Lake Anna Winery is located just three miles from the Lake Anna recreation area. The winery is a great side trip from the lake, and one of the older wineries in the state. The Heidig family farm began growing grapes for local wineries back in 1983. The winery opened in 1990.
Wine. Among the Top 100 wineries of Virginia. The Lake Anna 2021 vintage Chardonnay Barrel Select was awarded a gold medal at the 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine tasting competition, while four other wines received silver medals at the event: the 2019 vintage Morgan Merlot and Petit Verdot, and the 2021 Seyval Blanc and Chambourcin. At the 2022 Governor’s Cup competition, all five Lake Anna entries were awarded silver medals: their Spotsylvania Claret, 2020 Verdi, and 2019 Chardonnay, Petit Verdot and Morgan Merlot. The 2017 vintage Petit Verdot was awarded a gold medal at the 2021 Governor’s Cup, and back in 2020, Lake Anna’s 2017 vintage Tannat won a coveted spot in the 2020 Virginia’s Governor’s Case, the top 12 wines in the state. The winemaker is Graham Bell.
Setting. The winery is housed in an old barn on the property. The tasting room is fairly small, but friendly. Lake Anna Winery hosts an annual Renaissance Fair in May.
Stories. Almost Natural Virginia — Lake Anna. The largest lake in Northern Virginia is Lake Anna, a reservoir created in the 1970s by the damming of the North Anna River, a tributary of the Pamunkey River. The reservoir was designed to provide cooling water for the North Anna Nuclear Generation Plant, which went into operation in 1978. Lake Anna is 17 miles long, with 200 miles of shoreline, and some 120 different communities dotting the shores of the lake. A 90-foot high earthen dam sits at the head of the river, with a tiny hydroelectric plant alongside. The long and narrow lake is divided into a public side, which hosts the nuclear plant, and a private side which has several marinas and boat launches. The public side is known as the “cold” side because it provides water to cool the generators at the power plant; the private or “hot” side receives warm water discharge from the power plant. The lake is popular with anglers. The private side also includes Lake Anna State Park.