Nick Pehle holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Systems Management and Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia. After graduating in 2000, Nick began his career in the vineyard at Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport, Missouri and was quickly promoted to Vineyard Manager in 2001. Also in 2001 Nick started his own 20 acre wine grape vineyard in Etlah, Missouri which he owns and operates with his wife Stephanie and three children. In 2007 Nick joined Stone Hill Winery’s viticulture team as Assistant Vineyard Manager. He was promoted to Vineyard Manager in 2010 and managed a staff of twenty two and oversaw more than 200 acres of premium wine grapes in Missouri Wine Country, consisting of 12 different grape varieties spread among seven Hermann-area vineyards. Along the way Nick started Midwest Vineyard Consulting, where he now works full time helping growers fulfill their dreams of being in the vineyard industry and producing premium wine grapes.
Nick has worked with varieties such as Norton, Chambourcin, Vidal, Vignoles, Traminette, Catawba, Vincent, Valvin Muscat, Chardonel, Cayuga, Vivant and Concord, with each variety presenting unique viticultural challenges. Nick has met those challenges head on, applying over a decade of viticulture knowledge, engineering expertise, and proficiency with vineyard mechanization systems. Including pruning, shoot thinning, fruit thinning, shoot positioning, leaf thinning and harvesting. His efforts and dedication have paid off with consistently high quality wine grapes, improved labor efficiencies and vineyard expansions earning him praise and respect from his clients, employers, peers and staff. Nick has been a guest speaker at wine grape growing conferences around the country including Viticulture 2010, Wineries Unlimited, Justin Morris Vineyard Mechanization Workshop, Iowa Grape and Wine Conference, Unified 2017, ASEV and regular lectures at Mizzou.
In Nick’s free time he enjoys four wheeling his family, target shooting and working on the family farm.
“My highest objective in a vineyard is balance. There are countless and continually changing variables in the vineyard, that all must be balanced to produce high quality wine grapes.”