There is always something in our region to celebrate, especially with wine. We’re blessed with one of the best climates to grow some of the world’s greatest grapes for making wine. Our region’s climate is much like Northern France and the South of Germany, which both produce world-renowned wines.
My personal favorite wine producers are ones that contribute to the wine community with the utmost respect. What I mean by this is, grow the grapes or vinifera (the classic grapes) that are well-suited to the climate. Different grape varieties grow better in different regions. Different regions are made up of different micro climates, which have a direct reflection as to how the grapes grow and taste on the vine and in the bottle. Each of these factors influences how the wine smells, looks and tastes.
Johnson Estate winery is the oldest Estate Winery in New York and began producing wine in 1961. Johnson Estate has had years of practice to perfect their wine-making techniques as well as the viticulture process of growing grapes. Most of Johnson Estate’s grapes are grown within 3000 feet of the winery. This allows total control over how the grapes are grown, harvested, pressed or crushed and produced into wine. In addition, the winery has a well-educated staff including a professional wine maker who has helped the winery win a number of medals in international competitions. Johnson Estate has won a Sliver medal in the Great Lakes Wine Competition, as well as a Bronze at the International Eastern Wine Competition (May ’07) with their Freelings Creek Merlot. These recent medals are added to a long list of medals through the years for wines that are produced at the Estate.
For certain varieties of wines, Johnson Estate outsources their grapes from other regions in New York State. They have a strong partnership with a winery in Long Island and trade grapes between each winery as they both produce amazing fruit of different varieties. Because Long Island gets more sun during the warmer seasons, they produce a better Merlot grape, where Johnson Estate has the ideal growing conditions for Riesling, Traminette (a cross between European Gewurztraminer grape and American root stock) and a wide variety of other white wine grapes.
What wines are the winery’s owners most proud of? According to Jennifer Johnson, it’s hard to say. “We’re proud of all of our wine because they reach a different style of cliental, says Johnson. “You have the more fruity varieties (sweeter) that please one group of customers, you have the new age European wine drinkers of all ages that prefer the classic grape varietals, both fruity and dry, and you have the local wine drinkers who prefer the wines that we’ve produced for years that grow well on the Estate.”
As an educated wine drinker, I am extremely excited about a few different wines that Johnson Estate offers. The first is their white wines, especially the Riesling and Traminette. The aroma of these wines are amazing, they match the footprint of some of the best in their class. The exciting aspect of these two wines is there unbelievable balance between fruit and acid. Both wines have their own unique attributes. The Riesling has hints of honey, apricots and melon which would pair well with scallops, cod or sea bass. Where the Traminette has floral notes, a hint of spice and would be great with poached pears, goat cheese and apple.
The second group of wine I particularly enjoy is Johnson’s Ice Wine. Johnson Estate produces two different styles of Ice Wine: Vidal (white variety) and Chambourcin (red variety). I had the privilege of serving their Vidal Ice Wine at La Fleur Restaurant where I was the Executive Chef. We served it with Foie Gras, Figs and Vidal Grapes.
At the winery, Jennifer Johnson served us her homemade almond chocolate biscotti (which the winery also has available) with the Vidal Ice Wine. She had us dip the biscotti in the wine and it was a wonderful pairing. With the Chambourcin, Jennifer simply gave us a piece of dark chocolate. The wine brought out the full flavor of the chocolate.
The Ice Wine at the winery is made in a classical manner. The grapes are harvested after the temperature has been between 14-20 degrees F at night for three nights in a row. The grapes are harvested by hand by the staff at the winery. Imagine the passion one must have to harvest grapes at 14 degrees F.
As a classically trained wine drinker, I now understand how privileged we are to have such a winery in Chautauqua County. Johnson Estate does our region proud and creates a year-round destination for winery tours, tastings and treats. You can check them out at the winery or visit their website at www.jonhsonwinery.com.
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Johnson Estate, winery, grapes, vinifera, climate, ice wine, pairing |
