Press Release

Highest Honor to Wisconsin’s Oldest Winery

Each one of us strives for lifetime accomplishments that define our work and anchor our legacy. For winemaker, Aric Schmiling, one of the highest accomplishable honors has been to skillfully craft a wine to exceed expected enjoyment levels and bring home an award listed with the highest of honors. This year’s Tasters Guild competition evaluated over 1,800 wines from 12 countries and 34 states/provinces using 40 judges from around the country. Judged in the Tasters Guild "International" Competition, von Stiehl’s Stoney Creek Blush attracted the extreme honor of a “Double Gold Medal”. Listed in the "Tasters Guild Journal" are the following notes:

von Stiehl Stoney Creek 2003 Blush, Wisconsin

Aromas of honey, cherry, rich warm loam and spices. Foch flavors of cherry and peel extracts. A wisp of fine grappa adds to the entertainment. Mild, sweet and good, racy fruit acidity. Serve with pork in a sweet cherry sauce.

The Marechal Foch is a hearty French-hybrid grape known to develop well in the short growing season of the Midwest. Von Stiehl has enriched this variety in a cozy 1.5 acre vineyard on the southern edge of Door County. Schmiling is leading the way in Door County grape growing by attaining this impressive award.

Tasters Guild showered von Stiehl’s wines in gold with this competition awarding their Riesling, Oktoberfest, and Cabernet Sauvignon with Gold Medals. The semi-dry Riesling is von Stiehl’s most popular wine, receiving this medal as its eighth Gold. The Oktoberfest, though celebrated more in the fall, is also a favorite as a semi-sweet white blend of three grapes: Vignoles, Riesling, and Gewurztraminer. Cabernet Sauvignon is a medium-bodied vinifera with intense fruit and soft, velvety tannins.

Bringing home a bottle’s weight in medals, von Stiehl received two bronze awards on its Blueberry and Robust Red from Tasters Guild. The Oakland Community College dished out numerous awards to Schmiling’s wines including silvers to the Crimson Royale and Wisconsin Cranberry, and bronze medals to the Robust Red, Fume Blanc and Golden Harvest.

Von Stiehl Winery is located at 115 Navarino Street in Algoma and is open seven days a week for tours and tasting from 9am to 5pm.