A Letter from the Editor

As Editor-in-chief of Iowa Decanted, it is my personal responsibility to lead the charge in creating quality content for publication.  While this might seem relatively simple at face value, I can assure you it’s not quite as easy as it sounds and it takes quite a bit of time and effort to pull it off.  Over the past year, I think we’ve managed well as a monthly publication, and while we may have been hard-pressed for time and resources I’m still very proud of the quality work we’ve been able to publish under such circumstances.  But as Editor-in-chief it’s also my responsibility to recognize the weaknesses of the organization and to address them in order to continue publishing quality material.  Unfortunately, at this moment, there is one glaring weakness with Iowa Decanted that needs to be addressed – and that is the ever-increasing constraints on my personal schedule.

As a creative individual, I have always had irons in a number of fires.  Some of you may be surprised to know that my experience ranges from video and film production to graphic design, illustration and creative writing – and more often than not I’ve been engaged in more than one of these endeavors simultaneously.  At the present, however, my willingness to multitask has led me to spread myself too thin.  At the risk of falling behind or, even worse, producing an inferior product, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to reprioritize.

Unfortunately, this issue of Iowa Decanted will be the last – at least until I am able to find the time and resources to continue its operation.  However, I would like to think of this as more of a sabbatical than a shutdown.  I still hope for a day when I can reopen the doors to the operation and continue on our mission of outreach, education, and brand development.

I can honestly say that I had an enormous amount of fun producing Iowa Decanted, and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity afforded me to meet industry members and travel around the state.  I hope that you, my readers, have had just as much fun reading and viewing the content we produced.  I genuinely appreciate all the constructive support we’ve received over the past year, both from industry members and readers – we’ve become a better publication because of it.

The native wine industry of Iowa is something that I will always be passionate about, and I hope the opportunity to assist in its development will present itself to me again in the future.  While I am disappointed that I could not have continued Iowa Decanted as I had wished, I take great solace in the knowledge that there are many driven and talented individuals working hard to build the wine industry into the institution it deserves to be.

Thank you.

Nick Thornburg