Linden Update | August 4, 2021
Ripening Begins Under Ideal Conditions
Winegrowers across our region are very excited. It has been at least ten years since the soil has been this dry at veraison. Veraison is the stage when the grapes turn color and begin accumulating flavors, sugar, and tannins. This year, because of the dryness, the vines slowed their vegetative growth early. This is good news for wine quality as vines are now putting their energy into ripening grapes rather than producing additional leaves.
Individual grape berries are small, promising good concentration of flavors. Veraison should be quick, promoting even, uniform ripening. Clusters are loose allowing better aeration and drying in the event of rain.
Additionally, over the past month, our work has eased tremendously because of the dryness. Very little hedging of excessive shoot growth has been needed, not much weeding or mowing either. The crop is on the small side due to smaller berries and clusters, so any hand cluster thinning to balance individual vine yields has been minimal.
We are well aware that a lot can happen between now and harvest in September and October. But that won’t stop us from enjoying the moment!
2018 Village Chardonnay Comes of Age
The success of this wine can be traced to a visit to Burgundy in August 2013. We spent a morning walking the vineyards of Domain Roulot with the viticulturalist, Eric Bodin. The weather was less than ideal, but Eric was in good spirits. Over the years they had learned about the restraint and finesse required to produce a beautiful wine from less than ideal conditions.
Burgundy experienced a very wet vintage in 2013. It was so wet in August that they couldn’t get tractors in the fields. It got even worse during harvest. I had written off the vintage as one to skip for my own cellar. But then I read glowing reviews about the 2013 white wines. In fact they are pure, focused, and lovely. And they have a place in my cellar. While a rainy vintage can be problematic for red wines, white wines can fare quite well.
By 2018 we had fine-tuned our approach to Chardonnay in the Roulot manner: precision management of each vineyard site and respect for the vintage. Our 2018 vintage was very similar to Burgundy’s 2013. The attention to detail and adaptation to vintage conditions resulted in a certain harmony and finesse in Linden’s 2018 Village Chardonnay. Now three years old, the wine has come together and is pairing beautifully with fresh summer cuisine.
Linden Direct
We have modernized (for us) and streamlined purchasing for pickups and UPS shipping. Linden can now ship to Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. We do hope you will consider taking advantage of these options. During the summer we may need to delay shipping due to excessive heat.
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: August 4, 2021