Journal | April 25, 2020
Hardscrabble Journal
Making Wine in the Vineyard
How does one emulate a wine style while striving to be true to their own terroir? Linden is enamored with White Burgundies. We dogmatically taste, visit and study the region. But our goal is not to make a white Burgundy, which is impossible since we are in a different place. Our terroir gives us different aromas and flavors, but as winegrowers we can strive to achieve similar balance and texture. This post addresses how we approach wine style in the vineyard.
The first planting of Chardonnay at Hardscrabble was in 1985. Cuttings were taken from neighboring Naked Mountain Vineyard and buds from those cuttings were grafted onto rootstock. This planting continues to be a significant contributor to Hardscrabble Chardonnay. We were lucky that the vines were planted on appropriate cool, clay soils. This east facing, high elevation (1,300 ft. or 400 m.) site pushed ripening into the sweet spot of late September when the nights are cool and the days are warm.
Over time additional Chardonnay vines were planted. We were able to build on our experiences, fine tuning each new vineyard. It became increasingly apparent that clone and rootstock selection needed to reflect our stylistic goals.
Over the centuries, many grapevine varieties have developed slight clonal differences. Typically a grower will observe one individual vine that shows different attributes. That difference could be in flavor, ripening time, cluster compactness, or berry size. In the winter, budwood is taken, propagated and new vines are disseminated to other growers. In the case of Chardonnay, we eventually discovered that our original planting of Chardonnay was clone #4, which is a very common clone used in California. It retains high acidity, which is a big benefit in a warm climate. But the clusters are huge, making it prone to excessively high yields (and therefore mediocre quality). The clusters are also very compact and tight, so if one berry rots, the rot quickly spreads through the entire cluster.
As long as we spent a lot of time in the vineyard trimming clusters and culling rot, this clone made really good wine with the balance we were looking for. However, we found other clones that had the same wine characteristics, but with smaller, looser clusters. All these clones were originally selected from a vineyard in California called Wente. Wente was one of the first vineyards to bring in Chardonnay vines from Burgundy. Our newer vineyards require less work of trimming clusters, and the yields are smaller, producing more concentrated wines.
During the growing season, as our climate warms, canopy management changes have been made to preserve freshness and acidity. Decades ago leaves around the clusters were removed to allow for better air circulation. But this also contributed to more direct sunlight and heat on the grapes. While today we still practice leaf removal, it is much more restrained so that the clusters stay mostly shaded. The resulting wines have more acidity and minerality.
These are just a few examples of how we make vineyard decisions to achieve a stylistic goal. Tomorrow will address winemaking and style in Chardonnay.
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: April 25, 2020