2002-Purchased 16 ac from Michael J Madden.
2003-Planted first Marechal Foch vines.
2005-Stemwall foundation for future barn poured. Barn blueprints obtained from Barnplans.com.
2010-2011-Planted La Crosse, Marquette, Petite Pearl vines.
2012-We started construction of the winery building around the old granary, c. 1895
2016-Commercial winery 0pened. Tasting room in the old granary.
2019-Began construction of the barn, laying electrical cable and plumbing runs within the foundation. Karen and I built the entire building ourselves, including barn-roof trusses, over the course of 4 years. At present the interior is unfinished and no electrical has been run. Great thanks to our helpers, neighbor Ray W. and brother, Reilly, and for the extended, invaluable use of Ray's boom lift, which I broke. Ray and Reilly also picked up, delivered and installed pre-fab roof trusses and purlins on the winery building in 2012. Ray has volunteered all of the dozer work and countless hours of his time. I could not have built the winery or the barn without their help.
2023-Exterior barn finished, new covered deck on lower west end opened.
2003-Planted first Marechal Foch vines.
2005-Stemwall foundation for future barn poured. Barn blueprints obtained from Barnplans.com.
2010-2011-Planted La Crosse, Marquette, Petite Pearl vines.
2012-We started construction of the winery building around the old granary, c. 1895
2016-Commercial winery 0pened. Tasting room in the old granary.
2019-Began construction of the barn, laying electrical cable and plumbing runs within the foundation. Karen and I built the entire building ourselves, including barn-roof trusses, over the course of 4 years. At present the interior is unfinished and no electrical has been run. Great thanks to our helpers, neighbor Ray W. and brother, Reilly, and for the extended, invaluable use of Ray's boom lift, which I broke. Ray and Reilly also picked up, delivered and installed pre-fab roof trusses and purlins on the winery building in 2012. Ray has volunteered all of the dozer work and countless hours of his time. I could not have built the winery or the barn without their help.
2023-Exterior barn finished, new covered deck on lower west end opened.
A brief note about the future:
In 2024 we hope to establish our presence at a larger-market farmers-market, opening our tasting room at the Lansing address alternate weekends, or just Sundays or maybe just in the fall season. If anybody has any ideas which market in Iowa we'd be best suited to try, we'd appreciate your thoughts and input. We'd like the opportunity to get out and meet you where you're at, as we know we're a long distance from most everywhere.
We anticipate I'll be able to complete construction of the facility and barn by sometime in 2026, financing limiting, at which time we'll test our property on the market, which does not necessarily indicate we'll find a buyer immediately, meaning we will continue to produce our award-winning wine right here until we know differently.
We've had a good run in Lansing, Iowa, which I'll always hold special as the place I got to pursue my dreams of independence and self-determination, and where I taught myself how to make wine (always learning), create a business from the ground-up, and build a barn with my own hands! A great thank-you to our patrons and supporters!
Cheers! K&B