Jess Johnson, co-winemaker

Jess is a lifelong resident of the Finger Lakes from the Wayne County Village of Sodus, graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2011. Soon after, she began in the tasting room at Standing Stone Vineyards, where she spent seven years and worked her way up to becoming the assistant winemaker.

Jess joined the Wagner family in 2018, partnering with longtime winemaker Ann Raffetto and assistant winemaker Kevin Lee. Upon Ann’s retirement in 2019, Jess and Kevin took over co-winemaker duties, overseeing Wagner’s 17 grape varietals and 34 different wines.

You can find her walking the vineyards, working the many enormous fermentation tanks, testing wines in the cellar, or analyzing in the lab. Expect great things from Jess and for the future of Wagner wines.