Willey, Iowa · Carroll County

A family vineyard in west central Iowa

Vines of Grace LLC was established in 2025 by Cris and Michelle Gonzalez. The six acres in Willey have grown Edelweiss, Brianna, Saint Croix and Frontenac since 2006 — first under Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery, now under our care for wineries across the Midwest.

6 acres · 4 varieties · 23,554 lb sold in 2025

Our grapes

Est. Carroll County · Iowa

It started with John and Rose Guinan

Young vineyard rows with St. Mary's Catholic Church steeple behind them in Willey, Iowa — Willey, Iowa · May 2012 — the vineyard and St. Mary's Catholic Church.

This vineyard belonged to John and Rose Guinan, who ran Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery in Carroll, Iowa, for about two decades. Their tasting room was a Tuscan-style space inside a historic downtown building. The vines that fed it were planted here in Willey in 2006 — less than ten miles down the road — and Michelle has managed them ever since, through Santa Maria and now Vines of Grace.

Grapes from these rows went into the wines they poured in Carroll, sold through retail accounts across Iowa, and carried to farmers markets in Des Moines, Ames and Cedar Rapids.

When John and Rose retired in 2026, Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery closed its doors. We bought the vineyard to keep it in the family and keep the fruit coming. That same ground still grows four cold-climate varieties for wineries that need a reliable pick.

John and Rose Guinan pulling bird netting over a vineyard row — John and Rose putting nets on ahead of the birds.

Santa Maria Vineyard and Winery tent at the Des Moines farmers market — Santa Maria at the Des Moines farmers market.

Our grapes

Four varieties across six acres. We harvest to the brix and pick date you specify. Most buyers pick up at the vineyard; delivery is available for an additional fee. Contracts can run one season or multi-year.

Edelweiss (0.86 ac)

Aromatic, floral, high acid — semi-sweet varietal or blend backbone.

2026: Harvested Aug 23

Brianna (1.93 ac)

Pineapple and citrus aromatics — a flagship white for several buyers.

2026: Harvested Aug 25

Saint Croix (1.5 ac)

Low tannin, soft red berry — dry red or rosé base.

2026: Harvested Sep 9

Frontenac (1.71 ac)

Deep color, cherry and plum — dry red or port style.

2026: Harvested Sep 26

Ask about our grapes

How we farm

We own the equipment we need to pick, spray, mow and net on our own schedule. That means we can hit your date and target brix without waiting on a custom crew.

Mechanized upright grape harvester in the vineyard

Upright harvester

We pick our own grapes. Tell us your date and target brix and we can hit it.

Airblast sprayer

Full canopy coverage from budbreak through veraison, covering the whole vineyard in one weather window when we get one.

Toro mower

Alleys and headlands mowed all season for airflow, less disease pressure, and easier harvest access.

Netter-getter

Nets go over the reds after veraison and come off at harvest. Birds take a share of every unprotected vineyard around here — not this one.

Spray program

We follow a fungicide, insecticide and herbicide program on schedule, adjusted to the season rather than skipped when it gets busy. That discipline is why the canopy, the fruit and the floor look the way they do.

Pruning & vineyard management

We take a limited number of dormant-season pruning jobs for growers in Iowa and Nebraska. The two of us do the work ourselves — no rotating crew, no per-vine race. If you already run your own crew, we will train them instead.

Dormant pruning

Cut to your specification — cane or cordon, bud counts set to your target crop load, brush pulled and dropped in the alley.

Training and canopy work

Trunk renewal after winter injury, retraining to VSP or high cordon, tying and positioning, and renewal decisions on tired cordons.

Crew training

We train your crew in Spanish or English — Cris is Chilean and works with Spanish-speaking crews in their language — hands-on in your vineyard until the cuts match your specification.

Block walk and assessment

A written read on vine condition, winter injury and disease pressure, plus a recommended pruning plan and hours before you commit a season of labor.

Cris pruning in snow-covered vineyard rows

Michelle pruning vines with snow on the ground

Dormant pruning underway across vineyard rows in February

Written agreement

Nothing starts before both sides sign. One page covers the essentials:

Rate — per vine, per acre or hourly, set after we have seen the vineyard
Timeline — start window and completion date
Specification — cane or cordon, bud counts, renewal decisions, brush handling
Weather & payment — dormant-season delays get rescheduled, not billed; payment terms and site responsibilities in writing

Ask about pruning

Websites & digital presence for wineries

Michelle ran Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery’s website and online presence for more than ten years, so she knows how a small winery actually gets found, booked and remembered. We built this site ourselves too. Now we help other wineries and vineyards in Iowa and Nebraska look as good online as their wine tastes in the glass.

Website build & refresh

A clean, fast site that works on a phone, covering your story, wines, tasting-room hours, events and directions, written in your voice rather than template filler. We can rebuild your current site or tidy up the one you have.

Ongoing web management

We keep your hours, menus, wine list, events and photos up to date, and handle domain, hosting and email setup so nothing lapses. Send us a text or an email and we’ll make the change.

Social media

Seasonal posting for Facebook and Instagram covering harvest, release days, live music and weddings, built from photos of your vineyard and tasting room. We can run it for you or set you up with a simple plan you can run yourself.

Get found locally

We set up and clean up your Google Business Profile, keep your hours and listings consistent, and help you collect and answer reviews, so people searching “winery near me” end up at your door.

How we start

We begin with a free review of your website, Google listing and social pages. You get a short written list of what’s working and what to fix first. From there you can pick a one-time project or monthly upkeep, with the scope and rate agreed in writing before any work starts.

Ask about web & social help

A year in the vineyard

Photographs from our own ground. Click any photo to see it larger.

Dormant season

Pruned vineyard in early spring with St. Mary's church beyond

Snow falling through dormant vineyard rows

Growing season

Mowed alleys between full vineyard canopies

Netter-getter laying nets over Frontenac rows

Fruit & harvest

Ripe golden Edelweiss clusters on the vine

Harvest bins of red grapes under St. Mary's steeple

Grape harvester working rows beside a cornfield

Cris and Michelle Gonzalez standing together

Camp in the vineyard

One private site next to St. Mary's Catholic Church and the Willey ballpark. Open sky, walking paths around the vines, and dark enough at night to see the Milky Way.

Level campsite with vineyard rows and open Iowa sky

$25 per night

6 guests max

93% recommend · 7 reviews

“Beautiful vineyard warmly wrapping around us as we enjoyed the night sky.” Laura A. · September 2025 · Hipcamp

Book on Hipcamp

Good to know

One private site, yours alone, up to six guests
20-amp and 30-amp outlets on separate breakers, plus potable rural water — no sewer or toilet, so bring your own
Rigs under 45 feet, pull-in on flat managed grass, two vehicles max
Campfires allowed; pets welcome on leash
Check-in 2:00–10:00 PM, out by noon; one-night minimum, flexible cancellation
Walking paths around the vineyard and open ground for kids to run

Weddings in the vineyard

Host your wedding among the vines, with Iowa hills out behind and Carroll just minutes away. The site has rural potable water and 20- and 30-amp electricity on separate breakers, so caterers and vendors have what they need on the ground.

Contact Michelle for details and available dates.

Ask Michelle about dates

Wedding ceremony arch set against the vineyard with hills beyond

Event tent on the hill above the vineyard blocks

Vineyard rows running up to the event tent line

Gravel path from parking to the wedding tent

Contact

Grape sales, pruning and vineyard management, weddings, or camping — reach out to Cris or Michelle.

Cris Gonzalez

Co-owner and operator

Agronomy Engineer (Universidad UNICIT, Santiago, Chile) and M.S. in Seed Technology and Business from Iowa State University. Nineteen years in seed production, quality management and production agronomy across North America, Europe and Latin America, including leadership roles at Syngenta, Bayer and Monsanto. Native Spanish speaker.

cris.gonzalez@vinesofgrace.com (402) 885-0510

Michelle Gonzalez

Co-owner and operator

Has managed this vineyard since it was established in 2006 — every season the vines have had. Twenty years of hands-on knowledge of how each variety behaves on this ground and what it takes to bring the crop in. Handles event and wedding booking.

michelle.gonzalez@vinesofgrace.com (712) 292-9784

The vineyard is in Willey, Carroll County, west central Iowa.