Ankida Ridge

It’s fairly far from home for me, situated about an hour and twenty minutes or so away, but it is so worth every minute of the drive. I love their wine, I love their setting, and I love the genuine-ness of the people who work there. Melinda made sure we (and the other two groups there) had an amazing time, and even tried to protect us from a stray wasp.

This was my third visit to Ankida. I first went more than a year prior to this visit when Wine Friend 1 came down to visit us for a weekend. At that time, I fell totally in love with the 2017 Reserve Pinot Noir and the Rosé of Pinot Noir, so I joined the club at the “Collector” level. They had me totally hooked. I grabbed my case and ran home. I went back again with some local friends when they went to pick up their puppy right outside the city of Lynchburg, and we enjoyed an awesome charcuterie board and Rosé on the deck loving the views. I’ve enjoyed their club shipments that have featured the last shipments of the ’17 Reserve Pinot Noir, some Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs, a lovely Verday (usually made from Chardonnay, but a surprise is coming below), and finally an incredible Vin Blanc collaboration with their sister winery, Stinson. A year of great wine right there in one paragraph.

On this visit, we took one of husband’s dearest longtime friends for a relaxing afternoon. We got there a little bit early but Melinda was wonderful and let us take a spot on the deck and order charcuterie, wine and let us take in the gorgeous day. The day was alternating sun and clouds and there was a nice breeze, so after a few scorching weeks, the wine and shade and incredible view were refreshing.

They are now no longer selling or serving the 2017 Pinot Noir Reserve, which hurt my heart. I believe there is one in my inventory still, so a special occasion will see that open. I am very hopeful we will see them put some more reserve out in the future – I don’t know what the 2019 and 2020 harvests were like for them as they seem to be in a fairly unique microclimate and so I’m hoping they have something exciting waiting in their cellar.

We settled in with a bottle of Rosé of Pinot Noir and chatted with Melinda about this one being a bit lighter in color than the 2021. I shared that I was grabbing my case shipment that day, and Melinda came right back with tastes of the new Verday for us – this was different, she shared because it was made from Pinot Noir and had an almost blush quality to it. She was right, and I totally loved this wine. After we polished off the bottle of Rosé, I got a glass of the vin blanc and ordered husband the Stinson Meritage (which I got to have most of…… its awful having to clean up after him…). We grabbed our wines, and Hubby’s friend got an extra Verday and Meritage to take home. I added an additional Verday to my allocation, cause it was just that good.

We didn’t go up to the top where the grapes are grown, and I wish we had planned better and brought the Jeep to do that, but we made a commitment to do it this Fall after the next club allocation. But everything about this site is soothing, as you hear the sheep down the hill, get to pet Lucci, and enjoy hummingbirds at the feeder.

While it’s quite a drive, everything about the drive is worth it – it takes you out of the way and down one of the narrowest roads that I’ve seen (and I really am a city boy at heart, so I really needed that rosé after we got there!), but everything about it is worth it.

If you haven’t been, find a way to get there. They do offer a number of events, but they are somewhat challenging for me to get to, given the drive. I’m very curious about their oyster and seafood parties that come up in the fall. They’re one of the first to produce a good Pinot Noir grown in Virginia, and they’ve set a very high bar. Make sure you check them out, and drop a line here with your thoughts!