2013 Chardonnay
Palate
Enters with some weight and sweet fruit, then gathers up to become focused with moderate acidity and a bit of dry tannin on the finish. Sur lie character and mineral notes give the wine personality.
Aromas
Classic apple and vanilla aromas with a bit of salty minerality.
Food Pairings
Simple roasted chicken, pork, or grilled salmon.
Vineyard
Hardscrabble Vineyard (70%), Fauquier Co. on top of the Blue Ridge at 1,300 to 1,400 feet with an eastern to southern slope. Deep, well-drained mineral soils give acidity and good structure. Vines planted in 1985, 1988 and 1994. VSP and French Lyre training systems.
Avenius Vineyard (20%), Warren Co. just one mile north of Linden Vineyards at 1,300 feet, contributes good acidity and verve. Vines planted in 1998.
Boisseau Vineyard (10%), Warren Co. is located on a bluff above Front Royal in the Shenandoah Valley at an elevation of 600 feet. The vineyard is west facing on light, deep, well drained loam soils. The vines were planted in 2000 and are trained on cordon/VSP trellising.
Vintage
2013 was a difficult growing season that metamorphosed into a fabulous fall harvest. Bud break was very late. Most of the summer was wet, resulting in unruly vegetative growth and extra vineyard work. August continued this pattern until the last week when the weather broke.
Every vintage has its personality. Much like raising children, some vintages are easy, but most are not. Wet vintages require more intervention and guidance as the vines, through no fault of their own, take on a bit of a wild streak. Ample water availability during the growing season makes vines unruly, like kids fed too much sugary junk food. This was the case for the growing season of 2013. Until September.
September defines the quality and style of the wine. The bad behavior of the previous six months can be easily forgiven and forgotten if September is bright and sunny. September 2013 rewarded us for all our diligence during the growing season. The wild child of summer finally found a niche and thrived into early adulthood. With the exception of one very brief rain shower, we had no rain in September. This is quite remarkable in the mid Atlantic. In autumn, dusty gravel roads and brown grass gladden the winemaker’s heart. Days were warm and sunny, nights were very cool. Ripening was slow, preserving very fresh acidity and aromatics in the whites. 2013 chardonnay was stylistically exactly what we want: moderate sugars, high acids and loads of minerality.
Winemaking
Chilled grapes were sorted, pressed, juice settled and then barrel fermented in both older French oak. No malolactic fermentation. Aged sur lie in barrel for 10 months. This 2013 Linden Chardonnay is primarily comprised of press juice from all three vineyard sites. 80 cases produced. This wine will improve in the bottle for 4 or more years past vintage. Alcohol 13.7%.
Linden Vineyards / Our Wines / 2013 Vintage | 2013 Chardonnay