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Hermann is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in northern portion of Gasconade and Franklin Counties on the southern banks of the Missouri River. It was established on August 18, 1983, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Jim Bias, president of Bias Vineyards & Winery, and Jim Held, president of Stone Hill Wine Co., on behalf of local vintners proposing the viticultural area in central Missouri, along the Missouri River, known as "Hermann." The wine appellation is named after the town of Hermann, about halfway between St. Louis and Jefferson City. The AVA expands across the northernmost hills of the Ozark Plateau with many of the of vineyards planted along south-facing slopes. As of 2007, seven wineries were sourcing grapes in the appellation, including Missouri's largest winery, Stone Hill Winery. The area is a flood plain with alluvial soil deposits up to deep. Growing conditions have been compared to those in southern and eastern German wine. The hardiness zone is 6a. A wide variety of grapes are grown in Hermann, including Vitis vinifera, Vitis labrusca, and .
Winemaking and viticulture were quickly established in Hermann and by 1852 there were more than planted to grape vines. Several modern Hermann wineries can trace their origins to this period. Stone Hill's cellars were constructed in 1847, the Hermanhoff Winery was founded in 1852 and Adam Puchta Winery, in 1855, was founded by immigrants from Oberkotzau, Bavaria who had struck gold during the California Gold Rush before returning to Hermann. At the turn of the 20th century, Stone Hill Winery was the third largest winery in the world, producing over of wine and achieving favorable results at international wine competitions.
Prohibition in the United States completely wiped out the commercial wine industry in Hermann. The large underground cellars of Stone Hill Winery were converted to mushroom farms and most of the vineyards were uprooted and planted with corn, oat, wheat and barley. After the Repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the Great Depression and World War II, it was several decades until the Hermann wine industry recovered when the original wineries reopened: Stone Hill in 1965, Hermannhof in 1974 and Adam Puchta in 1989. Today, there is around under vine with the Hermann Wine Trail as the primer enotourism guide of the Missouri Rhineland.
The region also produces a wide variety of wine styles ranging from sweet late harvest dessert wines and fortified wines, including port-style and solera made sherry-style wines to drier still red, white and rosés. Many fruit wines are also produced, usually from cherry, strawberry or raspberries.
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