EPISODE #11 ANKIDA RIDGE, CHRISTINE, DENNIS, & NATHAN VROOMAN

Ankida Ridge was established by Christine & Dennis Vrooman with the planting of their first vines in 2008.  Lucie Morton  was their vineyard consultant and she brilliantly, in my opinion, advised them to plant Pinot Noir.  She believed that the southeastern facing slope at  1800 feet nestled into the Blue Ridge Mountains  along with the granite soils gave them the chance to be successful with the varietal.  She was 100% correct.  Ankida Ridge in a short period of time has been producing some high quality wines from Pinot Noir which is a rarity in Virginia at this time.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:

a). Christine & Dennis recount how they had no vision to plant a vineyard when they bought the site.  Hell they didn't even have electricity originally on the property.
b). They discuss their experiment to planta quarter acre of Gamay and now four years later what they are producing from it.
c). great story about how they were invited to the prestigious IPNC in 2016 and almost never went because they hadn't received the invitation.  If not for the organizers in Oregon sending them an email letting them know they were about to miss the deadline for entry they would have missed out.
d). Christine explains their approach to sustainable farming in a refreshingly easy way to understand it.
e). Nathan Vrooman, their son, recounts how he raised his hand early on and agreed to take on the challenge of being the winemaker with no prior experience or credential for producing wine.  It ultimately led to his marriage with Rachel Stinson Vrooman, winemaker for Stinson Vineyards.
f). great story about their individual Ah Ha moment when it came to the wine they had that made them realize how wine can be such an amazing experience.
g). Christine talks about going to the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference to show their first vintage of Pinot Noir, 2010 and it had only been in the bottle 7 weeks.  It wowed the crowd.
h). very engaging story on how the name Ankida Ridge came to be their Branding. Fascinating.

Much, much more;  You can read the full text attached here.


 

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