Hardscrabble Journal

Hardscrabble Chardonnay | Part 1

The embryonic beginning of Hardscrabble Chardonnay can be attributed to an epiphany at a seafood restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio in the early 1960s. My mother and father were celebrating an anniversary. They splurged and ordered a lobster dish to be accompanied by Budweiser. The maître d must have had an extraordinary power of persuasion to convince my father to substitute a bottle of Chablis for his Budweiser.

White Burgundy became the special occasion wine at the Law household. I learned to pronounce Meursault and Puligny, but had no idea that they came from the Chardonnay grape.

Two decades later I found myself pursuing a career as a winegrower. Circumstances led me to Virginia. While I remained fixated on Chardonnay, I felt that Virginia was too warm to make the style I loved. High elevation became the remedy. The solution was in finding a cool vineyard site: over 1,000 feet in elevation and a cooler east facing slope. 

In 1983 a long abandoned orchard on the Blue Ridge near the village of Linden was purchased for the planting of an aspiring vineyard.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: April 24, 2020