Fireside wines chosen for USS Iowa christening

MARENGO — On June 17, at 9 a.m. CST, the USS IOWA (SSN 797) will be christened by former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack. Official watch parties for the christening are taking place across the state. A few weeks ago, Doug MacCrea, chairman of the Commissioning Committee visited Fireside Winery. Owner Rona Wyant and Cassie Bott met with MacCrea, who explained he was looking for an Iowa sparkling wine to use for the christening of the new USS IOWA.

"We were so thrilled and honored to be considered for this high honor. It's really a once in a lifetime experience,” said Cassie Bott. Just last week, they were even more delighted when they received their official invite to attend the christening in Connecticut.

Fireside Winery started producing traditional sparkling wines three years ago and now have four sparkling wines on their tasting menu. They include sweeter options like Fizzy Firefly and Sparkling Almond and dry options which are produced from grapes grown in their Marengo, Iowa, Brickyard Hill vineyard including Blanc de Brickyard and Noir de Brickyard.

Chairman MacCrea selected three of their four sparkling wines; one of which will be used for the submarine christening on June 17.

The USS IOWA is the is the 24th of 37 planned Virginia class nuclear submarines and will be the first fast attack submarine specifically designed and built to provide privacy and accommodations for females, who first started serving onboard submarines back in 2010. The nuclear reactor which powers the sub has a 30+ year life span of the ship.

The United States Navy has used the name USS IOWA five times, but only the two battleships were ever previously placed in service; USS IOWA BB4 which served in WWI and USS IOWA (BB-61). USS IOWA (BB-61) served in the World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and was the mightiest battleship ever built by the United States. It now serves as a museum in the Port of Los Angeles.

For more information, visit: https://ssn797.com/