member benefits

There are many benefits to becoming a member of the Iowa Wine Growers Association!

The Iowa Wine Growers Association provides valuable legislative support, marketing resources and educational opportunities for grape growers, wine makers and industry members.

Marketing Resources

We know that marketing is an important aspect of the wine and grape business. The Iowa Wine Growers Association works to help promote the industry and give you the tools to help you promote yourself

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  • Full time marketing staff dedicated to promoting the industry and assisting members

  • Social media engagement

  • Online resources for starting a winery, growing grapes and making wine

  • Members-only email forum

  • Partnership with the Iowa State Fair to promote our industry and sell wine at the Iowa Wine Experience during the Fair

  • Partnership with the Iowa Wine and Beer Promotion Board to increase tourism traffic to your winery

  • Annual conference and hands-on workshops for continuing education

  • Online classifieds for you to buy or sell grapes and equipment

  • Consumer research studies and brand campaign for Iowa wines

Legislative Support

The Iowa Wine Growers Association has been very active in legislative efforts that benefit the wine and grape industry in Iowa. Your membership dollars allow us to hire a lobbyist to ensure that our industry is well represented.

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Since the inception of the IWGA, the following legislative accomplishments have occurred:

  • Legislation passed to allow native Iowa wineries and their vineyard retain their agriculture zoning (2002)

  • Legislation passed to create the Class B Native Wine permit to allow commercial businesses to sell native Iowa wine by the bottle and to serve tastings (2003)

  • Worked with Iowa State University to establish the Midwest Grape & Wine Industry Institute (2006)

  • Lobbied the Iowa Legislature and the legislation passed to allow native wineries to sell beer (2009)

  • Lobbied to allow wineries to self-distribute their product to retail locations without utilizing a distributor

  • Lobby to earmark native wine excises taxes to be used for education, research and marketing

Educational Opportunities

Our industry is continually growing and maturing. The Iowa Wine Growers Association is dedicated to providing the educational opportunities necessary for wineries and vineyards to learn, improve and grow

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