We ate at the Vintage Restaurant which is an old barn turned into a restaurant. Each table is placed inside an old stable and the hay shoots are still there beside your table. The food was delicious and the ambiance was great. I had the Sauerbraten and I definitely recommend it.
I really wanted to visit this winery because it has these amazing vaulted cellars that took 22 years to construct and are considered one of America's architectural wonders. We were able to go down into them during our tour and it was a really neat feeling to stand in the same places and touch the same walls as the people of 1847.
Hermann, where the winery is located, is a historic German town that looked very interesting. We plan on returning to Hermann soon to explore more of the town.
Here is some history about the winery taken from their website:
"Stone Hill Winery was established in 1847 and grew to be the second largest winery in the United States. The wines were world renowned, winning gold medals in eight world's fairs. By the turn of the century, the winery was shipping 1,250,000 gallons of wine per year. Unfortunately, the advent of Prohibition in 1920 destroyed the wine industry in Missouri, and the winery's spectacular arched, underground cellars (the largest series of vaulted cellars in America) were used for growing mushrooms.
In 1965 the Held's bought the winery and began restoring its picturesque buildings and vaulted underground cellars, which had fallen into disrepair after Prohibition. Today, Stone Hill is Missouri's oldest and most awarded winery.
Stone Hill produces wines that are receiving international acclaim, winning more than 3,200 awards since 1993, including 166 medals in 2005, 194 medals in 2006 and 155 medals in 2007 - continuously ranking Stone Hill among the nation's top award winners."
This is one of the winery's buildings.
Inside the cellars.
Walls built in the early 1800's.
Some of the state-of-the-art technology they use to make some of their wines.
One of the barrels used in making the wine. The letters on the barrel mean that the barrel is (MT) Medium Toasted. The TH means Toasted Head so the end caps are toasted. The 2YR stands for how many years the barrel was slowly toasted.
Stairs leading into another cellar.
Another cellar room. Notice how large the arches are above the barrels.
One of the original barrels from pre-prohibition. Notice the difference in size compared to the ones used in modern day.
This is one of the original wine barrels where wine was made before prohibition. When the winery and barrels were destroyed, this one was hidden away at a monastery. It was returned to the winery by the monks when the Held's re-established the winery in the 1960's. The barrel was so large that it had to be cleaned by hand. Someone quite small had to climb into the barrel through the narrow opening at the bottom to clean the inside. At the time only Mrs. Held and her children could fit inside but the children could not reach the top so that left Mrs. Held to clean it alone. It was eventually retired and is now for display.
During prohibition everything in the winery was destroyed. They ripped out all of the vines, destroyed the barrels, broke all the bottles of wine, and destroyed all the wine making equipment. This piece of wine making equipment was hidden in a barn with a sheet over it and was mistaken for farm equipment and thus saved.
These are a few bottles of wine that managed to survive prohibition. The labels have deteriorated so no one knows what type of wine is contained inside or the year that they were made.
These are some of the bottles that were used to make sparkling wine. Sparkling wine is aged inside the bottle.
The Vintage Restaurant. Very yummy German food.
My dad and step-mom and Gregory and I at our table inside the stable. Those are the original bars behind my fathers head and the hay shoot is behind me.
