Area Business Bottles Up A Great Taste Of Mahaska

Tassel Ridge Winery staff work at filling cases of freshly bottled wine at a recent public bottling event.

Leighton, Iowa – Nestled just off of Highway 163, among some gently rolling hillsides, sits one of the areas biggest tourist stops.

The wine and beer craft industries have blossomed in recent decades, and Tassel Ridge Winery in Leighton is a prime example of technology meeting art.

This past month, the winery held its first ever public bottling event in late June. The state of the art bottling line worked on filling 350 cases of the winery’s most popular sweet wine Red, White & Blue.

The bottling facility is a state-of-the-art bottling facility. “There’s a lot of technology here,” says Tassel Ridge President Bob Wersen.

Those bottles of wine started on the line where the sanitized bottles are automatically jetted with a spray of purified water as an extra measure of protection against any foreign object being trapped in the bottle, and potentially spoiling the wine.

Visitors to the Tassel Ridge Wine and Burger night were treated to picturesque views of the vineyards in the setting sun.

As the bottle is drained, it is then filled full of food grade nitrogen. The nitrogen is heavier than air, so as the bottle is filled, exactly, with 750 milliliters of wine the nitrogen is displaced. This leaves the space at the top of the bottle pure nitrogen, which prevents the wine from oxidizing and ruining the taste.

As each bottle nears completion, a laser etches in lot code information onto the bottle.

Making wine is “a mix of art and science,” says Wersen.

Tassel Ridge also offers wine tasters unique opportunities to explore different culinary dishes with a class of their favorite Tassel Ridge wine. Examples of these are: wine and cheese tastings, wine and chocolate pairings, as well as dinners created by their very own chef to greet many visitors.

During the 4th of July Celebration in Leighton, patrons were able to sit, enjoy a glass of wine and watch the fireworks while enjoying a gourmet burger.

The ‘Grapemobile’ will take you on a tour of the facility, and when you are done you can join them in the tasting room to pick out your favorite wine. All the while you will be able to learn more about the art and science that comes together to make a bottle of wine.

If you would like to learn more about Tassel Ridge and all their events, you can visit them on their website at www.tasselridge.com.