Adam Puchta Winery
1947 Frene Creek Road
Hermann, MO 65041
573-486-5596
www.adampuchtawine.com
Farming and grape growing have played a major role in the Puchta family history. Many traditions and customs can be traced back to John Henry Puchta, father of Adam. John Henry, a resident of Oberkotzau, Bavaria, Germany, was both a wine grower and a butcher in his native land. His first wife passed away in 1832 leaving John Henry alone to raise two small children, John Adam and Friedrick. John Henry married Mary Schultheisz in 1833 and in the following years an additional eight children were born to the Puchtas - three in Germany and the rest in America. Wanting a fresh start, the Puchta family packed their belongings and sailed to America to put down roots near Hermann, Missouri.
John Adam was Born in Oberkotzau, Germany in 1831. In 1852, perhaps in the spirit of adventure, John Adam and his brother, Friedrick, drove a team of oxen to California. Adam remained in the California gold fields for approximately two years. After returning to Missouri, Adam married Clementine Riefenstahl, daughter of George Riefenstahl, one of the first 17 settlers of the town of Hermann.
The original 600 acre farm was owned by John Henry, Adam's father. Adam purchased a portion of that tract from his father's acreage and cleared the land for farming and grape growing. In 1855 he established the Adam Puchta & Son Wine Company.
Disaster struck in 1858 when Clementine died. The following year Adam married Clementine's sister, Bertha Riefenstahl, the first female child born in Hermann. Bertha and Adam had two children, Henry John and Clementine. Clementine died as a child attesting to the fact of the hardships and sorrows of the early years.
Adam continued to toil the land and wine-making, but found time to become a school director and road master. He, his wife, and family were members of the Evangelical Church.
After Adam's death in 1905, Henry John Puchta, son of Adam, continued the family operation of wine-making along with his son Everett until 1919 when Prohibition closed the winery doors. The family continued to farm the land passing it from generation to generation.
One of Everett's son, Randolph, born in 1928, and Randolph's son Timothy, born in 1956, re-opened Adam Puchta Winery in 1990. In 1994 Randolph and Eunice Puchta were recognized by the Missouri Century Farm Club as their family having contributed to local, state, national and international agriculture by owning and operating the same Missouri farm for 100 years or more.
Tucked in the valley near Frene Creek, Adam Puchta Winery is once again producing fine wines of world class stature with the ambiance of old family tradition. In the last 3 years our wines have had the distinction of earning 80 medals in state, national, and international competitions. In the year 2000, our 1997 Estate Bottled Norton received the Governor's Cup of Missouri, our state's highest honor. As you drive over the wooden plank bridge and round the bend, one notices the peaceful surroundings touched by the past and present. The original Puchta homestead houses our gift shop and tasting room.
Adam Puchta Winery remains the oldest and continuously owned farm family winery within the state and one of only a handful in the United States that date back to Pre-Prohibition days.
Summer Hours: Monday thru Saturday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm; Sundays 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Winter Hours: Monday thru Saturday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm; Sundays 11:00 am – 5::00 pm.
Closed: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
