Hardscrabble Journal

The Making of Hardscrabble Chardonnay

“Terroir winemaking” is the best way to describe Linden’s philosophy. The goal is to respect the inherent flavors and aromas that are expressed from each vineyard site.

But each vintage is unique. The weather dictates potential alcohol (sugar), acid, concentration, and ripening. Our job is to make winemaking decisions that give balance to each individual wine. I’ll write about a few of those decisions when making Hardscrabble Chardonnay.

We now have decades of experience making wine in the same cellars from the same grapes. The winemaking is mostly palate based, meaning we continually taste grapes, juice, and wine to give us a basis for action. The lab plays a minor role of confirmation, but the more information the better.

The most important winemaking decision is when to pick. As grapes ripen acidity falls, sugar rises, and flavors change. But each component is effected differently by the weather during ripening. There is rarely a “perfect” day to pick. There is often a tradeoff. For Linden, acidity quantity and quality are most important. 

Fortunately at Hardscrabble we now have seven different blocks of chardonnay. With vine age and clonal differences, we have about a two-week window of ripening. This helps with harvest logistics which does play a role in overall quality.

The next decision happens at the press. Do we crush the grapes first or load them directly into the press? How hard do we squeeze? When do we separate the different press juices? What makes us end the pressing? All this is based on taste. We’ve become really good at tasting juice. At first, the juice that flows from the press is very fresh and lively. After several press cycles there is a richness and softness that shows. Late in the pressing the juice can begin to taste hollow, flat, and bitter. Time to end.

Hardscrabble Chardonnay is fermented and aged in Burgundian barrels. Older barrels are primarily used as we do not want the flavor of oak to be evident. Older barrels are considered flavor neutral, but still allow for graceful aging due to their shape (ideal for lees evolution) and porosity (a tiny amount of oxygen gives a rounder texture).

Finally, the timing of bottling plays a role in wine development. Early bottling will capture fruitiness at the expense of texture and complexity. With Hardscrabble Chardonnay we bottle late: the second winter, meaning 18 months after harvest. This way the wine has plenty of time to benefit from lees aging. Lees are the post fermentation yeast cells that slowly break down and give some creamy texture and complexity to the wine. The more time, the more influence.

Hardscrabble Chardonnay is made with the intention of age. The wine can be tight and closed down right after bottling, so we put the bottles in the far reaches of the cellar and move on. Every once in a while a cork is pulled and the wine tasted. We usually find that after a total of 30 months from harvest, the wine begins to show its character. Most vintages drink best after five years and, under the right conditions, will improve for many years after that.

This winter for one of my seminars we opened a 1993 Linden Chardonnay that after 26 years was fresh, complex, and pristine.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: April 26, 2020