Winter Tastings

Our annual winter break is over. We are well rested. Linden reopens this weekend. There aren't too many visitors during the winter, so we designed a special tasting that includes some older library wines. Over the past ten years we have been holding back vintages with the intention of comparing and contrasting mature and young vintages.

That time has come. Linden’s reserve of older vintages is not unlimited, so the slower winter months afford us the luxury of putting together some interesting tastings. Even better: the wines will be available for sale.

 Time and only time gives a certain complexity and harmony to wine that is impossible to hasten. Linden wines benefit from age. This is true for both whites and reds. Find out for yourself in our tasting room. See you soon.

 Linden’s winter hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 5:00.

Barrels Out

Finally a proper freeze. Every winter when it is cold enough we put our barrels outside to chill. The last few winters have been so mild that it has been difficult to find a stretch of days cold enough. Not a problem this week.

Ideally the wine maintains a temperature in the 30°Fs for a week or two. Because of the alcohol, wine won’t freeze until about 24°F. This process is called cold stabilization. At these temperatures some of the wine’s tartaric acid binds with potassium to form crystals called potassium bi-tartrate. But we prefer the sexier moniker of "wine diamonds." We do this in the barrel so it is less likely to happen in the bottle. While wine diamonds are natural and harmless, they understandably trigger questions when they are observed in the bottle.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Update: January 16, 2024