Hermann Wine Country & Ste. Genevieve French Colonial Village

Missouri's oldest winery and the second largest in the nation at its peak in the 1850s and 1860s — Stone Hill shipped wine to the 1873 Vienna World's Fair and won more gold medals than any other winery. Prohibition closed it in 1920; it was converted to a mushroom farm until new owners revived winemaking in 1965. The 19th-century stone cellars — seven vaulted arched rooms carved into the hillside — are now the tasting facility. Norton (Missouri's state grape, a native American hybrid) and Vignoles are the signature varieties.

The German Settlement Society of Philadelphia founded Hermann in 1836 as a deliberate German cultural preserve — a planned city intended to keep German language and culture alive in America. Deutschheim State Historic Site preserves two original German immigrant properties: the Pommer-Gentner House (1840) and the Strehly House (1842-46), with the winery cellar that still serves as the site's wine production area. The Hermann Historic District's 19th-century commercial blocks are almost fully intact; the town was virtually untouched by later development because its economy never grew large enough to justify demolition.

Hermannhof occupies the 1852 Hermann Wurst Haus building and its network of stone cellars — ten original cellars now used for aging and tasting. The Missouri River bends below Hermann; the bluff above the winery gives one of the best river views in the state. The riverfront park below provides a walkable afternoon before the evening, with views of the railroad bridge and the limestone bluffs on the opposite bank.

An 1886 brick hotel on Market Street in downtown Hermann — recently restored with updated rooms while keeping the original structure. Walking distance from both wineries and the Deutschheim site. Ste. Genevieve is 90 minutes southeast on MO-19 tomorrow.

The oldest permanent European settlement west of the Mississippi River — founded around 1750 by French colonial settlers from Illinois country, Ste. Genevieve was the main crossing point for the Mississippi River and the center of lead mining operations in early Missouri. The national historical park (designated 2018) encompasses six properties including the Bolduc House (the best-preserved French Creole poteaux-en-terre structure in North America — vertical logs set directly in the ground, a construction technique brought from France and rarely surviving elsewhere), the Amoureux House (1792), and the Linden House. The NPS visitor center on Main Street has an introductory film and walking tour maps.

The Bolduc House (c. 1770) is the most significant surviving example of French Creole colonial architecture in North America — a white-walled structure with a distinctive hip roof extending over a surrounding gallery, built using the poteaux-sur-sole (posts on a wooden sill) technique. Louis Bolduc was a successful lead miner and merchant; the house is furnished with 18th-century French Canadian pieces. The adjacent Felix Valle State Historic Site (1818 Federal-style stone house) shows the transition from French colonial to American commercial culture after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase changed the town's character.

Use the afternoon to explore a different side of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park — there's more to discover beyond the morning highlights.