Winemaking at Featherstone

Winemaking and grape growing are both scientific and intuitive processes. Featherstone wines reflect the special character of the grapes, as well as the artistry of the winemaker, and are pointedly food-oriented, rich, clean and brisk.

As both vineyard manager and winemaker, David Johnson is able to work throughout the growing season to enhance the grapes’ natural attributes, ensuring that at harvest he can create exceptional wine with minimal winemaking embellishments.

The vineyard will only yield enough grapes to produce limited amounts of small- lot wines. It is not our goal to buy more vineyard or to expand our production beyond our current level of hands-on, artisanal wine production.

Featherstone was one of the first wineries to use Canadian oak barrels, producing an exceptional barrel-fermented Canadian Oak Chardonnay in 2002. Until recently, oak from Canada had not been considered for winemaking. The integration of our wine with oak grown in the same climate and region is an exciting concept. Encouraged by early successes, Canadian oak barrels at Featherstone continue to play an expanding role.

Always looking for new wine experiences and to expand his knowledge, Featherstone winemaker David Johnson gained international experience in 2007 participating in the harvest at Sileni Winery in Hawkes Bay New Zealand, and in 2016 at Waterkloof Winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa.