Taste of Iowa's Blossoming Wine Industry

   You can get a taste of a growing Iowa industry this weekend. The Iowa Wine Festival is this Saturday from 1 to 9 p.m. on the Indianola town square. This is the fourth year for the event that celebrates one of Iowa's blossoming businesses.

  The rolling hills outside Indianola are growing a bumper crop of grapes. Summerset Winery Owner Ron Mark says, "Grapes like to have hillside because they don't like to have wet feet, so good drainage is important. They like sand, rocks, lousy soil."

  The lousy soil is great for Mark's blossoming business. He started planting grapes in 1989 and opened the Summerset Winery in 1997. Since then, he's gotten some competition. More than 340 vineyards raise grapes on more than 700 acres of land across the state. He says there is plenty of business to go around. He says, "Well, we can't make enough wine. We're outselling some of the California wineries in the Des Moines area, and we're always worried about running out of wine."

  You can try a variety of wines from across the state at the Iowa Wine Festival on Indianola's town square on Saturday. More than 60 wineries will be featured. Mark says, "You'll have opportunities to try wines from different regions in the state. There's also going to be some food vendors, some cooking demonstrations."

  Mark says it's a great way to toast one of Iowa's budding industries. Tickets for the Iowa Wine Festival are $30 and that includes wine tasting.