Véraison: the beginning of ripening

Grapes are now turning color and producing sugar and flavor. Right on time. Due to our extremely dry conditions (we haven’t had a significant rain since June), the vines have stopped growing new leaves and have turned all their attention to ripening the crop. This is ideal for quality. A dry season positions the vines to produce an exceptional vintage. I hope I don’t regret writing this as we still have a long way to go.

We’ll be looking for a quick and even changing of color. This would be a precursor for uniform ripening and high quality, especially in the reds. Dry soils help. The vines should be just a little bit thirsty going into harvest. This hydric stress focuses them on ripening grapes and not growing additional unnecessary leaves.

However a bit of rain may help as some of our younger vines on thin, rocky soils are showing signs of drought stress. Even the older vines would eventually benefit from a refreshing rain. It is unlikely that they could sustain a healthy canopy all the way to harvest in late September or October without some moisture.

Riesling: a comparative tasting

How weather during ripening dictates style

We only make a small amount of Riesling from our Hardscrabble vineyard. August is an ideal month to feature these airy, refreshing wines. Vintages 2020 and 2021 shared similar growing seasons, except for the last 30 days before harvest. Those 30 days dictated a very different approach to the winemaking and therefore wine style. An overcast late summer in 2021 resulted in a traditional Germanic style Riesling with a touch of sweetness. A cool 2020 delayed harvest giving the grapes more concentration and precise acidity. We decided that a bone dry style would work best.

Speaking of Harvest

From September 8 to October 22 we will offer a special 11:00 tour of the vineyard, crush pad and cellars. You’ll be able to taste (grapes, juice, fermenting wine), see harvest or crush (depending on the day), and smell (fermentation aromas are intoxicating).

Harvest and Crush | Tour and Tasting

This is your opportunity to see up close how wine is made. Crush is the winemaking term for all the activity from picking the grapes to extracting the juice and starting fermentation. Our educational tour begins in the vineyard and then continues on the crush pad and into the cellar. You will be able to sample grapes, juice and/or fermenting wine (depending on availability). We’ll finish the tour with our comparative wine tasting.

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

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: August 3, 2023