The Secret to May Wine? 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. Sweet Woodruff was added to the estate gardens along one of our shaded stone pathways in the spring of 2016. To this day, the "Master of the Woods" lines the path with beautiful white flowers every May. 

Limited quanities of each years vintage of May Wine are available, visit our tasting room or 
See the May Wine product listing to get your bottle. 

May 5, 2025 at 5:58 AM Permalink

Los Angeles International Wine Competition Results

Johnson Estate Wines Shined at the 2025 Los Angeles International Wine Competition 

In April, our winemaker, Jeff Murphy traveled to Los Angeles CA to participate as a judge the 2025 Los Angeles International Wine Competition. The roots of this competition date back to 1922 and it is recognized as a standard in the wine industry. This year, the benefits of our Estate tradition of controlling the winemaking process from bud to bottle were on full display. 

Leading our wines in LA this year, was our 2023 Niagara which was awarded BEST OF CLASS Gold 94 Points. We are proud to say that our Niagara wine is grown & bottled here in the Lake Erie Wine Country. 

Four other wines also received Gold Medals: 

• GOLD MEDAL Riesling, Sweet, Reserve, Lake Erie 2023
• GOLD MEDAL Red Blend, House Red, Lake Erie
• GOLD MEDAL Chambourcin, Reserve, Freeling Creek Lake Erie 2022
• GOLD MEDAL Riesling, Dry, Reserve, Lake Erie 2023

In total, 21 of our wines were awarded either Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medals. These results are a direct result of the hard work and expertise of our team at Johnson Estate Winery. Below is the full list of medal winners from the competition. We welcome you to come to the winery and taste these wines for yourself! 

• BEST OF CLASS, GOLD MEDAL - 94 Points Niagara, Niagara, Lake Erie 2023
• GOLD MEDAL Riesling, Sweet, Reserve, Lake Erie 2023
• GOLD MEDAL Red Blend, House Red, Lake Erie
• GOLD MEDAL Chambourcin, Reserve, Freeling Creek Lake Erie 2022
• GOLD MEDAL Riesling, Dry, Reserve, Lake Erie 2023
• SILVER MEDAL Chardonnay, Bright Steel, Reserve, Lake Erie 2023
• SILVER MEDAL Concord, Lake Erie 2023
• SILVER MEDAL Riesling, Semi Dry, Reserve, Lake Erie 2022
• SILVER MEDAL Sherry, Old Oak Gold, Lake Erie
• SILVER MEDAL Port, Ruby, Old Oak Port, Lake Erie
• SILVER MEDAL Brut, Reserve, Lake Erie 2020
• SILVER MEDAL Icewine, Vidal Blanc, Lake Erie 2023
• SILVER MEDAL Delaware, Delaware, Liebestropfchen, Lake Erie 2023
• SILVER MEDAL Pinot Noir, Reserve, Lake Erie 2022
• SILVER MEDAL Red Blend, Lake Effect Red, Lake Erie (Available at Retail Partners)
• SILVER MEDAL Sparkling Wine, Sparkling Traminette, Reserve, Lake Erie 2022
• SILVER MEDAL White Blend, Lake Effect White, Lake Erie (Available at Retail Partners)
• SILVER MEDAL Icewine, Chambourcin, Lake Erie 2023
• BRONZE MEDAL Chardonnay, Toasted Oak, Reserve, Lake Erie 2022
• BRONZE MEDAL Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, American 2021
• BRONZE MEDAL Marechal Foch, Marechal Foch, Reserve, Lake Erie 2022

May 3, 2025 at 7:35 AM Permalink

NEW 2025: The Estate Tours: Vineyards, Gardens, & More

       
Over the years, Johnson Estate has hosted many different events available to its customers - ranging from vineyard walks (self-guided and guided), brunches, lunches, grape picking, Riesling pairing nights, and various dinners. This year, we've decided to offer, at 10am on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, The Estate Tour - VIneyards, Gardens, and more:

The Estate Tour is the "ultimate experience" at Johnson Estate - a small-group "behind the scenes" tour of the Estate and the winery. It starts with a walk through the winery warehouse followed by a 2-mile walk which starts in the farmhouse gardens and proceeds to the vineyards, where we grow thirteen varieties of grapes. After the tour, enjoy the beautiful scenery and a breakfast charcuterie board with a sparkling Mimosa or Bellini - or just a glass of sparkling May Wine with strawberries - at FLIGHT, our outdoor tasting area.

Here's a recent Trip Advisor review:
A positively delightful Sunday morning limited audience winery tour followed by tastings and food pairings. Goes way beyond the standard wine trail storefront visit. We reserved and paid for the tickets online in advance, and what a fantastic and worthwhile experience it turned out to be!" -
$50 per person* everything is included in this exclusive package!
*$40 for Wine Club Members

For more information and reservations, visit our Event Calendar.

Apr 5, 2025 at 5:12 AM Permalink

International Riesling Day - We're Celebrating.

 

Our Germanic microclimate and "terroir" is perfect for Rieslings.
And Johnson Estate now has four Rieslings in its portfolio.
Have you tried them all?

---

WHEN DID WE FIRST PLANT RIESLING VINES AT JOHNSON ESTATE?

Riesling vines were first planted at Johnson Estate beginning in 2008. Winemaker Jeff Murphy and Owner Fred Johnson selected the particular Riesling vines, after having done their homework on which vines might be the most productive and happy here in Western New York on the ancient shores of Lake Erie (or Lake Whittelsy). The Rieslings were planted on 3309 root stock, which enabled the vines to grow through the shale soil and to develop deep roots on the edge of the ridge, giving the vines a little bit of protection from the colder temperatures that can impact the vines located below that slope during very cold winters.

---

FOUR ESTATE RIESLINGS - FROM DRY TO SWEET
And Awards & Recognition

Mar 7, 2025 at 6:31 PM Permalink

Johnson Estate - Harvest Hosts

Recommended by a customer in 2023, we signed up as a harvest host in late August. Since joining, we have had the pleasure of hosting hundreds of RVers from across the country here in the heart of Lake Erie Wine Country. We are happy to provide two scenic RV locations within walking distance of our historic tasting room and outdoor tasting venue FLIGHT.

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 traveling with his wife, heading west from Virginia. Two days prior, 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. 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?"

How to join Harvest Hosts and Stay at Johnson Estate Winery

To book a reservation to stay at Johnson Estate Winery you need to be a member of Harvest Hosts. You can learn more about joining Harvest Hosts on their website. Once you're a member, you can book one-night reservations for free at Johnson Estate Winery by visiting our profile.

"Convenient location, good wine, and level gravel parking for your RV. Friendly atmosphere in the tasting room and lots of local sites to see and places to eat. A great place to see sunsets down the road at the Barcelona lighthouse. A great stay." Dennis C (Harvest Host Member)

We look forward to meeting you, here's a toast to your small-world stories as you travel!

Jennifer & Fred Johnson
 

Mar 5, 2025 at 5:58 AM Permalink

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. 

       ​

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 awarded two other GOLD medals:
90 Points, GOLD, 2024 Beverage Testing Institute
90 Points, GOLD, 2024 New York Wine Classic

Click to purchase a bottle of Pinot Noir

To read more about Pinot Noir you can visit 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

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