In some ways bottling is the worst thing that can happen to a wine. A youthful, delicate, expressive wine in barrel or tank will retreat into a shell of itself after bottling. This widely recognized phenomenon is known as bottle shock.
Read MoreWinter slows the pace at Linden. After an intense and often stressful harvest season, we can now take time to get re-acquainted with our past vintages. For the last several years we have enjoyed sharing this process with all of you.
The trials and tribulations of the 2018 growing season have consumed my attention, so it has been a while since I’ve written about Linden’s Terroir Project.
Read MoreThere’s been some puzzlement and confusion coming from Virginia wine enthusiasts who have been following the 2018 vintage.
Read MoreThe consequences of the wet 2018 growing season linger. Most noticeable are the leaves, still hanging on, but not exactly vibrant. The mountains lack their usual luster of fall and are slow to change color. Vine leaves are similar, with the top leaves now all gone exposing still green shoot tips that should be brown. This is the problem.
Read MoreThe 2018 vintage ended abruptly and left us somewhat dazed for a while. It was an enormously stressful year in which inclement weather dictated hard work and tough decisions. Then it all ended without much fanfare.
Read MoreThis fall’s harvest has very quickly become a distant memory. We are looking forward now.
Read MoreVintage 2018 finished last week with the harvest of Petit Manseng. While it was a difficult year, I’m very confident about the decisions that were made and the wines that will be bottled. As winegrowers we know that there is no alternative to the hand that we are dealt.
Read MoreIt was a fortuitous finish of an otherwise dismal vintage. The Petit Manseng grape has grit. A seriously spiteful Mother Nature threw everything she had at these resilient vines, but they still gave us a harvest that will make some of the best wines of 2018.
Read MoreAll Linden’s red grapes have been harvested. We have a record amount of rosé fermenting in tanks but no red wines for 2018. It is a very eerie feeling to walk through an empty cellar that should be bustling with pump-overs and punch downs.
Read MoreThis week we are harvesting all our red grapes. But we will not make any red wine. Growing and harvest conditions have been less than favorable for creating red wines that would make Linden proud. This is our first vintage (since 1987) that we have not produced red wine. Wine is truly made in the vineyard and there is no cellar magic that can change this.
Read MoreYesterday we walked the vineyards, tasted grapes, gathered samples, and ran lab tests for the red grapes. And as has become our hourly ritual, we checked the weather forecast.
We then decided to buck up and face the music.
Read MoreYesterday Team Linden was faced with the impossible task of harvesting eight tons of grapes from two different vineyard sites and four different blocks. The crop was ripe but beginning to show signs of degradation due to all the wet weather.
Read MoreThe good news is that the major impact of high winds and torrential rains from hurricane Florence may miss us. My biggest concern is power loss. We have some solar/battery backup, enough to run small pumps and water, but not enough to power large processing equipment and cooling.
Read MoreThis week we will harvest most of our white grapes in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Florence. We start at daybreak with Avenius Sauvignon Blanc and then head to Hardscrabble where the young vine Chardonnay will be picked. The week will be a continual cycle of picking and pressing.
Read MoreThe cycle of harvest and crush is underway. Yesterday was a dizzying first day as we pressed out Boisseau Chardonnay, Boisseau Viognier, Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc, and Hardscrabble Semillon. It is quickly becoming evident that 2018 will become the vintage of “pretty” wines.
Read MoreWednesday, September 5, marked the first day of harvest for Linden Vineyards. We started at the warmer Boisseau Vineyards with Chardonnay and Viognier under sunny skies and hot temperatures. Considering the challenges of the 2018 growing season, we are quite pleased with the quality of the crop.
Read MoreOur grapes are ripening, but slowly. There has been enough heat, but not too much sun. We have avoided most of the thunderstorms over the past several days.
Read MoreFinally the weather is in our favor. I can’t remember the last time we went a full week without rain. The vines are finally settling down with green growth slowing.
Read MoreThis has been the wettest growing season I have ever experienced.
For those of you who have an interest in following the progression of the 2018 vintage, I have been faithfully posting weekly updates in Hardscrabble Journal on Linden’s new web site.
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