Cicadas, "Lambs-in-Law" and Some Exciting News!

Cicada Invasion!

Many of you have heard about the cyclical cicada hitting our region of the country this year.   They crawl out of a hole in the ground in late spring after a seventeen year "incubation" period. They then transform from the larval stage into about an inch long flying insect that lives as an adult for only a couple weeks.  They hatch by the millions and during this time the air is filled with what sounds like a house alarm off in the distance. They "sing" for about two weeks, then mate, and then die... no wonder they sing so loud!  They have to make the best of their short time on this earth. It was not certain how much damage these insects would do to vineyards, but it was felt the damage would be to young vineyards with young wood.  Then I began hearing details of entire blocks of vineyards wilting in one afternoon after the females layed their eggs in the canes. Our concerns grew with the increasing sounds rising up the mountainside toward the vineyard.
We could hear the cicadas at first down at the cabin, around 1300 ft.  Every day the singing grew louder and higher up the mountain. We nervously monitored the growing proximity to the vines. Then last week we saw our first cicada in the vineyard.  The sound filling the woods had reached about 1600 ft altitude, the bottom of the vineyard.  I watched them fly from the woods over the vines, light on a cane, fly to another, then they flew up high into the poplar trees around the vineyard.  Very few entered the vineyard and stayed, as far as we could see.  The few that we saw, Guppie (our youngest mutt) jumped up to the vines and snapped up the delicious treat.  We found  a female in the act of laying her eggs.  We were able to snap a couple pix with Nathan's phone, offering you a close up view of the egg-laying and the resulting damage to the cane.

Note the thin black ovipositor puncturing the cane

Note the line of puncture wounds

Interestingly, the cicadas did not emerge from the ground above the 1600 - 1700 ft altitude up here.  We are happy to say we suffered very little, if any, damage to our vines and the next time the cicadas emerge our vines will be 23 years old and should be able to withstand any egg-laying wounds. It's hard to imagine twenty three year old trunks on these young adolescent vines.

 

Exciting News!

There was a photo shoot here a couple of weeks ago.  A photographer from New York City spent the day with us.... in the vineyard, in the pasture and the winery capturing an assortment of shots of us, the animals, the vines, the views. It seems we are to be included in a feature article, photos and all, in the September issue of......  Food & Wine magazine!  We think it will be out the end of August, so keep an eye out for it.  Pretty exciting, don't you think?

Sharing the Flock!

This lambing season added sixteen more lambs to our growing flock.  We are very happy to announce that the Vroomans of Ankida Ridge Vineyards and the Hodsons of Veritas Vineyards are now "lambs-in-law"! Stop by and visit the flock next time you visit Veritas.  Casper, their horse, was not so enamoured by them at first, but has since adopted them and looks after them.  It is a beautiful sight and a wonderful spot to sip a glass of wine.

Vines Gone Wild Again!

In my last post I described all that goes into maintaining the vines throught the growing season. The first image below was taken four weeks ago. The second, taken yesterday. We no longer have a vineyard. It is now a jungle. Help! Every year we think we have things under control and then Wham!! In the third image you can see the difference after we have thinned out and tucked in the gazillion shoots-turned-canes, an extremely time-consuming, arduous task.

On the bright side, everything looks extremely clean and healthy. And for the first time since our premier 2010 vintage, we had a great fruit set in both the Chard and the Pinot Noir. Sunny days are very important when the blossoms come out and we did have a number of consecutive sunny days when everything was in bloom this year in contrast to previous years.

Poor fruit set in 2012 from rainy weather during bloom



Beautiful, complete fruit set 2013

So far so good! I'm very excited for this year. I think the vines are showing signs of maturity. They are evening out more and the fruit load is becoming more consistent across the vineyard. Will this be our very best vintage? We'll have to wait a year to find out, but I do feel good about how the vines are looking and feeling. And the season has started out with rather cool temps which Pinot Noir does love. It would be great for our vines if the summer maintains a slightly cooler average. We are, as always, at Mother Nature's mercy so we will have to accept and work around whatever she decides to throw our way for this 2013 vintage.

Come Visit!

When we planted this vineyard over five years ago, I never imagined at the time the joys of meeting new folks and nurturing friendships with our guests who would visit the winery, especially because we weren't even thinking then of building a winery!   So to add this element to our adventure up here has been so heart-warming.  It puts a smile on my face to see friendships develop amongst those that visit and to subsequently watch them greet one another as old friends when re-visiting Ankida.  We have the most wonderful group of steady guests and wine club members.  You all add so much to our experience here at Ankida and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support of Ankida and for your friendship.
We are not open often, usually opening for tastings just one day per month, so if you want to visit, plan ahead and refer to our "Events" page for upcoming events.  If you are not already a friend of Ankida, please find the time to make the trip down (or up or over) here! It will be worth the trip, I promise:)
Here is a lovely blog post by Paul and Warren of Virginia Wine Time who finally made the trip down here from Northern Virginia.  We had a delightful afternoon with them.

So please plan a trip to join us.  We look forward to your visit!

 UPCOMING EVENTS!

 

 

OPEN FOR TASTING

with author RICHARD LEAHY

discussing his book, "Beyond Jefferson's Vines"

 

Sat, June 15 1-5pm

 

*****

 

 A Special Event!

PINOT NOIR, NEAR & AFAR

with noted Early Mountain Vineyards sommelier

 Michelle Gueydan

Taste Pinot Noirs from around the world

 

Sat, June 22    2-4pm

 

*****

 

"Seasons at Ankida - Summer"

VERAISON IN THE VINEYARD

Live music

Hayrides

And more!

Sat, July 20   Noon - 5pm

 

 

With all events, please email contact@ankidaridge.com for reservations

 

For our out-of-town guests, inquire about the special

Ankida Ridge/Indian Creek B&B packages!

 



So Just What Do You Do in That Vineyard?



Ahh.. what are we doing these days at Ankida?  It's all about the vineyard in the merry months of spring and summer. With the initial winter pruning and final pruning behind us, we are currently focusing on "dis-budding" and shoot-thinning, removing all the little buds that pop up all over the vine and extra canes, that if left in place would leave us with vines that look a bit like bushes.

When this is completed, in about another week or so, depending on the temps, we will have to go through the vineyard yet again and tuck all the rapidly growing canes into the space between the wires that secure them. No sooner will we be finished with that and we will go through the vineyard again and position the growing shoots so they don't crowd each other and lean into the neighboring vine's space, as seen in this image above, creating a crowded canopy and fruit clusters that are clumped together, a perfect environment for fungal diseases to start wreaking havoc with our tender fruit.


 
Soon after that, we begin "leaf pull". This is when we remove the leaves around the cluster, only on the south east side, especially for the pinot because we want to keep the fruit from baking in the hot afternoon sun. Leaving just the right amount of dappled sunlight is key to slow, sunlit ripening.  After this, we "drop fruit", removing some of the clusters if there are too many on the vines, wanting to keep our total production to about 2 1/2 tons per acre.  The less fruit on a vine, the higher the quality and flavor of the fruit.  When the green fruit begins to turn color, known as "veraison," we have to watch the fruit closely, keeping an eye out for anything that can come in at the last minute and destroy our fruit. The sugar levels are increasing and all sorts of diseases and fungal pressures love to grow in the grape's sweetness.  And then finally... HARVEST!! You can understand why growers sleep well the night after the crop comes off the vineyard.  The vintage is now out of their hands, hopefully giving the winemaker the best fruit possible to make the best wine possible from a given site.  And now it is the winemaker who begins their sleepless nights!!



It's a good thing the growing season is not longer than it is. The pressures and nerve-wracking weather and pest situations can take their toll.  You can see in the image above, we are finally getting some growth on the vines after one of the coldest springs on record.

The perils are many.  Some area vineyards got hit with a hail storm this past week and now forecasters are predicting a threat of frost and even a freeze for next week. A hard frost at this tender stage of growth could wipe out the entire vintage. Send warm thoughts for this upcoming Tuesday morning to Virginia vineyards. We'll take all the help we can get!

Every step of the way, each action requires thought and care, from the work in the vineyard to the tender care in the winery as Nathan crafts our wines..  Each of the nearly 4000 vines, twelve canes per vine, two clusters per cane. is given the utmost care and attention, all intended to grow the absolutely best fruit possible up here on this beautiful mountain in central Virginia.   The symbiosis between us and each vine is strong and the connection reciprocated.  It is my dream that the joy I feel while working amongst these plants in "My Peaceable Kingdom" with the chickens and guineas, the kitties and dogs, the bluebirds and martins, and in the off season the sheep, will be experienced in the person who sips our wine and their senses uplifted by this luscious nectar that grew on this very special mountain.  This is truly "la dolce vita."

April 24

 

May 10

Found!  The missing coffee mug!

 

 

 

Turning blue

My, what big antennae you have!

On the march to find some bugs!



This hummer returned from Mexico to the very same window,
 looking for food before I put out the feeder.  Amazing!

Return of my hummer, fresh eggs from our hens and a stink bug!

Tending the bees

 

 

Ahhh....The Good Life 

Who goes there?! Oh, it's Guppie...

You know I love you?

I love you too

 

Guess I'll just have to find someone else to harrass

 

Or maybe just rub my back



 

****

 

SAVE THE DATE!

 

JULY 20, NOON-5PM

 

"VERAISON IN THE VINEYARD"

 

Come celebrate with us the beautiful season of summer at Ankida Ridge.  "Veraison" is when the grapes get to the final ripening process, turning from green to purple as the sugar levels rise.  It is a short-lived spectacle of color in the vineyard... a sight to behold!

 

Email contact @ankidaridge for reservations (which are limited)

 

 

At Long Last.... Spring!

Dogwood in Bloom 4/12/2013

The long winter of 2013 is now history (we hope!)  While we do not yet have budbreak in the vineyard this twelfth day of April, we are at last seeing some signs of spring in the dogwoods and redbuds that fill this beautiful mountainside at Ankida.  Budbreak in the vineyard is a full month later at least than last year, which was abnormally warm in contrast to this year's weather. The woodland surrounding the winery is finally bursting open its buds and blossoms, thanks to a very warm stretch of temperatures this past week and also to the 1.5 inches of rain we got last night.  The image below shows the contrast between the seasons of 2012 and 2013. I am happy to say that our view is now looking closer to the top image of last year than the bottom one taken just a couple of weeks ago.

Mar 27, 2012

Mar 27, 2013

In the vineyard, the vines are all pruned and waiting to begin the 2013 vintage. In the winery, we are preparing for a May bottling of the Chardonnay.  In the tasting room, we are preparing for our first annual grand spring event, "Celebrate Budbreak!" this Sunday.  We are busy arranging the main floor and the cellar/crush pad to be able to accomodate the sold out event of over 100 people that have signed up to come!  Yikes!  It will be a crowd for sure, but a great one with many wine club members, old friends and many new folks we are looking forward to meeting.   The live music, the hayrides up to the vineyard, the wine and most importantly the wonderful friends of Ankida are going to make it one very special afternoon!

We were excited to read that we were included in an article in this week's Washington Post, "10 Mid-Atlantic Wineries Worth Exploring," by Dave McIntyre!  Dave is a champion of local wine and as one of the "wee wineries" of Virginia, we are forever grateful for his tireless efforts to promote the unique and those wineries around the country that express their region.  Cheers to Mr. McIntyre and the Drink Local Wine movement!

 

We are looking forward to seeing many of you this Sunday. Our next "Seasons at Ankida" event will be "Veraison in the Vineyard" in July.  Check our events page regularly for updates!

 

Watch for upcoming pix of BUDBREAK!!... coming soon to a vineyard near you!

 

Cheers!

 

The last of the winter pruning

As Fog Glides Over the Vineyard... A Winter Contemplation

On this chilled winter day, contemplative clouds of grey fill the woods and swoop up and over the vineyard as if in a dreamy dance, swirling, floating, drifting. I find myself reflecting on where we have come since planting the much maligned grape of Pinot Noir in Virginia. We did go out on a limb, following the family theme of life being more of a journey than a destination. We embarked on this wild adventure having no idea of its potential folly or its success. It seems the vines have spoken. 

These vines have been my constant companions throughout. I look down at them every morning upon arising. I watch them as I drive by. As the sun sets behind the mountain to our west, I follow the moving line of sunlight that slowly slides east in the evenings and watch the vines fade into the darkness of night. I work amongst them, tending to their stages of dormancy or growth. Confession time... I occasionally talk to them and often hum. Sometimes I simply stroll between the rows, even when they need no tending in the depths of winter. I think my favorite time of all to "just be" with our vines is on a clear night when the Milky Way stretches across the open skies and the Big Dipper and the Pleiades and Orion are clearly positioned above and I imagine stardust sprinkling down onto this little place on earth.

These vines and the fruit they create, the earth and granite beneath my feet formed eons ago, all offer me the gift of connection... a link to something much greater than myself. I find this to be for me, a spiritual inspiration, a source on unending joy; yes, even in the heat of the summer or when we struggle to battle fungi and other pests,  joy is still my fuel, albeit a bit diminished at those times. It is all a part of something so grand.  

  

The morning before our first harvest in August of 2010, as the sun rose from behind the mountain crest, I went down to the vineyard and I walked through every row, my hands outstretched and said a wistful goodbye to the fruit that would create our very first vintage.  The grapes that were plucked the next morning, leaving our succulent vines bare, went through their transformation over the days, weeks and months that followed. 

We continue our fruit's gentle care from vineyard into the winery as Nathan carefully tends to their transformation from grapes into wine. The fragrance that fills the winery during fermentation is reminiscent of some glorious memory for me and I always feel a hint of sadness when the fermentation phase is complete.  It is a magical time, these transformative days. When we leave in the evening and turn off the lights, I often feel I am tucking children in at bedtime.  I like to leave Beethoven or Bach  playing quietly overnight. 

For now, our 2013 grapes are embryonic, buried inside the nodes of our cold, chilled canes, all fast asleep. Birth will come soon enough. Even now I imagine these tiny cells can sense the vibration of sound coming from a humming voice that patiently awaits their emergence in spring. Until then, dear grapes, rest well. You have a big year ahead of you. We will be with you for the whole of the journey. You will burst forth, flower, set fruit, enlarge, ripen, be plucked from your mother vine, tended to with care by many hands. You will ferment, be bottled and age into something beautiful, honest to yourself; be sipped, shared, enjoyed with a special meal amongst family and friends and eventually be gone, left only to be remembered.

Birth of a cluster

A Wish For the New Year

My New Year’s Wish

That every child, every night be cuddled tightly, snuggled

Under blankets warmed by love, sung into slumber

Whispered words of wonder

Of swaying trees and glittering stars

Of a world where winds roar and clouds take form

Where birds take flight, soar out of sight.

Where snowflakes glisten, flutter and fall

And settle softly on lofty limbs and tiny twigs

And gently land on a little child’s tongue

Where little legs run to hide, to jump

Growing strong, crawling 

On rocks and fallen logs. Petting turtles

Catching frogs.  Noses sniffing sweet summer fields

And spiced, soggy leaves under muddied feet

Hearing a robin symphony in spring

Imagining

Tiny worlds beneath a rock

Contemplating

Stars in a space without end

Infinity

Unable to comprehend

Mysteries far beyond our little minds

Marvels of nature that awe, inspire

Filling little minds seeking meaning, climbing higher

To learn of treasures, discovering pleasures

Knowing the miracle of wonder

Found in the vast outdoors

Far from the batteried world held in a hand

Thought for fun where fingers flicker

Legs wither, minds grow numb

Lift your face to the sun, catch the kiss

Of the wind on your cheek.

Oh sweet child, know what you seek

 

What a Beautiful Time of Year

I seem to find myself walking around the house, the farm, the vineyard, the winery with this little smile on my face lately.  The rush is behind me and the air is brisk and smelling oh so lovely.  After a rain when I step outside, the fragrance of wet leaves permeates the air... leaves that are fallen, yet still spicy with the remembrance of life.  The woods are opening up and welcoming me.  This is the time of year that I can reclaim the forest and immerse myself in it without fear of ticks, snakes and all the other lifeforms that claim these woods as their own during the warm months.  It is now when I can stroll amongst the tall poplars and mighty oaks, and crawl up on large rock outcroppings and sit and marvel at the intricate patterns of lichen wrapped tightly onto the rock upon which I sit.  And I can study the shapes and follow with my finger the Bonzai-like torsion of Mountain Laurel branches that grow on the north and west facing slopes.  Each tree is a work of art unique to itself.  I find irresistible, the soft green moss that beckons me to crouch down and study the tiny tendrils that I suppose are seeds, that rise above as if a sentry to this tiny kingdom resting so close to the earth. It is so peaceful, so centering.

As I head into the vineyard I find myself smiling again... at the chickens pecking away in the soil that the sheep have massaged with their hooves. The kittens chase each other up, up, up a tree and wrap their front legs around the trunk, tails wagging in wide sweeps.  How fortunate these kitties to experience the joy of such freedom.

Soon the rush of the holidays will be here and then we head into the new year when we will return to the vineyard and begin pruning the vines, setting the stage for yet another vintage... where hope always springs eternal.  But for now, I am savoring this lull... my soft lullaby of life between the rush.  And it is oh so sweet.

Turning the Corner to Christmas

In the Vrooman household, Christmas is big... really big.  We celebrate the magic of Christmas and all that it embraces... tradition, ritual, spirit, family, mystery, ancient history, giving, sharing, decorating, celebrating... music, traditional foods, wine, friends, and of course, the message of the newborn Christ child.

Since our dream began many years ago to plant some vines and try our hand at making a very special wine, this will be our first Christmas with a cozy tasting room to open up to our fellow wine lovers and friends and share with all of you our love for Christmas.  And so we are inviting you to come help us "Celebrate and Decorate!" for the holidays at our first annual Ankida Ridge Christmas Party, our "Fête de Noël" to be held on Sat, Dec 1, 1-5pm with an Open House format.. come and leave anytime during those hours.  Space of our room and the narrow road is limited, so reservations are a must.

The tree will be up, the lights strung.  But because this is our first Ankida Christmas tree, we're going to need ornaments!  So the option is open to all guests to donate a Christmas ornament for the tree (with your name on it) in lieu of a tasting fee. And your ornament will become a treasure for years to come.

So mark your calendar and email your reservation to contact@ankidaridge.com.  Bring a basket of food to enjoy.  Weather permitting, we will have hayrides up to the vineyard (bottles of wine allowed on wagon!).

We look forward to sharing this first Ankida holiday celebration with you!