Nancy and Danny Johnson with their son Shannon and wife Donna, own and operate Peaks of Otter Winery, Johnson’s Orchards and Elmo’s Rest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Bedford Virginia. They are encouraged by their son Dan and his family who live in Seattle but remain loyal to the home farm in Virginia.

J Elmo Johnson, great grandson of John T. Johnson, established Johnson’s Orchards in 1919 in the area of property that had been in the family since the 1750s.
In 1995 the Johnsons considered making wine from the fruits they were growing. More and more Virginia Wineries were being established and were attracting an increasing number of visitors.

The commercial apple business was in decline and the Johnsons felt that the addition of a winery would also be a way of selling more of their fruits directly to consumers. Joshua, who is now the wine maker, says the 70% of the fruits used in the wine are grown on the farm. Grape vines, primarily Norton and Concord are now bearing with new ones coming on. Berry plants have been planted and are bearing.

Peaks of Otter wines are reminiscent of “Grandmas or Great-Grandma’s” wines, those old-fashioned wines made from a variety of fruits. A venture into vegetables using chili peppers, to make “Kiss The Devil” wine and blend with apple wine to make “Chili Dawg” wine, (this Dawg will bite) has been so successful that “Chili Dawg” is now a top selling wine. “Fruit of the Farm” wines have changed Virginia’s tasting buds. You will find Grandson Jordon and wife Lindsey at many festivals along with Grandson Joshua, Christy and friends Wayne and Andy. All of these help in the winery and on the farm.

Many of the wines are made from Danny’s grandmother’s recipes and the fruits or berries are fermented in apples juice and require less sugar to turn the fruit into wine.

At this time more than 30 wines are produced with our newest wines fermented in apple juice being “Pumpkin Pie”, “Chocolate Cherry Bomb” and Pomegranate. Long time favorites include Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Muffin, Golden Nugget Pear, Blackberry Cobbler to name a few. Several grape wines are also produced because we consider grapes to be ‘fruit’ too!

In Season you may sample and pick the fruit that our wines, ciders, jellies, jams and butters are made from. We also have farm animals you can visit

In 1996 Virginia’s wine country did an about face when Peaks of Otter Winery opened its doors as Virginia’s 50th winery and the state’s first all fruit winery. Now many years later a good number of Virginia wineries have added fruit to their menu. If you missed seeing and tasting Peak’s wines, then you must not have attended many wine festivals. Their tent will be the loud one, the one you hear people hollow “WOO” after tasting their “Kiss the Devil” (pure chili pepper wine) and then they receive a Kiss the Devil Sticker. This is the wine that Peak’s people always recommend that you wait till last to taste at a festival. It is a hot pepper wine that is great for cooking and basting.

Local

Eat and Drink

• Peaks of Otter Winery & Orchards - Bedford (0.0 miles) - Nancy and Danny Johnson with their son Shannon and wife Donna, own and operate Peaks of Otter Winery...
• Peaks of Otter Winery & Orchards - Bedford (0.0 miles) - Peaks of Otter wines are reminiscent of “Grandmas or Great-Grandma’s” wines, those old-fashion...
• The Swinging Bridge Cafe - Buchanan (9.5 miles) - Swing by for breakfast served all day, sandwiches, subs, salads, soups, pizza and wings!! We also of...

See and Do

• Johnson's Orchards Bedford (0.0 miles) - The Peaks of Otter has been an existing community of people for more than 80 centuries. Cherokee Indi...