Now it feels like harvest. The cooler is being filled with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. I was too tired to make a decent dinner, but still managed to enjoy a glass of 2014 Grand Cru Chablis for information and inspiration.
Read MoreToday marks the beginning of the big push. Cool, wet weather has slowed ripening, so it has been a week since we last picked. Today we start with young vine Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
Read MoreVintage 2017 is starting with a bit of anxiety. While picking has started, it has now stopped as we are still waiting for a bit more ripening of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. They are very very close, but if we picked now, the wines would be a bit green with unbalanced acidity.
Read MoreRainy day. Not what we want, but at least we feel confident about pulling the trigger on yesterday’s pick. Looks like some hard decisions coming up as we play the cat and mouse game with alternating rain chances and sunny days.
Read MoreEver leave the house for a trip and have that feeling that you forgot something?
Read MoreThis coming weekend is traditionally one of our slowest in terms of visitors. ... So we will entice you to start an early and more cultured hedonism with four new wine releases.
Read MoreAfter a very dry June and July our vines were in need of a good rain. An inch or two would have been great, but in just a few hours on August 11 we received 3.5 inches. This ended the drought and refreshed our stressed young vines.
Read MoreMost of you live in the area and have been experiencing our classic Mid-Atlantic summer. You may wonder how the vines are doing with the heat, humidity and lack of rain. The short answer is “fine”. The longer version is “it depends”.
Read MoreThis is Linden’s first release of a 2016 vintage white wine. It is "2016": a warm dry harvest that resulted in very fruit forward, lush, and poised wines.
Read MoreI’m reminded of an old winegrower’s adage: “June makes the quantity, September makes the quality.”
Read MoreMother Nature has been a bit of a wild woman. The vines shrugged off February temperatures in the 80°’s, teens in March and patchy frost in May. Our resilient vines have survived.
Read More2017 will be my 38th vintage. In the 1980s the idea of climate change seemed too futuristic to have any real consequences in my lifetime. Now it is here and having a more dramatic impact than I thought.
Read MoreRosé always marks the first release of a new vintage. It is a wine that is best enjoyed while it is fresh and vibrant. The 2016 edition is a bit different than past Linden Rosés.
Read MoreIt has started. The “worries” give a growing season its official beginning. Vine buds are still as tight as a drum, but sap has been flowing and temperatures for the next few nights are predicted to be in the teens.
Read MorePruning is a winegrower’s favorite job. Especially on warm, sunny days. A small vineyardist has an intimate relationship with each vineyard block and in some ways, with each vine.
Read MoreDecades ago, a certain intellectual curiosity led me to Virginia to grow winegrapes. That curiosity has not waned. Initial plantings in the 1980s and 1990s where established with great enthusiasm, but without much knowledge or experience. I am now very familiar and even intimate with the soils and slopes on this small farm.
Read MoreThis first week of the New Year, as is our custom, we started blending trials for the 2016 Reds. We have some great material to work with as the ripeness and quality of the grapes was the best in recent memory.
Read MorePossibly unique to the winegrowing trade is the time honored site visit. This is where one winery operation visits another with the intention of sharing information, walking the vineyards and tasting the wines.
Read MoreJonathan and I just spread 24 tons of chicken litter on land that will eventually become Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps not one of the more romantic aspects of vine growing...
Read MoreReflecting our respect for the seasons, we are now in rest mode with a self imposed ban on doing anything of importance.
Read More