Linden Update | August 2019

Linden Hardscrabble Chardonnay, August 26, 2019

Linden Hardscrabble Chardonnay, August 26, 2019

Singular Task

Last week’s heat wave accelerated ripening. Harvest will start very soon, but the peak of activity is still many weeks away. This is why September’s weather is so critical in determining the overall quality and style of the vintage. All we ask for is cool, dry and no hurricanes.

The weeks leading up to harvest involve a lot of cleaning, maintenance, and desk work. This ritual is akin to preparing for an extended sabbatical. For the next five or six weeks there will be no distractions as we put all our mental and physical energy into one singular task.

At the sorting table, from left to right: Jim Law, Jonathan Weber, Shari Avenius, Richard Boisseau

At the sorting table, from left to right: Jim Law, Jonathan Weber, Shari Avenius, Richard Boisseau

Grapes into Wine

For the past six months we have tended our vines in a very slow, methodical, and deliberate way, making small changes as the nature of the season unfolds. The vines are set and ready. The foundation is laid. The winegrower now becomes the winemaker. Time becomes more compressed and more precious. The weather will be the principle determinant of the success of the vintage. It will also dictate our lives. All of the important winemaking decisions that contribute to the style and quality of each wine will happen over the next two months.

Follow the 2019 Harvest

I will post short, but frequent vintage updates throughout this year’s harvest at
Hardscrabble Journal / Follow the 2019 Harvest.

Special Cellar Tastings for 2019 end August 31.

They will resume in January 2020.

Linden will be closed October 11, 12, and 13

Soon after Linden was established in the 1980s, it became apparent that producing great wine required unrelenting focus. This is why Linden does not host extraneous activities now commonly associated with most wineries.

However, there has always been one possible exception held in reserve. It will come to fruition on the weekend of October 11–13 as our family celebrates the marriage of my daughter.

On those three days, Linden will be closed to the public.

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Linden UpdatesJim Law2019