Pinot Noir at the Estate and the Road to a Best of Class Designation!

The Road to an Award-Winning Wine, From Grape to Bottle:
In 2009, the owners of Johnson Estate, Fred and Tony Johnson, began to plant a series of vinifera vineyards with traditional Germanic grapes - Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir - which would permit the Estate to expand its selection of European Classic wines.
                      
Why is Pinot Noir Our Most Spoiled Child in the Vineyards?
Pinot Noir is a red grape variety of the Vitis vinifera vine species which originated in France. Pinot means "pine cone"  in French. Here's how the Wine Spectator describes this grape variety:

• Pinot Noir’s grape skins are black and thin, and Pinot Noir vines prefer cooler climates with long growing seasons. Pinot Noir is considered a delicate, “finicky” grape, requiring more careful attention in the vineyard..... When the gamble of growing Pinot Noir pays off, the vines produce grapes with great potential to create wines with complex, concentrated and layered flavors.

As a good description of this grape, it is understandable that the best quality Pinot Noir grapes are those that have been treated like "spoiled children" in the vineyards. Winemaker Jeff Murphy and Owner Fred Johnson had decided to plant three different clones, each offering different characteristics that would enhance the wine's body, texture, and flavors. Today, the Estate now grows two clones: "preccoce" and "777", a Dijon clone. The first harvest of Estate-grown Noir was in 2017. Winemaker Jeff Murphy introduced the Estate's Dry Rose of Pinot Noir in 2018 and the Brut in 2019.

The Estate's Pinot Noir vineyards do receive a great deal of attention from the farm team: hand-pruning in the winter, assiduous attention to nutrition and spray protocols, de-leafing and de-fruiting, by hand, in the summer, to provide the highest quality grapes possible. When the grapes are determined to be optimally ripe by Winemaker Jeff, the grapes are then hand-picked by the farm staff. In doing these things, the average tons per acre dropped from about five tons to the acre to three tons. These protocols were seriously followed in 2022 and resulted in the harvest of very good quality grapes which is the basis of good quality wines. 

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PARAGRAPH TO COME FROM WINEMAKER JEFF MURPHY - Making an Award-Winning Wine

And the good result from "spoiling this vineyard"? Johnson Estate's 2022 Pinot Noir was named
      Best of Class, Double Gold, 2024 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition!

It has also been award two other GOLD medals:
90 Points, GOLD, 2024 Beverage Testing Institute
90 Points, GOLD, 2024 New York Wine Classic

Read more about Pinot Noir - Wine Spectator1 and Wine Spectator2

Oct 31, 2024 at 4:00 PM Permalink

Don't Worry- It's just a small detour!

To all our visitors coming from the west:

Do not be alarmed if you see a notice for US-20 closure at the NY-PA border.
The detour only adds 40 seconds to your trip!

If you are already on I-90 in Pennsylvania, proceed as you normally would, exiting at the first exit in NY (Shortman Rd).  Go right on Shortman Road for ½ mile until it ends at US-20 then go left on US 20 for 7 miles until you reach Johnson Estate on your right.

If you are coming along US- 20 in PA, then  get on Eastbound I-90 at the State Line (this is the detour) and proceed to Shortman Rd and to us as above.

This detour will be in effect for at least another year as the bridge over the 200’ deep Twenty Mile Creek gorge has been deemed in need of replacement.

Aug 12, 2024 at 7:35 AM Permalink

Summer! Celebrate with SIX Sparkling Wines

   
Brut: Handcrafted in the traditional "méthode champenoise" from our own estate-grown Pinot Noir (75%) and Chardonnay (25%) grapes. Elegant effervescence releases soft notes of freshly baked bread that mingle with aromas of green apple, fresh berries, and white peach.  Clean, lasting finish with hints of mineral and slate. This new release from Winemaker Jeff Murphy dances on the palate.

Brut Rosé: In this exciting new release, hand-picked Pinot Noir grapes are lightly pressed to produce a beautiful traditional method rosé sparkling wine. Fresh aromas of strawberry and raspberry lead to a balanced palate full of fresh watermelon and even more berries. Finishes dry, crisp, and clean.

Sparkling Traminette: Handcrafted in the traditional "méthode champenoise" from our own estate-grown Traminette grapes. Bright and fruity with intense aromas of passion fruit, guava and rose. The palate is crisp yet smooth with hints of citrus and lychee followed by a clean finish. Pairs beautifully with a variety of foods including poultry, fish, smoked fish, fruits, and desserts.

The Queen's Catawba: A sparkling and sweet wine with traditional tart Catawba flavors. 

King Ives: We've added bubbles to our classic Ives to produce a beautifully aromatic wine with notes of ripe grape, cotton candy, and fresh flowers. The palate explodes with more grapes and hints of ripe berries. Carbonation enhances the experience and provides a unique pink foam to be pondered.

May Wine: First released in the spring of 2016, Johnson Estate’s May Wine is a semi-dry (residual sugar of 2.5%) and bubbly wine made from Vidal Blanc grapes and delicately flavored with an infusion of sweet woodruff. Winemaker Jeff Murphy was inspired by Germany's annual celebration of May Day – where the festivities include "MaiWein" or wine punch, including one that features white wine, strawberries, and the shade-loving dried herb, sweet woodruff. 

May 29, 2024 at 8:51 AM Permalink

What's Sweet Woodruff?

The Story Behind Johnson Estate's May Wine
Johnson Estate is located in a special microclimate along the shores of Lake Erie, similar to that found in Germany.  As a result, the grapes grown and wine made in Germany - Rieslings, Pinot Noir, and ice ones - are exactly the ones which also do well here in western New York.

Johnson Estate's Winemaker Jeff Murphy, travels to Europe every year or two and often comes back with some new insights or "discoveries" which are utilized in our products or events.  These have included: the terracotta bottles used for our Ruby Port and Cream Sherry; the glass corks manufactured in Germany and now used on our Freelings Creek wines, and the idea of serving "Fedderweiser", a partially fermented grape juice, for a fall Riesling celebration. 

May Day in Germany
In Germany, spring festivities feature "Maiwein", or white wine punches with strawberries and a handful of the shade-loving herb, sweet woodruff (shown here, behind the bottle, just emerging for spring).  Jeff was inspired by the annual celebration of May Day in Germany to create Johnson Estate’s own May Wine, using estate-grown Vidal Blanc wine and an infusion of dried sweet woodruff.  This sparkling May Wine was first released in 2016 and since the "experiment" was so well-liked, production was doubled the following year.  Our current plan is to release, each spring, a limited vintage of this special wine.    .

But What is Sweet Woodruff?
Galium Odoratum
In Germany, sweet woodruff is called “Waldmeister” or the “Master of the Woods”.  It is a spring blooming perennial plant which thrives in moist woodland shade.  In the Middle Ages, it was known as an herbal medicine since the dried leaves contain coumarin and infusions were used as a spring tonic and even as an aphrodisiac.  When dried, the herb has the long-lasting scent of freshly mown grass and vanilla.  The dried herb has been used for centuries as a strewing herb, for pot pourri or as a perfume ingredient, as a tonic in tea, and an ingredient in German May Wine or a punch made with white wine, this herb, and strawberries – to celebrate the coming of spring.

See May Wine product listing.

Apr 15, 2024 at 5:58 AM Permalink

The Second

 
On February 3, we were able to harvest some Vidal Blanc ice wine grapes, which had been netted in the fall. While farm staff harvested the Chambourcin on Boxing Day, December 26th, the Vidal was left for the next cold spell.....which finally came on February 3rd.
J
 

Feb 9, 2024 at 1:11 PM Permalink

"The event is virtual, the food is real". January 25th - Peking Duck & Wine Pairings

One of Johnson Estate's first virtual tasting events during the pandemic took place in December 2020. Organized with the Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University, the virtual tasting featured two businesses owned by Cornell alumni (wines and duck!). It was such a great evening, all done remotely via zoom along with Tasty Duck's owners, that there have been requests for a repeat.

So here we go! 
January 25th 7:00-8:30pm
Celebrating the Lunar New Year with Peking Duck & Wines from Johnson Estate

More details are found on Cornell's website HERE.

Dec 22, 2023 at 6:50 PM Permalink

The Perfect Christmas Gift - Legends of the Chautauqua-Erie Grape Belt

Dear Reader,
This just-released, highly-illustrated 132-page book is a perfect Christmas gift from Western NY.  Most especially for those who have happy memories of living in this region, where October's grape aromas are an essential part of fall, and whose grape industry also created the beautiful agricultural vistas of vineyards and the historic villages that line Route 20, creating a special sense of place.

Located in the center of the world's largest Concord grape belt, Johnson Estate's story is included in this book.

It was when I was in my early thirties, that I realized that I was drawn to historic buildings and landscape architecture, which together create a "sense of place". Every time my husband, Fred Johnson, and I moved, I wanted to find an old house and enjoy that city’s unique sense of place. And when we lived in Australia, I was able to complete a master’s degree in historic preservation.  Fred and I like to tell this "quick" story to guests: “We have been married for over 41 years and Fred's career, working for international food companies including Frito-Lay and Chiquita Banana, explains why our son was born in Australia and our daughter in Canada. It explains why they learned Spanish on a banana plantation in Panama.  And why our move to the Johnson family farm and winery in 2013 after our children had finished college, was move number fourteen.  We have now lived in WNY longer than anywhere else.”

After moving into the 200-year-old farmhouse next door to the winery, I discovered the WNY Heritage Magazine, and quickly began to appreciate the region’s unique sense of place. I learned that it was the generations of families who had worked in the grape industry - growing, processing, or delivering grapes - who had created its unparalleled and beautiful agricultural vistas of vineyards and the historic villages along the shores of Lake Erie.  I loved having issues of the magazine with John Thomas Slater’s articles about the region in the Tasting Room – even if that meant purchasing 200 copies for Wine Club members, visitors to the winery, and travel writers! As a result, I was happy to join Author John Thomas Slater and Editor/Publisher, Doug DeCroix, in supporting the publication of this special book of the region's stories and making it available to our growers, residents, and visitors.

The book is the result of over a decade of collaborative research by a network of dedicated historians and archivists working with author John Thomas Slater. This special publication, of 132 pages, shares the rich and evocative stories of the vineyards, farms, wineries and people that have made up this unique viticultural region since the early 1800s. 

So, open a bottle, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy these stories about "our special place".

Jennifer Johnson

Nov 25, 2023 at 8:52 AM Permalink

Estate's Sparkling Traminette - Selected for 2023 Alumni Wine Collection - Cornell Alumni Affairs

Warm Regards,
Fred Johnson (Cornell '75 & MBA '77) & Jennifer (MBA '79)

The Johnson Family - Four Generations at Cornell

It's easy to write that title, but it's challenging to summarize a 100+ year old story that begins with an orphan from England who entered Cornell in the fall of 1895 after immigrating from Canada. The Cornell Alumni Magazine does it well in this article:  "It Began with a Cornellian".

Nov 9, 2023 at 1:49 PM Permalink

Johnson Estate - a New Harvest Host & A Small World Story

Yes, Johnson Estate has just become a Harvest Host for those traveling in RVs.
This was recommended by a customer this summer.  Signing up in late August was a simple and straightforward exercise and led to quick reservations by those traveling through Western NY.

And here's the Small World Story (I think that there must be many in the RV world):
Jennifer's brother, Skip Schroeder, has an RV and is now travelling with his wife, heading west from Virginia. Two days ago, they were parking their RV in Louisville, Kentucky and a neighboring RV pulled in from NYS. Naturally, the two RV owners began to talk. The NY couple was from the Buffalo area. And of course, my brother asked if they knew a small town called Westfield.And their answer:

"Of course we know Westfield. That's where our favorite winery, Johnson Estate Winery, is located.
In fact, we have some Johnson Estate wine in the RV - would you like to come and have a glass?"

Here's a toast to your small world stories as you travel!

Jennifer & Fred Johnson
 

Sep 15, 2023 at 5:58 AM Permalink

FLIGHT

FLIGHT, Outdoor Tasting Venue

  
Open in September and

Sep 15, 2023 at 5:51 AM Permalink