History of High Brow Wines
Take a Look
Kirkwood Classes
2017-2018
DJ and Judy took Winery 101 and Vineyard management with Lucas McIntire. We finished classes meeting amazing people. Most remain friends and a few went on to open wineries.
Sign Agreement w/ Wapsi Valley Vineyard
May 18, 2018
We took on a year of managing a vineyard to see if this was something we really wanted to do. Ron Waite was there to be our mentor, but stand back and make us do the work.
Vineyard #2
2019
We added a second vineyard to our load. This vineyard is located between Springville and Mt Vernon. It is very close to home. The vineyard has grapes we don't have in Anamosa, including Petite Pearl, Frontenac Blanc, Frontenac Gris and more St Pepin.
New Plants
May 2020
We planted 300 plants in Anamosa. These included Swenson Red, Frontenac Gris, Itasca, and Petite Pearl. It will be 3 years before we will begin to show a benefit of fruit from the work.
Hail Storm and Herbicide Drift
July 2020
We were first hit with an herbicide drift (I had been a windy year and farmers were finding it hard to find time to be able to spray.). Not long after this we had a hail storm hit Anamosa that ended up taking almost 2/3 of our crop!
Derecho
August 2020
Derecho hit causing devastation to many homes and businesses. It knocked out power for days and for some weeks. Our vines were blown to one side, twisted around themselves, laid flat on the ground with wire and post damage to clean up. The Mt Vernon vineyard was hit hardest. The grapes slowly showed signs of wind damage over time with grapes turning to raisins.
Thank you!
Thank you for your interest in our wine. There is so much love and fun in every bottle, we want to share it with everyone.
We never planned to sell wine or even make wine, but here we are. After our youngest son talked us into making a kit wine, we received our certificate in Winemaking & Vineyard Management at Kirkwood Community College.
This has turned into a family affair. Today we manage two vineyards. One outside of Anamosa and one outside of Marion. (not to mention the 16 vines in our backyard!)
While we do not have a tasting room (YET), we do plan to do plenty of tastings. Please contact us via Facebook (Lubben Vineyards & Wines) or give us a call at 319-491-4739.
Dan & Judy Lubben