Linden Update | February 27, 2025

Samantha Law Wilde, Alex Wilde, and Jonathan Weber, February 26, 2025.

Generational Transition

My fact-finding trips to Europe have had an outsized influence on Linden's wine style and quality. Initially, I was armed with technical questions that were answered with an air of disinterest. I was asking the wrong questions. Great wines are not made by numbers or production protocols. They are made by respect, humility, and ancestral knowledge.

One of the world's greatest wine producers is Jean-Louis Chave from the northern Rhone. The winery has been passed down for 16 generations of unbroken lineage. Since 1481. That is perhaps more impressive than the wine. Starting in the 1960s, with increased education and mobility, younger generations were presented an abundance of alternative career opportunities. Can't keep them on the farm. Unbroken lineage was in jeopardy. But youth is fleeting and eventually life settles into rhythms and responsibilities. The rural life that was fled started looking more attractive. I've enjoyed observing (and tasting) the balancing act of so many younger European winegrowers: honoring tradition while slowly implementing improvements.

Today Linden not only continues to emulate Europe's wine styles, but it is also transitioning to a new generation.

When Jonathan Weber started at Linden as an apprentice in 2010, his experiences were exclusively in the winery cellars. He realized that he was missing the connection to the land. It also became apparent that in order to make great wine one has to know what it tastes like. Linden's philosophy of focusing on the vines and regularly tasting benchmark wines was attractive then and now. He is now Linden's winemaker, but like all of us, he spends most of his time in the vines.

Samantha Law Wilde, my daughter, followed the European model. But she left this rural life for another. Two years as a Peace Crops Volunteer in a village in Namibia led to a career in international development work. Her base was Washington DC, where she met her future husband.

Alex Wilde had settled comfortably into the DC life, but fond memories of his family's Vermont farm always persisted. Fourteen years of sedentary computer work made the outdoors increasingly attractive. Last year the Wilde Family, which now numbers four, migrated back to the farm.

This new generation is working at Linden and continuing to learn the full potential of our terroir.

— Jim Law

Samantha "helping" with barrels in 1991.

Comparative Tasting

Comparative Tasting

Winter is our slow time at Linden, so we are pleased to be able to offer even more in-depth tastings. We focus on two themes: vintage influences on wine style and a horizontal tasting of the newly released 2021 reds. Join us in the tasting room.

$25 per person

Fridays, Saturdays, Sunday

Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: February 27, 2025

Linden UpdatesJim Law2025