Linden Update | April 25, 2024
Chardonnay: Back to Basics
Chardonnay has been grown for over a thousand years in Burgundy. Its noble and revered reputation stems from three factors:
The Chardonnay grape excels at expressing terroir. Slight changes in soil, slope, or microclimate can produce vastly different wines. This is why Burgundy wines are labeled by place rather than grape variety.
The weather around harvest will always have a unique signature on Chardonnay’s style. This is what we refer to as vintage variation. The wines from the same vineyard can have different weight, texture, and acidity from one year to the next, but they continue to reflect the character of their terroir.
Wines made from Chardonnay grown in an appropriate place, and created with intention, will age more gracefully than most red wines. Only time can provide a certain complexity and textural harmony that elevates a wine to the level of ethereal.
Chardonnay was included in each of the first plantings of Linden’s three vineyard sites: Hardscrabble, Avenius, and Boisseau. We felt that it was the best grape to unveil from our virgin terroirs. I cannot describe how exciting it is be the first winegrower to explore a new region and slowly uncover the characteristics of an individual small slope. This journey began in 1985 and very much continues today.
Unfortunately for us, around this time Chardonnay became America’s most popular white wine. Baby boomers were discovering wine. Large industrial wineries in California were planting Chardonnay in hot, arid valleys that could be irrigated and mechanized for large yields of mediocre grapes. Manipulation in the winery produced wines that could be put on the shelves quickly (time is money). These wines were typically flabby, sweet, and laced with an ample dose of oak flavoring. They were an expression of marketing rather than terroir.
Grocery store Chardonnays are big, oaky, and buttery. Linden’s are not. A “Burgundian” style has been our guiding light for 40 years. That has not changed. Experience has fine-tuned our approach. And our vines have also aged. We now ask you to ignore stereotypes and prejudices. Find out what Chardonnay really tastes like.
Linden Chardonnay | 4-pack
Village Chardonnay 2019 and 2020
Linden’s Village Chardonnays are made from mostly younger Hardscrabble vines. The two vintages are very different (2019 was hot and dry, and 2020 was classic). These two wines are a great example of vintage variation.
Avenius Chardonnay 2019 and 2020
Shari Avenius planted her eponymous vineyard in 1996 on a high elevation, east-facing ridge just a mile from Linden winery. This single one-acre block of Chardonnay has demonstrated to us how vine age and site selection can make a wine of distinction.
$157.00
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: April 25, 2024