Stone Hill, Sales Books, & More — A Peek Into German Wine Culture in Missouri
Wine lovers can all agree that Stone Hill Wine Company is one of the most historical wineries that you could visit. Its historic roots have made the winery widely known around the country. A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to visit the State Historical Society of Missouri and examine sales books from Stone Hill. This was a very unique experience, as I have never examined an archival object before.
At first glance, the sales books appeared very worn down. That’s not surprising, though, considering these records are from the 1800s and have most likely been passed on to many groups of people. The spine of the books was coming apart, and the leather covering was wearing away on some parts of the book.
When I first opened the sales book, I noticed that the first page identifies the sales book with the specific number and includes the range of dates of the records inside. As I continued to flip through the pages, the sales records began. It was a lot harder to read the handwriting inside than I thought it would be. It was a very fine cursive that was hard to make out. However, further examination allowed me to make out most of the contents of the book.
On the top of each page was the month and year that the sales were recorded. These particular books cover sales from 1896 to 1901. Then, in columns, the name of the buyer, shipping destination, type of wine purchased, and the price are listed. Although there were shipments all throughout the country, I observed that most of the deliveries were to Missouri and Illinois. The most popular wines purchased were Claret and Riesling wines. It’s interesting that Riesling was one of the most favored wines from Stone Hill, as the Riesling grape is native to Germany.
Stone Hill Wine Company, the home of these sales books, is located in Hermann, Mo. Though the entire state of Missouri is known for its winemaking, the German-settled town of Hermann sets itself apart among others. Back when Germans were emigrating to Missouri, they were attracted to the area of Hermann because it had been romanticized by Gottfried Duden, a German writer. Even further, Hermann reminded them of Germany’s Rhine Valley, which was another reason they chose to settle here. The first settlers of Hermann came to the area thinking that they would become farmers, but once they arrived, they discovered that the hilly land would not be great for farming. Since their farming plans had gone array, the Germans decided to take up winemaking. After all, they would need some source of income while living in the United States.
Under George Stark’s ownership of Stone Hill, the winery became one of the largest in the country. Soon after Stark died in 1917, the anti-German sentiment brought about by World War I caused the business to decline. In addition, the combination of diseased grapes with the 18th Amendment forced the land to be sold. Nevertheless, Stone Hill prevailed, and it was renovated and reopened in 1965 by new owners Jim and Betty Held. The Held family still owns Stone Hill today.
With their hard work and dedication, the German-Americans of Missouri helped winemaking, specifically at Stone Hill Wine Company, become a huge phenomenon. Many wine drinkers spoke very highly of Stone Hill. Back in 1944, a writer for the Gasconade County Republican spoke on Stone Hill, saying “the wines produced by this company were undoubtedly the purest made in the world.” Though this claim was made almost a century ago, modern wine enthusiasts today would still agree.
The Stone Hill Wine Company sales books and winemaking in Missouri as a whole share lots of insight about the German culture that was brought over as the German Americans emigrated to Gasconade County. Today, Hermann continues to hold on to the nineteenth century German winemaking culture. With the help of Stone Hill, which was once the third largest winery in the world, Hermann has become known as the “Wine City of Missouri” and a standout in the Missouri Rhineland. Each year, thousands of tourists and Missouri natives travel to Hermann to visit Stone Hill and see what Missouri wine culture is all about.
