OUR ROOTS

Close up of green grapes on vine.

HISTORY

Bristol Valley Vineyards is an Anselm family winery. It was founded by Barbara Anselm with her son, Nickolas Anselm, and his son Evan. Brother David has joined the adventure, working tirelessly on both the vineyard and winery. And Niece Marie has joined, searching out business opportunities and selling.

We started by planting a few hundred vines in 2013, and decided to add to our vineyard and make it a business in 2015. We harvested our first grapes and produced our first wines in 2017: a Riesling and a Cherry Mead. We now have several red wines, Rieslings and white blends, and three fruited meads. 

Close up of snowy owl in pine tree.

THE OWL

The snowy owl is symbolic to our winery and is featured prominently on our label. The owl was a favorite of my father, who passed away on my birthday before the winery was started. On a birthday several years later, as I was pondering the future, a snowy owl came and rested in my pine tree, less than 10 feet from my house. It inspired me to make some changes and pursue my passion, and the adventure of the winery began.