Linden Update | April 23, 2026
Surveying the frost damage on Wednesday morning.
Past is Not Prologue
On Tuesday morning April 21, Linden's Hardscrabble Vineyard was hit by frost. This was our first significant loss since planting in 1985. It was not really the frost that was untimely, it was the very early start of growth of the vines. An unusually warm early spring made the vines susceptible. Let me explain.
The tender, succulent green shoots that emerge from the dormant vines will burn and die if temperatures fall below 29F. These shoots contain the tiny flower clusters that become grapes. If they die there will be no crop. Historically at Hardscrabble these shoots begin to emerge in late April. Any frost before then does no damage. This year by April 21 most of the shoots had emerged.
Fortunately the majority of our vines escaped damage, but there were some sad exceptions. Elevation, slope, and shoot length all played a role.
Blocks below the winery with some damage.
Elevation
This was what is called a radiational frost. The pre-dawn night was still and cloudless. In this scenario the heavier cold air flows to the lowest area, pushing up the warmer air. This is why there are no vines planted at Linden's entrance at the bottom of the hill. Our vines are planted up higher in the "thermal zone." This is one of the reasons I chose this site some 40 + years ago. It has always been to our advantage, but this week the cold bowl filled to a level that included some of our lower vineyard sites. All the vines around and above the winery were unscathed. Those blocks just below the winery had some damage, but will still produce a partial crop. But the lowest blocks suffered the most.
Gentle sloped Chardonnay with frost damage on the left, while the slightly higher slope on the right is not as damaged.
Slope
The damage in the lower blocks was mitigated by steeper slopes. The air was able to move downward faster. A gentle sloped part of one block of Chardonnay was hit hard as the cold air had nowhere to flow. The vines in the same row slightly higher on the slope were not damaged.
A longer shoot hit by the frost, while a shorter, neighboring shoot was less susceptible to the frost.
Shoot length
In the lower blocks, precocious shoots that were elongated were most susceptible. This would include a lower block of Cabernet Franc, some Sauvignon Blanc, and the referenced Chardonnay block. Fortunately our Cabernet Sauvignon was just starting to break bud and there seems to be enough buds that survived.
It's too early to make any predictions on yield losses. Many blocks will have full crops. Others will have some reduction. A few may have very little crop. The overall percentage of loss will probably be in the 20% to 30% range, but those are numbers and do not reflect the emotional toll on those of us who work the vines.
It is difficult to convey the gut punch of walking the vines after a devastating event like frost or hail. You feel physically sick and emotionally devastated. My defense mechanism is to try to let it go for 24 hours. A special bottle of wine helps a lot. It centers me and reminds me of why I signed up to be a winegrower.
The most lingering concern is that the past may no longer be prologue. Was this event a once in a lifetime occurrence or will it be the new normal? Do we need to take drastic measures such as replanting lower vineyard sites? Do we need to invest in frost mitigation tools such as burning, which increases our carbon footprint?
Farming connects us inseparably with our environment. We are the canaries in the global coal mine.
The April 2026 shipment includes: 2023 Hardscrabble Red, 2023 Avenius Red, 2023 Claret, 2021 Hardscrabble Chardonnay, 2024 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc, and 2024 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc.
4-Pack Offering | Quaffable Spring Wines
Despite events like this frost, living this close to the elements and by the rhythm of the seasons is the greatest reward for what we do. When warm weather arrives our tastes in wine and food change. Fresh, light and crunchy pairs well with a warm spring evening. Quaffable is a good description of this style. Our French colleagues use the onomatopoeic "glou glou" to describe a wine to gulp rather than to savor. Just saying. We've selected two white wines and two red wines that will kick off the porch sitting season.
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: April 23, 2026