a whole is not your typical farm family, and we know there is a winery. How did we get here?

New Baby 1991

one thing led to another

As I mentioned before, the farm was exclusively corn, soybeans, and a sizeable hog operation. As the kids (Robert, Anne, & Amanda) grew up in fact– the hogs continued. Remember what I said about this family trying new things? In addition to corn, soybeans, and hogs the family also tried a few other ventures: tobacco (medicinal), saffron, soybean seed, and pumpkins. The pumpkins were one of those “honor system” operations with a hayrack full of pumpkins… I mean, can’t you just see those adorable little Secors loading up the hayrack with their pumpkins they worked so hard to grow and pick? (Insert “Awwwwwwww” here)

As time went on and the kids grew into adolescents, and started to develop plans for their own futures. Robert had big plans to be a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. some day. Anne had thoughts on being an Agronomist– her adventures would take her far and wide from Iowa. Amanda would later pursue an education in Music, being the talented musician she is!  It seemed as though the kids were spreading their wings….and getting out of dodge (as they say).

Meanwhile, Bill was exploring new options after a hog-barn fire led to an empty space on the farm. During the early 2000’s the grape and wine business in Iowa was just beginning to explode. Bill took a few classes through the ISU extension office, just to explore options. Because, you know, that guy is always trying something new!

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an election… honestly

Robert began his Political Science education at Iowa State University. He threw himself into the studies, and being an avid fan of arguing (I can attest), he started to gear his studies toward being a lobbyist. That year’s election outcome (Bush vs. Kerry) was not a big deal to Rob– but he had one teacher in particular who took the defeat rather badly. After seeing that reaction, Rob began to distance himself from Political Science and spent time thinking about where to go next. As many, many young college students so often do!

This is when Rob took an introductory class in Horticulture and found out about the budding (see what I did there?) grape and wine industry in Iowa. And, not to repeat history or anything, Rob came home and told his dad about his new plan for the farm. It just so happens that, this time, his dad had the same thoughts as he did.

annewedding

agronomist for a hot second

While Bill and Rob pursued their wildest vineyard dreams, Anne moved to Indiana to pursue a degree in Agronomy from Purdue. Literally days into her degree, Bill calls and tells Anne of their grand plans. Anne, being the logical person she is, thought “Well, it looks like you’ll need a winemaker.”

Immediately, she changed her major to Food Science with an emphasis in winemaking. In her 4 years of bachelor studies, Anne travelled to different wine regions through the world, always intending to be in the wine business, but not really sure on what scale. Would she do specified wine lab studying? Would she do less focused wine study? Would she make wine? As many college students do, she explored her opportunities. After a nudge or two, Anne decided she would go for her Masters in Wine Sensory. Many of our wine appreciators may notice that this makes all the difference in our wine.

Even though her studies didn’t bring her home, Anne and her husband, Brandon,  decided to make the move to Fort Dodge. After 7 years, a Bachelor’s degree, a Masters degree, and a notable internship with Gallo– we finally had our winemaker!

12345

vineyard to winery

After 6 years of some hard labor in the vineyard, with successes and failures, new trials, and some errors, we are finally looking at a real live winery! (insert “Scream” emoji here)

Many of you may know that a vineyard can be fruitful after 3 years of good growth. If you’re knowledgeable. If you’ve done this before. If everything goes right the first time. But, alas, this is life we are talking about here. And what would normally be 3 years, turned into 5 for our (original) nearly 7 acres of vineyard. But, as the Secor’s so often do, they persevered. They replanted and learned, and when the grapes were finally ready we found a friend in Train Wreck Winery– they bought our crop when we weren’t ready or able to make it into wine.

In 2013, we saw the return of Anne & her husband, Brandon. We also saw the return of the youngest, Amanda, after she received her degree in Music from St. Olaf College. In 2013, Bill and Tammi were so happy at their luck! All of the kids returned to work on this family endeavor.

In 2014, you all saw the opening of our dear Soldier Creek Winery. You’ve seen us bring a few varieties of wine at first, you’ve seen us grow and expand, you’ve seen us run out of Brianna (more than once), you’ve supported the local musicians we bring out, you’ve enjoyed our food and wine pairings, and you’ve joined our Paragon Wine Club. You’ve supported us all this time, be it from the beginning or maybe you’ve just joining in the fun. Whenever you come around and enjoy our wine, you become part of this story. Our family.

So, welcome to the family, welcome to the story. We’ve had so so SO much help in the past, we couldn’t possibly name every person, but you know who you are. You helped us plant our grapes, pick our grapes, prune our grapes, harvest our grapes, bottle our wine, and enjoy our wine. You helped us with even more than that! And we thank you! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Now, wasn’t that a nice story? Maybe we could get an illustrator around here….

 

with midbest love,

Meg

In our neck of the woods, nearly everyone knows our story. I think. Small-town Iowa will lead you to this conclusion. But, for those who don’t know, for those who are just joining us, for those who have been a part of the story– here it is.

This is our story, Part 1.

dreamers, the lot of them.

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Now, I’m going to tell this story from my perspective. I’m, technically, an outsider– married in. But, I’ve heard the story enough to know the details…and the bits that they think aren’t part of the story. But, they are. They really are.

Let’s start here, a few years ago, to a guy named Bill Secor (my father-in-law). After attending Iowa State University to receive his degree in Ag Business, Bill was back on the farm turning his family house into a home he would call his own someday soon. In his free time he was taking the short drive (one bag of peanut M&M’s, to be exact) to UNI to pursue a lovely lady, Tammi Gord (my mother-in-law). Little did he know, the pursuit had begun years earlier. In high school. In symphony. In the car with her mother as they drove slowly past the farm so Tammi could check out Bill (!!!)….Isn’t this just always the way, ladies? Tammi’s high school crush morphed into a full-fledged relationship, and eventually a marriage in 1981.

Back to Bill. He’s a dreamer. (I mean I’ll tell you more about how they are all dreamers…but I’m getting ahead of myself). He comes back to the farm with his college degree and some radical ideas on how the farm should be run (not unlike another family member I know!). At that time, the farm was strictly corn, soybeans, and a sizeable hog operation. In the past, it had been a completely self-sustaining farm: egg-laying hens, chickens, beef cows, dairy cows, hogs…. the whole thing. To speed up for just a second, in recent years the farm did throw back some respect to the old ways in the form of egg-laying hens.

So, Bill and his dreams. He dreams of changing the tillage of the farm. His dad reserves his judgement a little but allows Bill to try the practice on his own land. After a few years, the changes take effect on all the farmland. In the years to come, Bill and his dad, Bill Sr., will continue to find ways to change and improve their farming to be more efficient and better for the land. In the farm crisis of the 80’s, many farmers found themselves in a very rough place. And many of you may know family that changed their operation completely during the 80’s. The buzz word was diversify. Expand. Start growing value-added crops, experiment, try new things. Well, as you can guess, Bill and his father were not strangers to trying new things… so, try, they did.

Not your normal farm family

Bridge 1994

I remember the day I met my husband, Rob. To me, he seemed like exactly the man I was searching for. He was nothing like the typical Iowa man. He wasn’t a “farm boy”. He seemed perfectly city to me and that was fine by me, thank you very much. I was so done with these Iowa Farm Boys. He was a musician– a violinist, a guitarist, an-any-stringed-instrument-ist. That part was actually a bit intimidating. But, boy, was I ever wrong about him. He is a farm boy. He was going back to the farm.

This farm family. The Secor’s. Gosh, I am just always so happy at how….well, amazing they are. I mean, talk about talent. I can say all this because I married in, okay? So give me my moment of adoration.

You’ve never met a family less like the stereotypical farm family. Every single one of them plays an instrument. (insert that emoji with the wide eyes making eye-contact with you like “WHOA.”) In fact, for a while, they were quite the wedding quintet. They’re all a bit busy just now, so that’s not something they particularly do all the time anymore. Oh, what instruments, you ask? Bill plays cello, Tammi plays violin, Robert plays violin (guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, any damn thing with strings….ugh!), Anne plays piano (organ, harpsichord, anything with keys), and Amanda plays violin (piano, organ, harpsichord, accordion….again anything with keys). Oh, yeah, and they all sing rather well also. Like, at the dinner table…if someone just gets a tune stuck and starts singing out loud they all harmonize. It’s disgusting lovely…. 🙂

Okay, I’m not telling you all of this to make you think I love them or something (so what if I do?!), but to show you just how different they are. Because, it’s not just any farm family that is: a string quintet, a bunch of farmers, a gaggle of gardeners, a couple of viticulturists, and an enologist. They are just so diversified. They are all willing to try something new. They don’t give up easily, they persevere… they succeed.

A stopping point

So, how does this bunch of dreamers (okay, it may be just couple guys in particular) get into the wine business? How do they go from having a hog operation one day to having 6 acres of potential wine deliciousness?

Well. You’re going to have to check back next week to find out. The continuation and completion of this bedtime story will be published next Thursday, so set a reminder! Check back! Because, darling, this is the part of the story where you join in and it becomes your story too!

Part Two

with midbest love

Meg

let’s all take  a moment of silence to remember the long days, the warm days, the not-bitter-cold days.

People. Don’t despair. We shall persevere.

Here are ways you can keep warm with Soldier Creek Winery:

Follow my advice. Get your wine. Have it at home. Have it at the winery. Keep warm.

winter is coming.

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Until next time! With Midbest love,

Meg

 

 

 

 

 

 

buy iowa wine

Hey, I know. You love your Chardonnay. Mom can’t get enough of the California Pinot Noirs. Dad can’t drink anything other than a Pinot Grigio.

I want to explain Iowa wine to you. But, there’s something you need to be willing to do: expand your wine knowledge. Because, until very recently, Iowa wine has been discounted as “not dry enough”, “too sweet”, “too acidic”, and so on.

Now, I think we can all agree that sometimes it’s hard to find a truly dry Iowa wine for the dry wine lover. Accepted. But, when you’re shopping in those wineries that do specialize in the sweet, semi-sweet, off-dry, and dry wines– this guide is for you.

The iowa grape and climate

Now, I’m looking to explain this to everyone— so, please, educators and scholars in the field, don’t judge me too harshly.

Many Iowans know that we have a rather harsh climate in Iowa. Hot one second, snowing the next. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that we can’t grow the grapes that can be grown in California (with a beautifully long growing season), France, Germany, Italy, and so on. Our grapes are called French-American hybrids. The American part provides the hardiness that is needed to grow in our climate, the French part provides the complex flavors that we have all come to know and love in our favorite non-Iowa wines. The American part also provides some very distinct flavors that you will  not find anywhere else. Midwesterners, be proud! We provide something that few can! We are unique! (Turn to your neighbor and request a high-five, it’s appropriate.)

Again, let’s talk about climate for just one second. Consider the quick onset of spring and the shocking dive into hot and humid summer weather in Iowa. One may think this sort of weather would be hard on the grape and result in undesirable flavors or aromas. One would be wrong. The more stressed the grape, the better for the wine (typically). Obviously, you would want to tread the fine line between stress and death of the vine, but this is usually out of the Viticulturist’s control.

So, after these considerations, would you expect our Iowa grapes to exhibit different characteristics than the Pinot Noir/Cabernet Sauvignon/Chardonnay/etc that we are all familiar with? You would. So, let’s talk about those characteristics.

the flavor profile of the iowa grape, simplified

Farmers, agronomists, anyone else– is all soil created equally in Iowa? You’re right, the answer is “no”. We have everything from clay soils to loam soils to rocky soils. Soils make a difference in the flavor profile of the grape…. so much so, in fact, that you may find that a Frontenac from NW Iowa would taste quite different from a Frontenac from Central Iowa. And, of course, the climate of those regions makes a difference on the grape flavor profile.

So, what is the flavor profile of an Iowa grape?

Well, it’s many things, just like a wine from outside of the Midwest. At Soldier Creek Winery, we appreciate these flavors in our reds:

Another common question about our dry reds: Why doesn’t this dry my mouth out like a Chianti or Pinot Noir?

This comes down to climate and the varieties we grow– our growing season is so much shorter than other, well-known, regions that we could maybe dream of getting the sugar levels (sugar translates to alcohol, which translates loosely to dryness) they get, but we would be hard-pressed to get them. Here-in lies the reason why we can’t get the “dry your mouth out” tannins, but rather get a high-acid (tart) dry wine. If you looked beyond the dryness of your favorite Pinot Noir or Chianti you would notice the subtle tartness in that wine as well. One could look at it this way: all the dryness without drying your mouth out….so our dry wine actually quenches your thirst! (not actually) All the wine-os rejoiced!

What flavors do we appreciate in our dry white wines?

Again, you notice the tartness in a dry white wine in Iowa– but it’s much more reminiscent of a Pinot Grigio. I have to say, in Iowa, our white wines should be commended. The flavor profiles on these whites are just so beautiful, and I have to say, I have had some very floral wines made solely with Brianna in Iowa. I don’t know if you’ve ever drank a wine and had the Jasmine aroma just jump right out at you, but there is nothing to match it…anywhere.

Let’s talk about the sweet wine.

Some may be inclined to scoff at the sweet wine, but everyone deserves a little sweet sometime, for dessert…or after work…or anytime. But, really, what other wine do you know that tastes like Strawberry Jam? Cherry? Vanilla?

I think it’s high-time we stop looking down our noses at the sweet wines and accept them for what they are: a delicious treat!

Oh, sorry, maybe you were looking for comparisons?

Well, hopefully you’ve read everything to this point and understand that and Iowa wine could not possibly be compared to any other wine because it is something all it’s own! But, for the sake of ease, I will give you comparisons to our wine only, and these are loose comparisons, it’s really more of a “if you like ______, then you will probably like_____”:

 

Now, go forth

And use your new-found appreciation for Iowa wine to savor the unique flavors of our region!

Until next time, with MidBest love,

Meg

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