The history of Stone Hill Winery

Hermann, Missouri, a charming historic town nestled in a bend on the Missouri River, was founded in 1837 by a band of German immigrants who were drawn to the region by tales of its abundance and similarity to the Rhine River valley. Only a decade later, Stone Hill Winery was founded and soon grew to be one of the largest wineries in the United States, shipping wines around the world, to Europe and even parts of Asia, in the 19th century. We sat down with Jon Held, the second generation of Helds at the helm of this award-winning winery, to learn more about this storied winery’s past.

“Hermann was settled in 1837 by the German settlement society of Philadelphia,” says Stone Hill Winery CEO John Held, “and they were hoping to establish this German Athens in the heart of Missouri. They had these grandiose plans that Hermann would become a bigger city than Philadelphia, and hence that's why Market Street is the width it is. It's larger than Market Street in Philadelphia.” He went on to say that, “shortly after Stone Hill Winery was established, Michael Poeschel, the founder, was quoted in print that there were 700 acres of grape vines around Hermann. That's a lot of grape vines. We grow right under 200 acres today and we are the largest grape grower in the state of Missouri. So 700, that's a lot of grapes. Missouri went on by 1870 to be the number one, producing state in the nation of wine.”