Kirkwood hosts American Wine Society

Those brave enough to face the cold on Jan. 13 may have seen an unexpected group of people talking over a bottle of wine in the Horticulture building at Kirkwood Community College. The topic of discussion was about the state of the wine culture in Iowa. The person that tied the event to Kirkwood was Tom Moore, KCC viticulture technician. Although Moore is the viticulture technician he only brought the wine glasses. The wine was left up to Mel Schlachter, who, besides just being the delivery man, also holds the position of Eastern Iowa Chapter Chairman of the American Wine Society. The wine that was brought in was an Iowan wine called "Beat-the-Snow Merlot" which was described by Schlachter as a "cool and wet wine."

After the wine was poured and the chatter ceased the two men and their wives got down to business. The four wine enthusiasts talked about how they planned to get people involved with the local chapter of the wine society that is still in the works. For those students interested in joining in with Moore and Schlachter in building up the Eastern Iowa chapter of the American Wine Society should know that there is a members fee to cover the cost of grapes, which is $57 or $80 for professional membership

The big topic was the state of the vineyards in Iowa and how much they have improved over the past 10 years. Moore said, "In 1999 there were roughly 35 acres of vineyards and nine wineries. Today there are over 800 acres of vineyards in Iowa and somewhere around 70 licensed wineries."

With the state of the wine culture in Iowa the two couples decided to fuel the fire by introducing the American Wine Society to Eastern Iowa. The chapter will not turn anyone down, even if interested persons are not of legal drinking age.

For more information contact Moore at tmoore@kirkwood.edu.