
October 3, 2023
ALGOMA – General Manager Anthony Bilwin said von Stiehl Winery – located at 115 Navarino St. in Algoma – has amassed hundreds of awards over the years since it started in 1967.
But the most recent recognition from the 2023 USA Wine Ratings International Competition, Bilwin said, really holds weight.
The Algoma-based winery submitted a variety of wines – all scoring high marks and taking home a gold and six silver medals.
Its 2019 Soaring Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, however, was recognized as one of the top wines at the competition, scoring 90 out of 100 points.
The scores, Bilwin said, are based on quality, value and packaging, with each criteria having specific measures.
He said a wine’s overall score is an average of the three categories.
Quality – Is it varietally correct, for example, if it’s a cabernet does it taste like a cabernet from the area where the grapes were sourced? Does it hold the characteristics of the fruit? Is it barrel-aged, over-oaked or under-oaked?Value – Is it priced accordingly – not over or underpriced?Packaging – Overall, what does the bottle or capsule and label look like?
“The Soaring Eagle Cabernet is an incredible showing of true artisanship from a Wisconsin Winery…,” he said. “This cabernet is a testament to how good wine made in Wisconsin can be.”
Bilwin said all the wines submitted by von Stiehl for the competition scored 85 points or higher.
“To have a broad set of wines rated in such a tight grouping, and several so close to breaking the 90-point barrier, it goes to show the knowledge, the pursuit of excellence and attention to detail we take in making our wines,” he said.
Wiser with age
Bilwin said he knows age makes a difference when it comes to wine – the same, he said, can be said about the folks behind the wine.
“We’re the oldest licensed winery in the state,” he said. “(We) have an obligation to teach and help others. We work with a lot of wineries throughout the state.”
Bilwin said the team at von Stiehl does what it can to provide guidance to other wineries, through the knowledge it has obtained over the years.
“It’s cool when we can help somebody (and watch them succeed),” he said.
Bilwin said von Stiehl doesn’t look at it as competition.
“What we see is we’re helping an industry grow, the Midwest wineries,” he said.
Originally from the East Coast, Bilwin – who has been with von Stiehl for three years – said in general, Wisconsin is 10-15 years behind national trends.
“Moving here, you see the trends that are behind,” he said. “Wisconsin is its own thing. So, what’s been accepted as the norm elsewhere is just starting to catch here.”
For example, Bilwin said, there’s been a lot of growth in Midwest wineries since the early 2000s.
“Wisconsin only had about 20 wineries give or take and now you’ve got more than 140 and most of them are hobby wineries,” he said.
Part of that, Bilwin said, is due to the allure that comes with a winery.
“Some people love the romance of owning a winery,” he said. “(von Stiehl) knows several winery owners who bought the winery because they wanted the romance of it. They hire a team to manage it for them. So, it’s slowly getting to be more acceptable, beyond just beer and the old fashioned.”
With continued growth of the industry in the Badger State, Bilwin said, is reason enough to help guide others.
“That’s the way we look at it,” he said. “The more we can help produce good wine the more we can attract tourists.”
Bilwin said much of it is about continuously building a customer base, both from locals and tourists.
All seven wines von Stiehl entered in the competition had scores ranging from 86 to 90. Submitted Photo
“The more wineries that are there, that’s a good thing,” he said.
Bilwin said tourists aren’t coming just for their wines, but rather for the Door County region as a whole.
“They’re coming from Minnesota – the Twin Cities,” he said. “There’s a large contingent from Chicago and Iowa, south of the Madison region. And they’re going up to their cottage for the weekend or week.”
Bilwin said von Stiehl is positioned perfectly for stopping on the way up the peninsula, and the way home.
The Viking Cruise Ships – which stopped in the area eight times this season – and the Hanseatic Inspiration – which brought foreign passengers to the Algoma area – help further the reach of von Stiehl.
“We also have all these parks and campgrounds and all this stuff that draws a whole different set of tourism,” he said. “Which are things, I think, we take for granted because we’re right here. It’s a good influx of people.”
Winning big
Though von Stiehl has held its own in Wisconsin for the last five-plus decades, being recognized as the best at an international competition is a big deal – not just for von Stiehl, but for the wine industry in the state.
“The Wisconsin wine industry started literally in this building with sweet cherry wine and sweet apple wine,” he said. “We’ve evolved from just fruit wine into the single varietal vinifera wines.”
The competition, Bilwin said, is an international competition.
“You’re seeing things from Italy, France and some of the heavy hitters in the U.S.,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who put wine into this competition.”
So, entering the competition, Bilwin said, serves as “benchmarks for our winemakers.”
“It shows we are paying attention to detail, and we want to be the best at what we do,” he said. “It also helps put wine made in Wisconsin on the map – because here’s these little guys in the middle of nowhere, in Algoma, Wisconsin, pumping out high 80s, low 90 point wine. That’s not seen in this state.”
Bilwin said the awards solidify Wisconsin as a region that has good wine production.
“It’s almost like firing a gun – you’re looking for the tight grouping on the target,” he said. “And that’s what we got out of this competition.”
All seven wines von Stiehl entered, Bilwin said, ranged in scores from 86 to 90.
“So, you have a four-point gap – that’s huge, in a good way,” he said.
Bilwin said the high marks highlights von Stiehl’s attention to detail and the passion for quality the winery prides itself on.
He said it also means the relationship with fruit brokers gets better every year.
“They understand what we’re looking for,” he said. “Which helps grow not just grapes, but relationships that will, in turn, grow the Wisconsin wine region.”
Bilwin said it’s a community win-win for all involved in the industry.
He said it also helps put Door County on the wine map.
“There are many wineries (in Door County) and most of us have our own vineyards,” he said. “I think more and more people are waking up to that in a way… We live in the dairy capital of the U.S., and now you’ve got the wineries, producing wines that pair well with cheese. So, it goes hand in hand.”
The wines that took home silver medals at the competition include: Chardonnay, Sierra Foothills Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, 2022 Albariño, Albariño and Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
All prize-winning wines, as well as all other von Stiehl varieties, are available at the winery.
Check out vonstiehl.com for more information.