7/19/2012
The little town of Hermann was founded by German
immigrants in the nineteenth century. The land was bad for farming, but great
for vineyards. “Who cares?” Laura and I wondered. We stopped at Stone Hill
Winery (it is at the top of a hill with an idyllic view) to find out.
The tour guide informed us that at one time Stone Hill
Winery (under a different name) was the third largest winery on earth! I guess
Missouri wine used to be a pretty big deal. When Prohibition was passed,
federal agents came to destroy the distilleries and tear up the vines. When
Prohibition was repealed the town never returned its former glory – although
recent entrepreneurs have revived some of the wineries to a healthy degree.
Even though we are non-drinkers, the tour was
interesting. One of the cellars is called The Apostle Room because twelve huge
barrels (each twelve feet high and as big as a car) with carvings of the Apostles
used to sit in alcoves. It took the artist over a decade to complete the ornate
carvings, so when Prohibition was passed he attempted to smuggle them out of
the country. The barrels were loaded on a train, but when the train arrived the
barrels were gone. The artist never recovered them and they are missing to this
day.
Another good story was about a local seminary. When the
company shut down, one of the distilleries was given to the priests for the
making of sacramental wine. When the new proprietors tried to restart Stone
Hill, they contacted the priests and discovered they still had it. The company
tried to buy it, but the priests insisted they take it for free so it could
return to its original home where they felt it belonged.
After the tour was the obligatory wine tasting. We
abstained, but the sampler guy emptied a couple of bottles of the non-alcoholic
grape juices for us. Very generous of him, since the tour only cost $2.50. It
was so good we bought a bottle to take home.
As we drove away, Laura mused about how Prohibition
destroyed the livelihoods of an entire town overnight. I think even the
sternest teetotaler has to have some empathy for the folks who watched as
strangers came to their fields and tore up the vines they had nursed for
generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment