Journal | April 9, 2025
Top left bud burned by frost, but bottom seems healthy.
Wednesday Frost Update
This morning at 2:00 am the temperature had already fallen to 28°F at my house, which is about halfway up the Hardscrabble slope. 28°F is the tipping point for frost damage. With still 5 hours of potentially falling temperatures, it looked like our Chardonnay buds would be toast. However the temperature only fell one additional degree to 27°F thanks to calming winds, which allowed for a favorable temperature inversion.
One of the factors in choosing the Hardscrabble vineyard site was that it is on a slope where the heavier, colder air can drain down to the valley below. This temperature inversion can only happen under still conditions. Until 7:00pm last night it was very windy. We were facing potentially significant crop loss.
Just before sunrise the temperatures ranged from 18°F at the bottom of the hill (where there are no longer grapevines planted), to around 30°F around the winery. This afternoon we walked the vineyard scouting for damage. Only Chardonnay and a bit of Merlot and Cabernet Franc were advanced enough to be frost susceptible. The Chardonnay near the winery suffered less than 10% bud loss. The lowest planting has around 20% loss. The rest of Hardscrabble Vineyard has almost no damage that we can see at this point.
Bottom line is that with meticulous shoot thinning we should be able to get full yields or at least very close to full. Confidence on this is medium high, but not certain. It will be at least a couple of weeks before certain is declared.
Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Hardscrabble Journal: April 9, 2025