Linden Update | July 8, 2026

Sunburnt Chardonnay berries

Heat Wave 

Last week's heat wave was crippling for the winegrowers, but the vines fared well. Rains from a few weeks ago provided adequate soil moisture, so the vines were not stressed. However we did see a bit of sunburn on some of the exposed clusters as a result of unrelenting solar intensity and temperatures climbing into the 90°s F. This is something never seen before here at Hardscrabble. I selected this mountain site in 1983 to take advantage of the cooling elevation. But that was then and this is now.

Summers are hotter. This has changed our approach to managing the vineyard canopy (shoots and leaves arranged on the trellis) during the growing season. If these changes had not been implemented, the sunburn damage would have been much, much worse. In the early days we would remove copious amounts of leaves surrounding the clusters in order to promote aeration and sun exposure, which in turn would accelerate ripening. Now we do almost the opposite. We do a bit of aeration, but only a bit. The clusters remain shaded on the west side of the canopy with just a bit of opening on the cooler east side. Most leaves are now retained for shade along with lateral shoots above the clusters. This can also mitigate hail damage as the foliage can act as umbrellas shielding bunches. Aeration is also performed earlier in the season (we finished several weeks ago). Any clusters that might have been exposed have a better chance to acclimate to their new sunny environment. Sort of like humans slowly working on a summer tan. 

Even with these new methods we did see some sunburn on clusters that were exposed to the afternoon sun. Fortunately the damage is minimal and the individual grapes that were affected are drying up and should fall off so as not to negatively affect wine quality. This has been a "fire and ice" vintage of two firsts: frost and now sunburn. 

New Summer Tasting 

The growing season has an enormous impact on our wine style. With the summer heat upon us, we are switching our tasting again to match the season. We are celebrating vintage variation with a comparison of three pairs of wines from different vintages. We will compare the classic 2020 vintage to the powerful 2023 with Village Chardonnays, the 2022 and 2023 Avenius Sauvignon Blancs, and the 2021 and 2023 Clarets. The 2023 Claret is a new release, the first red of the highly anticipated 2023 vintage. 

Reserve
 
Linden UpdatesJim Law2026