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Johnson's Estate Wines

The Grapes and The Wines They Make, The Chauteau or Estate Tradition

The Grapes and The Wines They Make, The Chateau or Estate Tradition

Along with the chateau or Estate tradition practiced at Johnson Estate, the owners’ philosophy is to only grow grapes which do well in the western New York’s Germanic-like micro-climate and as necessary, to purchase varieties that would be difficult to cultivate or ripen in this climate. The Estate has 110-acres of vineyards representing eleven types of grapes. Smaller quantities of merlot and cabernet sauvignon are purchased for our Freelings Creek vinifera wines. For example, Johnson Estate purchases Merlot from Long Island, whose climate provides 30 more summer days, needed to ripen these grapes thoroughly.

The Varietals

Johnson Estate grows four Labrusca and six French-American Hybrid and one Vinifera variety on the farm today. Labruscas are varietals with their origin in North America, while The French-American Hybrids are cross hybrids of Labruscas and European Viniferas.

Cabernet Sauvignon

We purchase the grapes from select lake Erie and Long Island Growers. It is a vigorous but small producer which develops late in the season. It flourishes on most types of soil, consistently showing its style and quality. The grape cluster is cylindrical-conical, made up of small round berries, very black in color. Used in wines: Freelings Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

Chambourcin

Makes an excellent dry wine also used as a fantastic Icewine. Our first wine was released in 2000. The Chambourcin winegrape was developed in France in the late 1800’s by French Scientist Joannes Seyve, who gave it the hybrid number J.S. 26-205. There was only a couple hundred acres planted in the United States in the 1970’s. However, this grape has garnered considerable attention starting in the late 1980’s and may now be the most widely planted red cultivar. Chambourcin usually yields good crops of small navy blue berries with long, loosely clustered bunches that pripen rather late during the harvest season. Used in wines: Chambourcin, Ice Wine of Chambourcin

Chancellor

Classic dry red wine grape used a great deal in Europe . Another wine grape developed in France during the late 1800s by scientist Albert Siebel is the Chancellor. As of the late 1980s, France still had nearly 100,000 acres of it still being grown there. As its popularity in France would indicate, Chancellor is a vigorous and fruitful vine that produces excellent dark, rich wines. Its susceptibility to disease, however, especially in hot, moist, and calm locations, limits the Chancellor's successful cultivation in the east to the most ideal areas. Thus the cooling and drying Lake Erie breezes that blow almost continuously over the Johnson Estate result in having perhaps the finest microclimate for growing it in the eastern United States . The grape clusters are long and loose, with medium-sized berries that ripen in midseason. Our dry Chancellor Noir wine has a rich plum-cedar aroma with a dense ruby-violet color that is heavy bodied and lightly oaked. We also use the Chancellor in a couple of our blends, the main one being our Beaujolais-style Chautauqua Rouge. Used in wines: Chancellor, Chautauqua Rouge, House Red, Proprietor’s Red, Port

Chardonnay

We purchase the Chardonnay grapes from select Lake Erie and Fingerlakes growers. Chardonnay is currently the most fashionable white wine variety in the world. It is a fairly vigorous variety. It forms a small, relatively compact, winged-cylindrical cluster of small berries, not as densely closed as that of Pinot Noir. Used in wines: Freelings Creek Chardonnay

Concord

Generally a juice and jam grape, but used here in house wines. This grape was first planted in Chautauqua County in Brocton , NY (10 miles away) by a Baptist deacon named Elijah Fay. He planted his vineyard of wild grapes in 1818. In 1859 Joseph Fay, Elijah's son, opened the first winery. In 1897 there was a surplus of Concord grapes which attracted two dentists from Watkins Glen, NY. By 1913 Doctors Thomas and Charles Welch had made the Concord grape a household name with their "unfermented grape juice" as they called it back then. Soon after that, Westfield became known as the "Grape Juice Capitol of the World." Chautauqua County has the largest concentration of Concord grapes in the world. Used in wines: House Red, Concord , Red Ipocras

Delaware

New York State grape used in our Liebestropfchen and other white wines. The Delaware grape is our most plentiful at just over 40 acres. We use the Delaware as a semi-dry varietal , its also used in our our white-zinfindel-style Chautauqua Blush, and in our very famous late harvest wine, the Liebestropfchen. Of the 22 plus wines we make, the Delaware is in at least a part of up to 8 wines. Used in wines: Delaware , Chautauqua Blanc, Liebestropfchen, Chautauqua Blush, Proprietor’s Red, White Ipocras, Cream Sherry

Ives

Used for sweet reds. There are not many Ives left in the United States . There are several accounts as to the origin of the Ives grape, but there is no question about its dense color and rich grapey flavor. It was introduced by Henry Ives III of Cincinnati , Ohio in 1840 and planted along the banks of the Ohio River during the 1850s. The grand New York State "port" wines (very popular after the repeal of prohibition through the 1960s), were dependent on Ives. Recently, however, the growing of Ives has become very difficult, as it is very susceptible to damage from ever increasing air pollution. Our Ives is a rare and enjoyable treat! Used in wines: Ives, Pink Niagara , Chautauqua Blush, House Red

Marechal Foch

The Marechal Foch winegrape is a widely grown French-American hybrid variety. The vines are vigorous and relatively disease resistant. White Riesling was on of the grandparents in the crossbreeding of Marechal Foch, along with Burgundy 's noble grapes of Gamay and Pinot Noir.

Marechal Foch is used to make a variety of styles of wine, ranging from a light red wine similar to Beaujolais, to more extracted wines with intense dark "inky" purple colour and unique varietal character, to sweet, fortified, port-style wines. Wines made from Marechal Foch tend to have strong acidity, aromas of black fruits and, in some cases, toasted wheat, mocha, fresh coffee, bitter chocolate, vanilla bean, and musk. In the darker variants of the wine a strong gamey nose is also often described.

Merlot

We purchase the Merlot grapes from select Long Island growers. Merlot is a vigorous, productive vine, which buds early, thus rendering it liable to spring frost damage, and ripens earlier than both the Cabernets. The grape cluster is cylindrical and the berries are round, but large and less intensely colored. Used in wines: Freelings Creek Merlot

Niagara

White grape used in house wines. It is also a nice table grape. Niagara is a grape we have only been growing for about 9 years now, and is used exclusively in our House Wines. This yellow-green grape was developed by researchers in Niagara County , NY during the 1860s. Strangely enough, it is a Native American hybrid - a cross between the Concord and Cassady grapes. in wines: Pink Niagara , White Ipocras

The Riesling vine is hardy and resistant to disease and is a relatively shy cropper. It ripens late, but it continues to develop even in fairly cool autumns. Used in wines: Freelings Creek Riesling

Seyval

Most widely used hybrid for white wines. One of our most popular white wine grapes is the Seyval Blanc. This French-American Hybrid was released in 1919 by Bertille Seyval and Victor Villard. This cultivator is considered by many to be one of the finest of the French-Americans. It ripens mid-season to large, compact, conical bunches of slightly elliptical greenish-yellow berries. A well-made Seyval blend can compete favorably with Chardonnay, or Pinot Blanc. Seyval Blanc has become the premier French-American white wine grape in the east as well as in England . Our Seyval Blanc is a crisp, attractively fruity and moderately dry table wine. We very carefully handpick only the best bunches, gently crush and press them, and then put the juice through a slow, cool fermentation. Used in wines: Seyval Blanc, Chautauqua Blanc, Chautauqua Rouge

Traminette

A hybrid of Joannes Seyval 23.416x Gewurztraminer Made by Herb C. Barrett ca. 1965. His intention was to produce a large clustered table grape with the flavor of Gewurztraminer. He sent seed from the cross to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station grape breeding program at Cornell for development. It was found to have excellent wine quality, combined with good productivity, partial resistance to several fungal diseases, and cold hardiness superior to its acclaimed parent, Gewurztraminer, while retaining a similar character. Used in wines: Freelings Creek Traminette

Vidal

White grape used for blending, dry white wines, and our Ice wines. Frenchman J.L. Vidal crossed the famous Trebbiano with another hybrid in Bordeaux in the late 1800s. Vidal Blanc has very long cylindrical clusters almost always shouldered that are tightly packed with small greenish-white berries with dark brown spots. Despite its French origin, the hybrid matures fruit with a rather distinctive German character. We make two German-style white wines with the Vidal Blanc, both very different from each other. The first is our multiple award-winning dry Vidal Blanc, which if you tasted blind could easily be mistaken for a dry Riesling from the Mosel Region in Germany . The other is our famous Vidal Blanc Icewine. We have three rows every year which we leave on the vine until December or early January. After it has been below 15 degrees F for 5 consecutive days we harvest the press the grapes the same day. This assures us that the water in the grape is frozen. Instead of getting our normal 190 gallons/ton we only get about 80 gallons/ton of juice. Used in wines: Vidal Blanc, Vidal Blanc Icewine, Chautauqua Blanc.