Linden Update | January 21, 2025
Linden Vineyards, January 21, 2025
How Cold is Too Cold?
It depends.
The vines should be fine this week. The seasonably cold temperatures of the past several weeks have kept the vines at maximum cold hardiness. So they should handle predicted temperatures of 0°F (-18°C) with little damage. This winter is reminiscent of the cold 1980s and 1990s when the mercury regularly clocked in below 0°F (-18°C). By the way, vines don't feel windchill, and they don't care if it is icy or snowy. It's not about "feels like" temperatures. The thermometer reading is our concern.
A quick history of vine winter damage in Virginia.
In the 1970s and 1980s freeze damage was thought to be a major limiting factor in growing the "noble" vitis vinifera grapes on the East Coast. At that time, most vineyards hedged their bets by planting hardier American or French hybrid varieties. Vinifera was deemed too risky. And in many cases, it was. When I arrived in Virginia in 1981, I witnessed more than one vineyard that was abandoned due to freeze damage/death. But eventually we learned that the cause had much to do with sub-standard site selection (concave landform and heavy soils) along with poor management. If vines are planted on a well-drained slope and go into the winter healthy and “rested," they can handle a pretty harsh winter.
In January 1994, we experienced our record low of -13°F. (-25°C). At that temperature most of the fruitful buds were killed. Our crop was down from 50% to 100% depending on the variety. But the vines survived and came back to produce a full crop the following year. This kind of winter damage is manageable.
In March of 2014, a Polar Vortex brought us 2°F (-17°C). It killed over half of our vines that were five years or younger. Timing is everything. In January the vines are at maximum hardiness. But in March they had begun to wake up. The sap was flowing (young vines are stimulated by a warm week in February more than old vines). Trunks cracked, graft unions failed, and an opportunistic disease called crown gall strangled any remaining sap flow. This is why we now protect the base of our young vines with "buckets" filled with compost that act as an insulation for those really cold nights.
We now worry as much about warm winter temperatures as cold ones. A prolonged warm spell in February is called a false spring. It can stimulate sap flow (think maple syrup) and make the vines much more susceptible to subsequent cold damage.
In any case, we won't know how well the vines fared until May. That is when the shoots emerge. Or don't.
How Cold is Too Cold...to Ship Wine?
Wine is more sensitive than the vines it came from. We don't ship our wines when we see temperatures below 20°F. No one likes exploded wine. The forecast has a window of warmer weather next weekend when we might be able to ship. Some of our new releases (2021 Hardscrabble Red and Avenius Red) are now online. We ship to DC, Maryland, and Virginia and will soon announce our expanded shipping range.
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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: January 21, 2025