Des Moines - Fireside is close to you

Many of our friends live in the greater Des Moines area and in an effort to make it easier for you to find our products we're expanding into your area.

Our goal is to provide a nice selection of Fireside wines and be as conveniently located as possible.  We're increasingly expanding our ability to provide exceptional service to our wholesale friends, many of which are Hy-Vee stores.

Are we in a store close to you?  If not, help us find them by providing a tip - send to Brad@firesidewinery.com 

Please click here to view an interactive map: Fireside Wine Locator.

Welcome Our New External Relations Manager!

Fireside Winery, located between Marengo and Williamsburg, Iowa is pleased to announce the hiring of Brad Johnson as the External Relations Manager. In this position, he will be responsible for growing Fireside Winery’s wholesale program throughout Iowa, and enhancing the public relations and social media efforts of our award winning winery.

Brad Johnson’s affiliation with Fireside Winery began in 2008 during a volunteer internship, while working toward his enology certification credentials.  Since that time, he has actively been helping around the winery in various capacities.  He established the social media presence for the winery, assisted with media relations, developed a marketing research program, and for more than a year served as the winemaker’s assistant.

An experienced wine industry professional, Brad Johnson earned his enology (winemaking) certificate in 2010, is a skilled wine industry market researcher and conference speaker, and is an experienced professional wine competition judge.  Additionally, Brad is the founding editor and publisher of Winedustry™: wine industry news for the “other” grapes, and is a contributing writer for the regional “Make Mine Wine” magazine; and co-founding member of the Eastern Iowa Wine Club.

“We are excited to bring Brad on as our External Relations Manager” said Rona Wyant, owner, “and are confident his tremendous skill-set will be an asset as we build our wholesale program and enhance our pubic and social media presence.”

Retailers and restaurants interested in carrying the award winning Fireside Winery wines should contact Brad Johnson at Brad@FiresideWinery.com or call him (319-329-1509) to learn more.

Iowa Wine Growers Association - Annual Conference

This past weekend was a busy weekend filled, not with visiting with you in our tasting room, but instead, learning more about the wine business (i.e., wine making, growing and marketing), networking, and a fair amount of reconnecting with our extended Iowa wine industry family.

Cassie, our marketing manager, was involved with the conference organizing committee and is seen here (in the below photo on the right side) in her role as moderator speaking with Patty Held, a guest speaker, just before an interesting talk about tasting room management.

This impromptu photograph (below) captured Rona, Cassie and Bill (owners) as they exited one of the Iowa Wine Grower Association (IGWA) educational sessions.

Meeting periodically with other Iowa winery owners, grape growers, and industry experts is a way to stay current and ahead of trends.  The IGWA annual conference is not only informative but also a great opportunity to rejuvenate before the busy summer season takes off.
 

NEW: Grape Vine Planning

This morning Bill (the owner) and his crew were working out back behind the winery and flagging where the next addition to our vineyard will be planted.  In the upcoming month we'll be planting about an acre of Brianna, a white wine grape here, and more grapes back at our Brickyard Hill Vineyard.

This first photo (above) shows the location of where both vines and trellis system will be placed.  Brianna (below) is a wonderful and prolific white grape making delicious fruity styled wines.

The next picture (below) is looking looking west (from the Veranda).  In addition to the Brianna we will also be planting another 1.5 acres of Marquette (red wine grape) adjacent to our Brickyard Hill Vineyard (closer to Marengo).  Each acre of grapes will ultimately yield about 3-5 tons of grapes!!

Finally, it may be early spring but we're really gearing up to have a wonderful event season.  And in case you want to extend your personal wine-season, we've enclosed (temporarily) our back porch so you can enjoy the warmth of our fireplace and the scenery while sipping your favorite Fireside Wines.

Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!