It’s tough to find a Virginia wine lover who’s unfamiliar with Ankida Ridge. While Ankida is one of the state’s more remote vineyards, being one of Virginia’s very few pinot noir growers make them one of the more famous.

Ankida is only 75 minutes from downtown Charlottesville, but the last leg of the journey is all uphill. You know things will get interesting when you pass signs that say “end of state maintenance” and your signal gets weak, but at least the views are beautiful.  

I’d been trying to meet up with owners Christine and Dennis Vrooman for a long time but always seemed to miss them. But this time I was in luck; Christine was happy to host a small group, and it was easy to find ‘volunteers’ to come with me.

With an elevation that tops out at 1,800 feet, Ankida is one of Virginia’s higher-elevation vineyards. While one wouldn’t blame the Vroomans for choosing the location for the view alone (which is technically true – the land was originally going to be a weekend getaway), its elevation actually serves a more practical purpose.

Standing on the deck of her tasting room overlooking the valley, Christine gestured at the scenery before us. “We have a little valley here and a little valley there, and cold air moves down them to the bottom of the mountain. We’ve never been touched by spring frost, and our disease pressure is low since we never get morning dew. I could have called it Utopia Ridge.”

The phenomenon Christine was referring to is called a ‘thermal belt’, and its why winegrowers prize mountaintop sites. Cold air is dense, and like water flows to the lowest point available. This in turn displaces lighter warm air which rises above it. This results in a narrow zone where the temperature is warmer than what is above and below it.

As Ankida is 1,000 feet higher than the bottom of the valley, the morning cold air passes through the vineyard but like an unwanted guest is shown the way out. This lets the vines stay within a consistent temperature range, one that is conducive for growing grapes. Christine explained their mornings start off warmer than the town below, but in the afternoon, the vineyard is typically 5-15 degrees cooler than the surrounding lower regions. Even in the hot 2023 summer the temperature never hit 90 degrees.

This climate (plus the ancient granite the vines are planted on) makes it a great place for pinot, gamay, and chardonnay; 6 acres in total. The first two grapes are nearly unheard of in Virginia, while the later retains a degree of acidity that’s rarely found.

This unique microclimate is the inspiration for an initiative that Ankida and nearby 12 Ridges Vineyard are working on; a new American Viticultural Area (AVA) dedicated to high-elevation vineyards.

Details are scarce since it’s mostly conceptual, but the idea is to have a non-contiguous AVA which only includes vineyards situated above a certain elevation. 1,000 feet has been bandied around as the measuring stick to join the club, but fine details such as the vineyard’s elevation in relation to its surrounding area are just as important as the site’s true elevation above sea level.

Fortunately for my group, Christine didn’t let my geeky wine questions stop her from pouring. Out came several cheese plates and a number of bottles, starting with their newest wine, the Blanc de Noir champenoise-style sparkling.

As much as I missed their Blanc de Blanc, this Blanc de Noir was equally good. Even in a lineup full of stars, it was special.

Next up were a pair of pinot-based wines; Ankida’s rosé and “Verday”, plus a chardonnay.

The rosé was nice, but I’ve had lots of great rosés and it was almost unfair to it put it next to a wine that truly surprised me; the Verday. Named after the light, refreshing wine that Portugal is known for, Verday had the same zestiest as any Vino Verde I’ve had.

Next up was their chardonnay. While the pinot noir gets the majority of the press, I think their bright & creamy 2021 Chardonnay should get equal billing. Not sure if I should give credit to the terroir or winemaker Nathan Vrooman, but dang I liked that one.

Then came a pair of pinot noirs; 2017 Reserve and 2019. The former was a special treat and made me kick myself for not ordering it while I could (granted it was $85…but still). 2021 wasn’t quite as complex but was still very quaffable. I was excited to learn that a 2021 Reserve was also in the works.

We ended the day sitting at the top of the vineyard finishing off the open bottles and admiring the view before heading home – but not before we were treated with a ride through the vineyard.

During a 4-winery visit weekend last month, a group of friends and I kicked things off with a visit to Mountain & Vine (which for now still goes by its old name, DelFosse).

I’d been to Mountain & Vine a few years earlier, but this was my first stop since they won the 2023 Virginia’s Governor’s Cup for their 2021 Screaming Hawk Meritage. If the chance to taste this wine wasn’t enough, getting to catch up with their new winemaker Stephen Barnard (formerly at Keswick) sealed the deal.

Mountain & Vine is located about 30 minutes SW of Charlottesville in the lower hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It feels like an exceptionally rural area, but the tasting room is pretty and the view from the top of the hill is absolutely killer. They even have a B&B on the property.

Stephen was gracious enough to host my group, but we lucked out we also got to meet with owner Mike Albers.

He and his wife Adrienne purchased the property from Claude DelFosse in 2017. It didn’t make sense to keep the name of the old owner forever, but the Albers weren’t in a rush to change it either. They slowly shifted the name to Mountain & Vine, focusing on rebranding the name on the bottles as opposed to the name of website.

This new labeling proved fortuitous as their Cup win brought a ton of publicity. While the sign at the entrance still says DelFosse, they’ve almost completely pivoted to Mountain & Vine.

As for the vineyard, based on the slopes I saw it was easy to tell this is a great place for winegrowing. The have 17 acres vines using 11 varietals; all vinifera with the sole exception of some chambourcin. At an elevation of 850-1,100 feet, those vines are (for the most part) safely above the frost line.

Mike fully admitted that when he submitted the Screaming Hawk he thought it was a bit too young, but figured he’s submit it anyway just to get their opinion. Well – surprise! The judges obviously disagreed and he came away with the Cup.

Once Stephen came in from the vineyard we sat down for an extended tasting. As he’d only been here for a matter of weeks none of these wines were his, but that didn’t stop him from chatting them up. All in all we easily tried at least a dozen wines, all estate grown.

We kicked things off with the whites, and I found a lot to love. The Grand Cru Reserve is a rich white blend and one of my favorite wines of the weekend. I also loved the sauv blanc and chardonnay. I left with two bottles of the Cru.

For reds, obviously my favorite was the bigger, drier wines, but they had several options that were designed to be served chilled or could satisfy a sweeter audience.

The 50% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec Screaming Hawk was the favorite of the lineup. For a PV-heavy wine it didn’t taste overly ‘big’, and neither did I feel it was overly youthful. It was totally drinkable now and had Mike poured me more I would have finished it right there.

The runners up were their “Grinning Fox” (75/25 PV and Malbec), 2020 PV, and “1970” chambourcin. It’s not often that I’m impressed with chambourcin but I really liked the fruity-strawberry notes.

Rounding it out we tried a soft cabernet franc, the “Deer Rock” and the “Hippie Chick” that was more for a sweeter palate. Sadly no 100% Malbec (theirs is one of the few in Virginia); that was already sold out.

All the wines were good-to-great (even ones that normally don’t fit my palate). But if the quality wasn’t enough, I really appreciated how the prices were easily a good 10-20%-ish cheaper than elsewhere in the Charlottesville area. Being remote has other advantages.

To anyone who visits – TAKE PICTURES FROM THE HILL. The view alone is worth the trip.

Common Wealth Crush Co. (CWCC) is tough to describe at a glance because it has a lot going on. Its core business is to make wine for other customers, a process often called ‘custom crush’ but technically should be referred to as contract winemaking. 7 Lady Vineyards is one of their main customers, but they make wine for others as well.

On top of that CWCC provides a venue for vintners to make wine under their private labels. Jake Busching does his winemaking here, and CWCC rents tank space for other winemakers like Stinson Vineyards who have outgrown their own facilities.

As if that’s not enough, winemakers Ben and Tim Jordan craft wine under their own labels. This includes wine made under the Common Wealth’s logo, plus their personal and family brands.

CWCC is located in an old metal crafting facility in Waynesboro. While most of the space is dedicated to winemaking they also have a small tasting room which serves bottles from CWCC, Midland Wine (using fruit from the Jordan family farm in the Shenandoah Valley), Lightwell Survey (Ben Jordan’s side project), and Star Party (Tim Jordan’s side project).

The backstory to Commonwealth is the founders (Ben and Tim, plus partner Patt Eagan) recognized the Virginia wine scene needed a contract winemaking facility that is scalable to different customer needs. Members of the local wine industry often associate ‘custom crush’ with Michael Shaps Wineworks, who famously makes wine on behalf of at least a dozen major customers. But others have gotten in on the action, recognizing a number of vineyards lack the space, funding, or expertise to support winemaking on their own property.

In most cases contract winemaking facilities do all the work from start to finish. While CWCC offers this same beginning-to-end service, what makes them different is they allow winemakers the option of renting space and equipment so they can do their own winemaking.

This is important as many small producers, including winemakers working on their own side projects, are at risk of being displaced from their existing facility should the owner require the extra space. This makes CWCC a great incubator for micro brands that need a place to call home for an extended period of time.

The Jordan brothers also make a ‘family of wines’ that are branded separately but share broad stylistic similarities. For one, all or nearly all the fruit used for CWCC, Midland (the Jordan family farm), Lightwell (Tim’s brand), and Star Party (Ben’s brand) wines are from the Shenandoah Valley, so they tend to be higher in acidity. Ben and Tim also share a love of fanciful labels, minimal intervention winemaking, and a flair for blending, often using varieties that are otherwise rarely seen in the same bottle.

My group met up with partner Lee Campbell, a somm with extensive restaurant experience who previously acted as Early Mountain Vineyard’s New York state rep. Saying she’s a wine rock star is an understatement; we jumped at the chance of a tour.

Lee explained how their broad customer base requires multiple sizes and styles of fermentation vessels to meet different needs. Wandering down the aisles we saw a number of fiberglass tanks as well as more traditional steel ones. CWCC currently has 6 start-to-finish customers, 5 ‘winemaker’ customers, and several others who fell somewhere in-between.

After our tour we sat down for an extended tasting of CWCC, Midland, Star Party, and Lightwell wine in their cozy tasting area. Lee stayed with us to walk us through all the options.

Nearly all of these labels include ‘non-traditional’ blends or styles, which made for an exciting tasting. I soon realized with around 20 wine options at my disposal it was unnecessary to visit another winery afterwards.

There are far too many to list individually, so here are a few of the more interesting wines:

• Star Party 2021 Rosé, made with the hybrid noriet (their 2022 was a blend of chambourcin and traminette)
• Lightwell 2021 Colorwave Rosé, made with vidal, petit manseng, chambourcin and noriet.
• Lightwell “Btw Dark & the Light”, a co-ferment with 2/3rds grapes and 1/3^rd apples
• CWCC 2022 MISE, an orange wine with PM, sauv blanc, and chardonel
• CWCC The Artist Formerly Known as Sparkling, a white wine originally planned to be a sparkling but ultimately became a still wine
• Midland 2019 Petit Manseng, I can’t find my tasting notes but remembering having several stars next to it
• Midland 2018 Blanc de Blancs “Zero”, sparkling wine (also my favorite here)

20 potential tastings are too much for a single visit, but I did my best to sample the menu (being able to share with my group helped). Needless to say, we found a lot we liked and left with many bottles.

I asked about Lightwell Survey’s old space and was told they will continue to use it for big events. But otherwise, this is basically the new Lightwell tasting room.

I loved the entire idea of CWCC; you’ll have to make multiple trips before you try everything. I also love how Lee (and presumably others) are partners or otherwise paid staff since this is a gratuity-free space. With exciting wine and fair labor, so what’s not to love?

Lately, clean air has been something in short supply in northern Virginia. I spent much of the week inside, plotting where I would spend the weekend (and more importantly, someplace I could breathe easily). Fortunately, Shenandoah Park specializes in clean air…which also meant a side-trek to DuCard Vineyards was in order.

DuCard is located not far from the Sperryville entrance of Skyline Drive, and even closer to the White Oak Canyon and Old Rag trailheads. I’ve long thought of it as a hidden gem, although more of my friends including My NOVA Wine Blog have been discovering it.

DuCard exemplifies a theory of mine; wineries off the beaten path work extra hard to make your visit worthwhile. Not only has the wine consistently been above-par, their service is always top notch. It helps the local scenery serves as a great brand ambassador.

I’d last wrote about DuCard in 2019 (and been back a few times) but since they’d had a few changes in the lineup, a new blog seemed necessary.

Owner Scott Elliff was making the rounds amongst guests when I walked in, showcasing his latest wine; “Pet-Nat”. He even made t-shirts with a gnat logo for the occasion! My group managed to grab a table near the brook and settled down with a glass. Even the 2 1/2-year-old seemed to appreciate the color.

Scott wasn’t the only friendly face there; Kathy Wiedemann was at the tasting bar when I came in for a fresh bottle. Asking her to join a mini vineyard tour with Scott was an easy sell.

While walking amongst the vines Scott told us about his three vineyards. The main one at the winery had 20-year old vines; not something you see everyday in Virginia.

He also talked about the trellising system for his Norton vines. I’m probably mis-remembering half of the details but there was something unique in how they designed it, allowing the fruit to hang in such a way to minimize its acidity. Norton is a HUGELY acidic grape, so taming that quality is important. But it must have done the trick, since DuCard’s was the favorite of a Virginia Norton comparison last year.

But it was his new additions that really excited me. Scott managed to convince his neighbor to sell him a few extra acres of land adjacent to his vineyard, which he’s using to plant two acres of Albariño. Not only that, but Tannat is being planted at another vineyard. I mean seriously; just when I thought I couldn’t love this place enough, they are planting two of my favorite grapes.

Since it was the weekend of National Rosé Day, we of course had to have the obligatory photo of a bottle, perched on the bridge across the brook.

After some snacks, we made our way inside of a seated tasting.

They had a red, white, and mixed flight available. Scott talked us through much of it before going off to check on other guests. They also had a library tasting, which made Kathy’s eyes light up.

The mixed flight had two Chardonnays (one made in steel, one oaked), the Popham Run red blend, and a fairly soft Cab Franc. I liked the two reds, but LOVED one the “TANA ” Macon-style Chard. Very full for a Chardonnay; I think it would be even better with food but great on its own.

But arguably the hit of the day was their 2019 Petit Verdot (which Kathy shared a sample of with me). I was tempted to open the TANA right there, but as time was running short I took it home with me. Kathy was so impressed she grabbed the TANA, a library 2019 Petit Verdot, and the very effervescant and quaffable pet-nat.

All in all, a really successful day. Extra kudos to the staff for giving the dog a water bowl, which he sampled while under my table.

Mattapony Reserve is one of Virginia’s newest wineries, opening in late 2022 on the Mattaponi Indian Reservation on the banks of the Mattaponi River east of Richmond. This wasn’t on my original itinerary, but I had some free time so I scooted over to try it out.

Since there isn’t a vineyard, the tasting building isn’t obvious at a glance. The winery is located at the end of a long circular road (maybe I could have taken a right instead of a left and sped up my journey, but I didn’t know). I passed a number of family homes, a church, and the Mini Ha-Ha Educational Trading Post (I never thought I’d see a sign like that, but there it was!). But the GPS was right on, and as soon as a saw a big parking I figured that was the place.

The entire experience has a very mom-and-pop vibe to it. It helped that Ginger and Lonnie Custalow, the owners/winemakers were behind the counter. Ginger poured while telling me their backstory.

They were home winemakers for a while, finally making their first commercial vintage in 2020. They named the winery ‘Mattapony’, which is an older spelling of the local tribe. There’s a separate Mattaponi winery as well, although the two couldn’t be more different.

All of Mattapony’s fruit is from Virginia, and the wine is made via ‘natural winemaking’. This is a bit of an open-ended term, since there is no technical definition of ‘natural wine’. But generally speaking it means limited intervention, low chemical spraying, and (in their case) no added sulfites.

While there isn’t a lot of indoor seating it has something I think is even better; a covered patio next to the river. I was told that if you watch long enough you might even see some bald eagles swooping down. No eagles were seen when I was there, but the view was well worth the visit.

Nine wines were available during my visit; a pair of Nortons, a pair of Petit Verdots, a Pinot Grigio rose’, a 2021 Chardonel, a 2020 Chardonnay, DeChaunac, and a red blend called “Two Rivers”.

I got to try them all, with my favorites being the rose’, Chardonnay, and DeChaunac (if only because I see it so rarely). The prevalence of hybrids is very common in natural winemaking.

The Chardonnay was definitely my favorite. It was almost an orange wine; very dark hue to it. Notes of pineapple and coconut abound.

The Pinot Grigio rose’ was nicely done; lots of peach notes. I almost got a glass, but opted for the Chardonnay instead.

That DeChaunac was damn interesting. It’s a French-American hybrid that was one of the first created in the wake of phylloxera. I found it was very acidic and tart. I later found they got the fruit from Rockbridge.

If you like smoky reds; this is your place. The 2021 Norton and 2020 PV were both was lighter than I expected. Did it have something with the winemaking style? I forgot to ask.

It may be further out than many wineries, but there’s something to be said about kicking back on the porch and hoping to see eagles fly-by.

If there was a prize for great neighborhoods to open a winery, Capstone Vineyards would be in the finalist round. With Crimson Lane Vineyards literally next door and Linden Vineyards down the road, the town of Linden has become a wine tourism mecca.

These wineries all recognized something crucial; these hills have great soil. Capstone’s new owner Theo Smith put it this way; “With dirt like this, making wine is easy. All I have to do is not screw it up.”

Capstone opened in February 2019, although founders Dave Adams and Andrea Baer preferred to stay under-the-radar. That was by design; they only made a small batch of wine from their 2015 and 2016 vintages (produced by Jim Law at Linden Vineyards, no less) and sold all subsequent harvests to Early Mountain Vineyards (EMV). Dave and Adrea only accepted visitors by appointment, slowly selling their remaining stock but not making more.

EMV used Capstone’s fruit to produce a series of vineyard-specific bottles. This is high praise; EMV knew this was a quality vineyard, and these ‘Capstone’ wines were usually gone after their wine club took its share.

Eventually Dave and Andrea decided to move on. EMV was interested in purchasing the vineyard, but the owners decided to go with Theo as they liked the idea of helping a young vintner get his start. Capstone changed hands in December 2022.

The first thing that visitors experience is a long, steep driveway to the small tasting room which overlooks the vineyard. The vines are south facing, which maximizes sun exposure. The steep slope tops out 1500 feet, so it has excellent drainage. Right now, they have 12 acres of mostly Bordeaux varietals planted (with room to expand), plus some rows of Roussanne, Chenin and Muscat Ottonel.

The tasting room is tiny, but some improvements have been made. One of Theo’s first moves was to install a new deck and put some tables outside. Now it’s a lot easier to take in the fantastic view, which includes a look at Avenius vineyard just a few hills over. Theo expects to eventually build a new tasting room further up the hill, but a wine production facility takes priority.

Theo greeted me and poured a glass of sparkling before running off to take care of another customer. Eventually things settled down enough to take me through a tasting, where I was able to pepper him with questions. Turns out that he’s from Nova Scotia and originally had a job in the cancer research field. But Theo wasn’t so keen on office life and eventually made his way into winemaking.

Local winelovers may recognize his name; until very recently Theo was the winemaker at nearby Rappahannock Cellars for over a decade. Theo described his time there as a fantastic learning experience, overseeing its transition from a 6,000 case/year facility to one making over 30,000 cases/year (plus adding a sparkling program).

But being a winemaker is one thing; becoming an owner seemed the natural evolution. So when Capstone became available, he jumped at the opportunity.

Right now Capstone only serves 4 wines; two of the original 2016-vintage red blends (one Cabernet Franc-heavy, the other Merlot-heavy), a sparkling he made from Monticello fruit, and a still-unlabeled Chenin-Chardonnay blend.

Of the lineup my favorite was the Chenin blend, which had a delicious creaminess to it. The runner up would be either the 2016 Fielder’s Choice or sparkling.

As 2023 will be his first vintage using Capstone fruit, it will likely take a while for Theo to make his own estate wine. But the Chenin blend was promising, and I’m hopeful Capstone will have some great whites coming out in another year.

Theo seemed especially psyched about his future sparklings. Rappahannock had a great sparkling program and he learned directly from Claude Thibault. With a background like that, things seemed really promising.

Right now Theo is running the entire tasting room by himself, so things were a little hectic. But he knows he has a great location, so he’ll get more help as the word gets out.

* This is an update to my January 2020 blog on the same location, but with the previous owners.