Linden Update | April 3, 2025

Jim, Jonathan, and Samantha descend on the final vineyard block to prune yesterday.

And So It Begins

Winter pruning has a definite beginning and end. Our favorite vineyard task ended this week. It is bittersweet when the last vine is approached. Pruning is primordial, creative, and satisfying. Spring is here and it is time to move on.  The cadence of pruning cedes to a more frenetic "ready, set, go" checklist.  April is a transitional month. Our days become less routine. Tractors, mowers, manure spreaders, and sprayers have sat dormant since the fall. Repairs, maintenance, and spring cleaning become priorities.

As vintage 2025 begins, we have no expectations. The weather during the growing season dictates everything. Our job is to react appropriately. But climate change brings an added nervousness. Fluctuations of both temperature and precipitation have become more extreme. The first few months of the growing season mostly determine quantity. Bud break will occur in a few weeks. After that a frost can freeze tender shoots and the crop they carry. Hail events have increased, especially in May and June. A quick five-minute storm cell can wipe out a year's work.

We've had two drought years and right now the soil is dry. The vines reflect this. They have struggled and need a restorative year. Lots of April showers would be helpful, but we'll still need to keep the yields low this year to allow the vines to strengthen.

Our latest invasive species, the Spotted Lanternfly, also weakened the vines last year as their populations exploded. They pierce the vines and suck the sap. A few of them are of no consequence, but populations in the thousands are problematic.

Another type of invasive species has become more of a concern: weeds. For years we have been nurturing native cover crops such as chickweed, black medic, and clovers. But introduced perennial species of euonymus, autumn olive, and multiflora rose have taken hold during the past dry years as the natives have been less able to compete.

It's always easy to see the problems, but one satisfying sip of a good wine makes all the effort worthwhile.

Euonymus trying to creep up a Cabernet Sauvignon vine .

Alex demonstrates Linden's pruning techniques to prepare for bud break.

See the Action

Linden's wines begin in the vineyard. Join us to discover how the vines shape our wines. Tour Linden Vineyards with Samantha or Alex, who will share the evolving state of the vineyard. Jim's daughter, Samantha Law Wilde, and her husband, Alex Wilde, joined Linden full-time last year to apprentice with Jim. Their tour finishes with the current comparative wine tasting.

This tour is for Friends of Linden only. If you want to join the tour, but are not yet a Friend of Linden, you can become a member during your visit (when you purchase six bottles at one time to take home, you automatically become a Friend of Linden).



Dress appropriately for walking on uneven terrain and up and down hills.

• Sundays throughout the Spring and Summer
• 10:30 am
• $40 per person

Linden UpdatesJim Law2025