Style

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that reveres the “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”. This reflects our philosophy behind the wine. It is a blend that is made without a plan. Decisions are made throughout elevage (aging) as we become familiar with the personality of each lot. This is unusual for traditional, conservative, methodical Linden Vineyards.

This is a big textured wine with a very generous mouth feel and a touch of sweetness. There is ample acidity and tannin length to carry its weight. Aromas and flavors include bee’s wax, apple skins, nutmeg and pear liqueur.

Vineyard

100% Hardscrabble Vineyard

Vidal Blanc 58%: One of France’s illegal grapes (now banned in France from planting). Cuttings were smuggled into the US after World War II. The vines at Linden’s Hardscrabble vineyard were planted in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Vidal Blanc is the foundation for the texture and structure of Wabi Sabi.

Petit Manseng 28%: Originally from French the foothills of the Pyrenees, this grape contributes aromatic complexity and acidity.

Sémillon 14%: The forgotten stepsister of Bordeaux contributes elegance and a bit of restraint to the blend. Grapes are sourced from a tiny planting from 2012.

Vintage

Winter ended early as March warmed and quickly initiating a very early bud break. From early April to early May we were on frost alert with many close calls. Cooler than average April and May also slowed vine development, but a warm streak in June allowed for good flowering and berry set. A hot, dry mid-July slowed vine growth at just the right time. The vines were looking balanced and ready to put their energy into ripening at as veraison was soon to begin.

Late July gave us a few welcome rain showers that refreshed the vines, but those showers eventually became more steady rains and by mid-August the soils were close to saturated. This slowed the veraison process and pushed predicted harvest dates 7 to 10 days behind average. Smoke haze from the west coast fires filtered sunlight on some days.

Harvest was slow to begin. Hardscrabble Semillon was picked September 14. Petit Manseng and Vidal harvest was October 20

Winemaking

Chilled grapes were sorted, pressed, juice settled and then barrel fermented warm (70's F) in old, neutral French oak. No malolactic fermentation. Aged sur lie in barrel for 10 months. Bottled in July of 2022. 2,180 bottles produced. This wine will improve in the bottle for several years past vintage. Alcohol 13.7%.

Linden Vineyards / Our Wines / 2020 Vintage | 2020 Wabi Sabi