Historic Missouri Wine Country is home to some of the oldest wineries in the state, many of which are housed in historic buildings and offer tours and tastings that provide a glimpse into the region’s rich wine-making history.

Have you ever explored the wine country in Missouri? Yes, you read that right.

Travel two-lane roads into the southwest corner of St. Charles County and you’ll arrive at a place where history, nature, art, and award-winning wine all come together to create a treasured destination, Historic Missouri Wine Country.

Overshadowed by the chardonnays of northern California’s wine country and the pinot noirs of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, it is an oft-hushed secret that the roots of North America’s wine industry lie east of the Rocky Mountains from a time when Napa hadn’t even been dreamed of.

With the biggest pre-Prohibition wine-producing region being New York, the second was perhaps in an even more unexpected locale:

A midwestern Missouri town settled by German immigrants in the early-to-mid 19th century.

The gently rolling hills, rushing rivers, and temperate climate reminded Germans of the valleys of the Rhine, drawing them to settle Hermann, Missouri, which would quickly grow to be one of the country’s most prominent wine-producing regions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.