Hardscrabble Journal

Back to the Cellar

All 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. Red wine production normally consumes us at the end of the season. We now joke about having a free October for the first time in our professional lives.

However, we are not done quite yet. Petit Manseng and Vidal grapes are still on the vine. Both have solid reputations for being able to withstand anything Mother Nature throws at them. But 2018 may prove to be different. Today, in the rain, I will venture out to take samples and evaluate the condition of the crop. Unusually, I am not looking forward to this task.

This week is a cellar “catch-up” week. There are tanks of fermenting chardonnay that will be pumped into barrels. We will only use older barrels, as this vintage does not have the power to handle the flavor intensity of a new oak barrel. All the new barrels we purchased will be carefully stored under cool, humid cellar conditions for a year until used for the 2019 vintage.

Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: September 24, 2018