Winery · Cape May, New Jersey
A Self-Portrait
in Every Bottle
The story of a physician, a birthday gift, and eleven acres of possibility on the Jersey Shore.
01 — The Beginning
Seahorse Farm Winery and Vineyard is, in many ways, a self-portrait — a reflection of its founder, Dr. John P. Stratis: his curiosity, his creativity, his values, and his deep roots in family and place.
Where do the seeds of something meaningful begin? For John, they may have been planted in the soil of a Greek household in Burlington, New Jersey — in the aromas of a family kitchen, in the rhythms of hard work, in the values carried across an ocean by his immigrant father.
"Medicine eventually called him away. But some things follow you. The Jersey Shore never let go of the Stratis family."
— The Seahorse Farm Story
02 — A Union of Science & Art
Then Came
the Birthday Gift
A winemaking kit, given to him by his wife Barbara and their children. It was meant to be a small diversion. It became something else entirely. The wine was good. The process was fascinating — a union of chemistry and intuition that felt, to John, a lot like surgery. He was hooked.
He planted vines. He made mistakes — the wrong grape varieties for the Central Pennsylvania climate, for starters. But mistakes, for a man like John, are simply data. When the local community college launched an enology and viticulture program, he enrolled. He studied. He went into the fields. He learned the science beneath the art.
Plastic surgery — a discipline equal parts science and art — had prepared him well for this. Precision. Patience. The willingness to refine until something is exactly right.
03 — The Peninsula
Exceptional Ground
on the Jersey Shore
Around that same time, something was stirring on the Cape May Peninsula. Word spread among those who pay attention to such things: this sliver of New Jersey coastline — where the Atlantic meets the Delaware Bay — had become exceptional ground for European wine grapes. The same varieties grown in Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the sun-drenched hillsides of Greece.
Serendipity, as it tends to do, showed up right on cue. The Seahorse Equestrian Farm came up for sale. John and Barbara saw not just a property, but a possibility: a retirement, a vineyard, a home large enough for their ten grandchildren, and a barn still housing the horse trainers Gary Weeks and John Sparks who had called it home.
They bought it. They consolidated three lots into one. Then, as if on cue, two adjacent lots on Seashore Road came available as well. They bought those too. That is where the winery and tasting room now stand.
04 — Heritage
A Grand Experiment
Rooted in Two Worlds
True to form, John didn't plant one or two varieties. He planted eleven, across 4.5 acres — classic Bordeaux and Burgundy varietals alongside three varieties native to his ancestral homeland of Greece: Xinomavro, Assyrtiko, and Moscofilero.
A grand experiment, he calls it. So far, the results are promising.
05 — The Vineyard
Eleven Varieties
Across 4.5 Acres
Merlot
Bordeaux, France
Red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Bordeaux, France
Red
Cabernet Franc
Bordeaux, France
Red
Sangiovese
Tuscany, Italy
Red
Petit Verdot
Bordeaux, France
Red
Gamay
Burgundy, France
Red
Sauvignon Blanc
Loire Valley, France
White
Albariño
Galicia, Spain
White
Xinomavro
Macedonia, Greece
Red · Heritage
Assyrtiko
Santorini, Greece
White · Heritage
Moscofilero
Peloponnese, Greece
White · Heritage
"This is a place built on curiosity, shaped by family, and rooted — quite literally — in the land of the Jersey Shore."
Come visit us Thursday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM, at 1076 Seashore Road, Cape May, NJ.
