Farming & Vineyards | Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard

Since our founding, Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard has approached the health of our vineyards as the most vital component of winemaking.

No Herbicides

To promote the health of our vines, we eliminated the use of all herbicides as of 2004.

Hand-Picking

We hand-pick all estate fruit.

Cover Crops

Soil health is encouraged by a mix of cover crops that trap nitrogen, build biomass, and break up compacted soils.

Beneficial Flora in Adjacent Fields

Planting nearby blocks of wild flowers increases biodiversity and promotes similarly beneficial fauna in our fields.

Through the years this approach has led to focused ecological engagement where we consider the larger needs of our surroundings as well as the specific needs of each vineyard, lot, and even individual vines. We adhere to unique farming methods that focus not solely on our vineyards but on the totality of our farm, promoting biodiversity in adjacent fields, forests, and meadows, while utilizing cover crops, beneficials, and homeopathic teas and preparations. These practices encourage stronger, more resilient vineyards, and in turn better wines.

In 2003, we eliminated the use of all herbicides and synthetic inputs, and instead incorporate cover crops and organic fertilizers. Our next step in sustainable farming was our biodynamic project. In the Summer of 2014, Thijs Verschuuren, who had previously studied and worked in biodynamics in the Loire Valley of France, joined our team and a year later, spearheaded this farming project, committing 14 acres at our HJW property and expanding to the entire 33-acre site over the ensuing years. This project helped us to understand both the effects and efficacy of biodynamic farming and as of 2023 our entire HJW site is Demeter Certified Biodynamic

This list of viticulture practices is only partial as we’re constantly changing and adapting based on the obstacles that nature provides. However, it does showcase a “zoom-out” effect that we often consider here, beginning with an individual vine or bee, and zooming out to encompass the surrounding ecosystem and beyond. Another common theme that we refer to constantly is “health,” whether in reference to yeasts, soils, vines, or ecosystems, we work alongside nature to cultivate resilience in our vineyards. Our goal has been and will continue to be to expand these practices and create wines that reflect the intrinsic compatibility of vineyards and their surroundings.

We farm distinct vineyard sites that lie on the western and eastern slopes of Seneca Lake.

The Vineyard Map at HJW. It is a fixture in our tasting room experience (as a tableside educational tool and quite literally as a 10 foot high centerpiece on the tasting room wall) and a conversation starter to say the least! There are so many factors that contribute to the character of a vineyard and this map strives to present them in an educational and aesthetically pleasing way. We often joke that each time we look at the map, we discover another feature or tidbit of information. Location, elevation, proximity to the lake, vine spacing, varietal, clonal selection, planting orientation, soil type, and acreage are all presented in a conception designed by architect and Cornell University professor, Aleksandr Mergold of the firm Austin & Mergold. Download the map image here.

HJW Vineyard

Our HJW Vineyard features Hermann’s original plantings on Seneca Lake of Riesling and Chardonnay from 1977 and 1978. Mature vines, combined with the site’s shallow topsoil and shale bedrock, produce lower yields, resulting in expressively vibrant flavors. Higher elevation and a greater distance from Seneca Lake contribute to a cooler growing season resulting in leaner, more austere wines with intense flavor and excellent aging potential. In 2009, we planted two more blocks of Riesling, bringing the total acreage to 33. In 2015, we began our venture with biodynamic farming and have converted the entire property. In 2023 we received Demeter Certification for our HJW Vineyard.

Josef Vineyard

The Josef Vineyard is located 10 miles north of our HJW property and home to multiple parcels of old vine Riesling. These mature vines produce wines of intense flavor owed to their lower yields and longer hang times. Josef’s ideal slope, deep soils, and proximity to the lake add further to the site’s potential ripeness. In addition to Riesling, we have plantings of Gruner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer at this site.

Hermann purchased the Dresden property (now our Josef and Magdalena Vineyards) from Taylor Wine Co. in 1998 and began efforts to restore the site. The vineyard was healthy but had been farmed for high yields and years of deferred maintenance meant that there were some problem areas. The vines had been head-trained with high fruiting zones in order to both machine-harvest and machine-prune. In the years following this purchase we repositioned and retrained the trellising system during winter pruning to lower the fruit zone, reduce yields, and promote fewer, but more flavorful clusters. Moreover, we have since worked to address the health of the site through the introduction of natural soil corrections, cover crop usage, and the removal of herbicides (we have been herbicide-free at Wiemer since 2004). The retraining of a vine is crucial, but so are the efforts focused on restoring the health of the soil and the surrounding biosphere.

Magdalena Vineyard

Uniquely situated, our Magdalena Vineyard’s warmth and consistent ripeness shine through in the wines sourced from this site. A beneficial air exchange with Seneca Lake moderates the temperatures, creating a warmer and more protective site in the colder months and a cooling effect throughout the summer. The airflow keeps the vineyard dry, and deep soil provides room for spreading root growth. The lime silt loam soil that the site is celebrated for is crucial to the development of flavor intensity in the grapes.

The Magdalena site was part of Hermann’s 1998 purchase of land from the Taylor Wine Co. He then began planting the site in 1999, beginning with Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir, and continued to add Gewurztraminer, Lemberger, and Cabernet Franc. Though just 10 miles north of our HJW poperty, this site has proven able to ripen and protect varieties that do not thrive in our other vineyard locations and we’ve introduced exploratory measures regarding dense vine spacing, and vineyard orientation to open airflow and increase hang time.