Jacob Dudley Rinker and his wife Emma Glaize raised their eight children on the family farm where they grew crops and kept farm animals. Raymond Dudley Rinker purchased the farm from his siblings after the death of his parents and continued in the family farming tradition until the family bull chased him across the pasture one too many times. It was then he decided to sell the animals and plant mo
re apple trees. Ray and his wife Ruth Boyer Rinker expanded the orchards while raising their two sons. In 1973 Ruth, who was teaching in the Frederick County Schools, opened one of the first "Pick Your Own" apple operations in Virginia. This promoted the opportunity to come to the country and pick your own apples to families in the surrounding metropolitan areas and opened up a whole new way of educating the public about Virginia Apples. That same year Ray and Ruth's younger son began to take over the orchard operations. Dudley is the third generation of Rinkers to carry on the family tradition. Seeing a need to fill a niche market Dudley started Rinker's Apple Cider in 1986. Rinker's Cider is made using only fruit fresh from the trees. No water, sugar or preservatives are used. While it is flashed pasteurized, it retains all the properties of fresh pressed cider. Pick Your Own Apples:
The Pick Your Own Apples facet of the Rinker Orchards' business began in 1972. The main crowds this business caters to are people from the Northern Virginia/DC areas who are looking for a day trip out of the city and into the country air. The varieties available for Pick Your Own on the orchard are Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Ida Red, Nittany, York, Rome, Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Gala, and Redcort. You can also find pumpkins, corn stalks, and the famous Rinker's Apple Cider during Pick Your Own time. Patronage to the orchard for Pick Your Own has remained steady, even through the tragedy of 9/11. Customers saw their weekend visits to the orchard as a getaway and felt safe while in the country. Some customers have been coming since the advent of Pick Your Own and proudly bring their third generation apple pickers with them year after year. Rinker's Famous Apple Cider:
The first batch of Rinker's Apple Cider was created in 1986 by Dudley Rinker. To this day, the blend of apples he uses to get the famous flavor is kept a secret (even from his children). But the fact that the cider is 100% juice with no added sugar or preservatives is no secret. The cider business took off from the very beginning over 20 years ago. For the first years, production doubled or tripled every year. The process of flash pasteurization (bringing the cider up to a high temperature quickly to kill potential bacteria) was brought to the operation in 1997 before it was made a requirement by the FDA. Rinker uses are bought from local suppliers to have an adequate supply and a good variety for the mix. In fact, there have been years when more apples have been bought for cider than have been raised by Rinker Orchards. 2010 production was up 17% over 2009 (between 50,000-100,000 gallons) making it the best production year yet, and it is all produced on site at Rinker Orchards. The cider has been sold by vendors such as Wal-Mart and Food Lion, and is currently sold at the orchard, in Martin's Food Stores and in farm markets throughout the Shenandoah Valley, including Charlottesville. Requests have been made for the cider all up and down the coast, including Georgia and Alabama. The cider reputation has expanded greatly over the past 20 years, and customers will go out of their way to stock up on a few gallons to freeze for the winter or a half gallon to give as a gift. It hasn't been uncommon for Mr. Rinker to walk into a new place and have strangers walk up to him after seeing the logo on his shirt and mention how much they enjoy the cider and visiting the orchard. The number of people calling this past year to ask where they can purchase the cider has been unusually strong, and it's been the same for Pick Your Own. Rinker Orchards has also had many news stories published on the operations and even a spread in the popular magazine, Southern Living.
