St. Josef's Winery

Josef Fleischmann, proprietor of St. Josef’s Winery, has never forgotten his European roots. Josef, who grew up in a small Hungarian village near the German border, learned the art of winemaking from his relatives. That was some 60 years ago, before he arrived in the Willamette Valley and acquired farmland.

In 1978, Josef and his wife, Lilli, planted vinifera grapes, and to the delight of friends and family, the wine made from those grapes was delicious. Encouraged to start a winery, they wondered what to call it. At the time, there were several wineries bearing the word “saint” in their names: Ste. Michelle, St. Innocent, St. Chapelle. Someone jokingly suggested the name St. Josef’s Winery. It stuck.

Pulling into the parking lot, visitors see European touches galore, from the fountain courtyard area to the large double-door entrance. Guests feel as though they’ve been transported to a different time and place. In the distance, past the grape-stomping barrels, is a private spring-fed lake. Inside the winery, a grand foyer includes a staircase leading upstairs to rooms reserved for events. A side door brings you into a mural-adorned tasting room. It’s all very Euro and enchanting, but that’s not the best part.

Josef and Lilli also brought with them the Continental attitude that wine should be affordable. After all, in the small villages of Hungary, good wine at nominal prices is a part of life. Thus, WineTrail trekkers seeking a good buy for wine just entered heaven. All St. Josef’s white wines are $9 per bottle. That’s not a typo. All regular red wines (pinot noir, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon) are $15 each. Only St. Josef’s reserve wines — the Kitara pinot noir and syrah wines and the KB Cabernet Sauvignon (short for Kirk’s Best; Kirk is their son and vineyard manager) — cost a bit more, selling for around $20. Regulars at St. Josef’s think that KB also stands for “Kick Butt,” because the resulting cabernet kicks your you-know-what.

St. Josef’s Winery maintains a regular schedule of events throughout the year. After all, there’s much to celebrate. For example, during the summer, visitors can experience Cheeseburger in Paradise and Music at Jo-Lily Pond. In the fall, there’s the Grape Stomping Festival and Neu Wein Celebration, followed by St. Josef’s Day in the spring. When not conducting these events, the Fleischmann family welcomes weddings, family get-togethers, corporate events, and the like. The European charm never fails to delight at St. Josef’s Winery!