At right, confir- mation students from Ascension Lutheran in Brook- ings, S.D., learn from their con- gregation’s “com- munion steward,” Becky Ekeland, while overlooking the vineyard. They also get a chance to stomp hundreds of pounds of grapes (inset).
COURTESY OF ASCENSION LUTHERAN CHURCH, BROOKINGS, S.D. Nothing shady about
South Dakota vintners host a harvest of tender moments
By Julie B. Sevig I
t comes as no surprise that Jim Schade has a fondness for the offertory “Let the vineyards be
fruitful, Lord.” And his wife, Nancy, said John 15 has become their favor- ite chapter in Scripture (“I am the vine, you are the branches”). Seated in their comfortable home overlooking their vineyard, they describe with both playfulness and sincerity their passion for the wine- making business, which is clearly also a ministry. The couple, members of First
Lutheran Church in Volga, S.D., fell in love with the wine industry when they lived in Sacramento, Calif. At the time, “I had no clue you could grow grapes in South Dakota,” Jim said.
Sevig is a section editor of The Lutheran. Schadé When they returned to their wine
native South Dakota, they began to explore the possibilities of being vintners. But Jim worked for the South Dakota Department of Rev- enue that regulates the alcohol industry, making that sort of sideline impossible. Then a change in the law in 1996 enabled them to start a vineyard. They’ve been growing and harvesting grapes and making wine on 80 acres just a mile west of Volga since 1999. “The first five years we sold out of everything we made,” Jim said. Nancy added, “We’ve received a lot of support. We’d take wine to gatherings and share it .…” And indeed they do—sharing comes naturally to them. Jim is an ELCA regional gift planner and served as vice president of the South
30 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Dakota Synod. Wine from Schadé Vineyard & Winery (what began in jest, pronouncing their wine Shaw- day instead of Shay-dee, stuck) appears on both dinner and com- munion tables within the synod and even churchwide.
The pitch on their website puts it this way: “At Schadé Winery, we believe in Good Wine and Good Times! Our winery is the very essence of South Dakota culture: relaxation, tranquil scenery and welcoming faces. In the midst of all of this peace and quiet, we put down roots … in the form of grape- vines” (
www.schadevineyard. com).
What started as a hobby has turned into the second largest pro- ducing winery in South Dakota. The Schades market 6,000 cases a year of 23 varieties with names like Prairie White and Dakota Red. They also have a commemorative wine for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.
They experiment with grapes in their vineyard, and then have 16 other farmers within a 200-mile radius grow them. “I’m a wine- maker; I’m not a grape grower,”
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