Knoxville’s first and only winery held its official ribbon cutting on Monday evening, opening its doors to Chamber of Commerce members and the public, and giving them a chance to sample its product and facilities.
Nearwood Winery and Vineyards has been open south of town on Highway 14 since June; owner Mike Van Natta tells KINA/KRLS News the grape crop has come in a couple of weeks early, but wet weather earlier in the season was enough to sustain them until harvest. He says the wines made here and around the Midwest are impressing wine experts around the world.
“We certainly like cabernets and chardonnays and rieslings, but those can’t be grown here because they freeze in the winter. So these are French-American hybrids that are acclimatized and bred specifically for this weather,” Van Natta says. “And they produce every bit as good a wine as anywhere else in the world. It depends on the skill of the winemaker and the style of wine people make; but our wines in Iowa and also Illinois and Ohio and Minnesota have won worldwide awards.”
Van Natta says about 75 percent of the wines produced by his vineyard are sweet wines, since that’s the type most popular among buyers in this part of the country.