Producer: Ankida Ridge Vineyards
Region: Monticello AVA
Blend: 100% pinot noir
Production: 250 cases
ABV: 13%
Price: $44*
* Review sample provided by the winery
Ankida Ridge Vineyards 2016 Pinot Noir
For many years now, vintage after vintage, Ankida Ridge has proven itself as an outlier in Virginia wine – a producer of expressive, distinctive pinot noir that can only come from this somewhat remote vineyard an hour south of Charlottesville, VA.
Ankida Ridge is not only consistently the best pinot noir producer in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic. It's one of the top three or four producers of pinot noir in the East.
The nose is expansive and redolent of ripe red cherries, cranberries, and pomegranate seeds upfront and layers of spiced black tea, dried autumnal leaves, vanilla, and just a hint of damp soil.
Medium-bodied, the palate shows a beautiful balance between the same red berry fruits and earthy notes. The black tea note is a bit more pronounced on the palate bringing a wonderful bit of complexity even in this young wine. A long, complex finish shows all veins that run through this wine – fruit, spice, and earth. Supple tannins are well incorporated, and the wine shows lovely freshness and acidity from beginning to end.
This pinot noir is a benchmark for the variety in the region. I'd go so far as to suggest that this mountain vineyard has the potential to be a Premier Cru-level site.
