2024 Conundrum Vintage

Harvest and crush are underway. Linden's first harvest was in 1987 and this is our earliest start. Frankly it is too early. We are scrambling to adapt to a new reality of picking fast-ripening grapes under hot conditions. The clusters are big, healthy, and photogenic, but we are more concerned about flavors and balance.

In a typical vintage, we can confidently predict the style of the wine simply by tasting the grapes or the juice. Not so confident this year. Extreme drought, then one big rain, then a chilly week, now a hot week: these are not classic ripening conditions. The quality of the grapes is quite high. The wines will be quite good. But will they retain the "Linden style" and the terroir characteristics of each site? This we will not know until winter when the wines have fermented and cleared. For us this is new territory.

2024 Harvest and Crush | Tour and Tasting 

If you want to witness the action, from September 6 to October 6 we are bringing back our special harvest and crush tours and tastings. This is your opportunity to see up close how wine is made. Crush is the winemaking term for all the activity after picking the grapes—extracting the juice and starting fermentation. Our educational tour begins in the vineyard, continues on the crush pad, and then into the cellar. You'll be able to taste (grapes, juice, fermenting wine), see (harvest or crush, depending on the day), and smell (fermentation aromas are intoxicating). We'll finish the tour with our comparative wine tasting.

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays at 10:30 am

$50 per person. By reservation only. Group size is limited to four.

New Comparative Tasting

Starting this weekend (Friday, August 30) we have a new Fall tasting. How do the weather, the vineyard site, and wine aging influence style? This is your chance to find out.

Fall Tasting Line up

• Greeter: Wabi Sabi 2020

• Vintage comparison: 2020 Village Chardonnay and 2019 Village Chardonnay  

• Age comparison: 2021 Claret and 2016 Petit Verdot

• Terroir comparison: 2020 Avenius Red and 2020 Hardscrabble Red 

Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays at 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
$25 per person. By reservation only.

• Sign up to get the monthly Linden Updates for the latest vineyard and cellar information.

Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: August 28, 2024