Wabi Sabi

Linden Vineyard’s wines are classical, restrained, and respectful of tradition. We grow grapes that are best suited to express place. Our winemaking is very conservative and non-interventionist so that it is the land, rather than cellar practices, that speak in the wine. Most of our wines are planned years in advance as we make vineyard planting decisions based on soils and blending attributes. This is why the release of our 2017 Wabi Sabi needs explanation. It is none of these things.

It just sort of happened. During harvest critically important decisions are made quickly and intuitively. In September of 2017, while walking and tasting the Vidal vineyard block, I was struck by the concentration and balance of the grapes. The crop of these old vines is usually dedicated to a Late Harvest sweet wine. This year would be different. So with inspiration, but without a plan, we picked the Vidal and made a dry wine.

The resulting wine was massive and monolithic. It needed help. Normally, blending decisions are made with months of trials and deliberation. Wabi Sabi happened in one afternoon. Semillon provided some elegance and Viognier some perfume. It tasted really good, so why not?

The wine was bottled in August of 2018. We then moved on to other things. Occasionally a bottle was opened confirming that our spontaneous blending decision was remarkably good or lucky. All that was needed was a name, a label, and a marketing plan.

My winter reading provided the inspiration for the name.

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that eschews order and perfection. Beauty is spontaneous, fleeting, and singular. It is the chip in a family heirloom bowl that gives it a special identity that cannot be replaced. And some day it will break.

Linden’s Wabi Sabi is an impulsive, generous, fruit driven wine with richness, loads of texture, and a creamy finish. It is so outside Linden’s stylistic and philosophical wheelhouse that it makes absolutely no sense.

Linden Evolution Seminars

Hardscrabble and Avenius Vineyards:
Long Learning Curves Finally Crest

After decades of trial and error with our red wine vineyard blocks, we are finding our groove. The results are rewarding. Jim Law will guide a tasting of four vintages (2014, ‘15, ‘16, and ‘17) of both Hardscrabble and Avenius reds. We will then descend to the cellar to taste barrel samples of the recently blended 2019 vintage. 

Every vintage reflects a unique story. How we react to the vintage in the vineyard and the cellar will be the thread of March’s Evolution Series.

All the wines tasted, except the 2019, will be available for sale, but only that day and only to seminar participants.

2014 Avenius Red
2015 Avenius Red
2016 Avenius Red
2017 Avenius Red

2014 Hardscrabble Red
2015 Hardscrabble Red
2016 Hardscrabble Red
2017 Hardscrabble Red

Sunday, March 15, 2020 | 12 noon and 2:30pm — SOLD OUT
Sunday, March 29, 2020 | 12 noon and 2:30pm — SOLD OUT

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: February 2020