The Hermann J. Wiemer Grapevine Nursery
Through forward-thinking exploration as grape growers, we dedicate ourselves to quality plants and plant material in order for you to produce wines of the highest quality and adaptations to your environment.
Operating since 1974, Hermann J. Wiemer Nursery began at the Bernkastel Experiment Station in Mosel, Germany, where Hermann’s father was the director. After moving to the Finger Lakes, Hermann believed the region was well-suited for cool climate Vitis vinifera varieties that would form the foundation of the growing region.
Contact
Events
Conferences 2024 –
- North Carolina Winegrower’s Association Conference, February 8-10, 2024
- Eastern Winery Exposition, Syracuse NY, March 12-24, 2024
- Field Day at Hermann J. Wiemer – Summer 2024
Today , the nursery has grown to one of the country’s leading custom grafting facilities with much more than Riesling. We specialize in regional house varieties like Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Lemberger, while procuring more diversity each year as we are eager to see what continues to grow well in our climate.
Fred Merwarth
Head Winemaker, Vineyard Manager / Co-Owner
Ria D'Aversa
Nursery Administrator
Nanci Aguilera
Vineyard & Nursery Manager
The rootstocks that we grow and graft are best suited for our customer’s climate.
New York State Certification
As grape growers ourselves we know how important it is to select quality plant material, which is why we participate in the New York state certification program for our grapevines.
Working together, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell University and New York grapevine nurseries have created a certification program with the goal of providing virus-tested plant material to our customers. The label of ‘Certified’ is the result of a healthy plant being propagated using procedures to minimize infection and disease spread. In this process, a ‘Mother block’ is planted at our nursery with plants obtained from a ‘Clean Plant Center’ in Prosser WA and Davis CA. We then grow expansion blocks that are monitored with annual laboratory testing by third party inspectors of 25% of each expansion block at Cornell University’s plant virus lab. The vines are tested for: grapevine fanleaf virus, tomato and tobacco ringspot viruses, grapevine leafroll associated viruses and grapevine red blotch virus. 25% of each expansion block is tested every year, meaning 100% of the vines are tested every 4 years.
In 2022 we have limited Certified material and we continue to add more each year. Inquire for more information on which varieties are available. A premium fee is added to Certified grapevines.