Terroir Project Update

Exactly three years ago I began chronicling the process of removing and replanting a vineyard with the goal of producing better wine. We are now at the halfway point and 2020 will mark the “virgin” harvest: the first vintage. This young wine will then require an additional three years of aging in barrel and bottle before release in 2023. At least that’s the plan.

Any new, emerging winegrowing region will go through a steep learning curve. Linden is no exception. A decade ago it became clear that many of the vines planted in the 1980s and 1990s were not achieving the full potential of the terroir on which they were planted. This was especially true of the large parcel above the winery. In retrospect, critical vineyard establishment decisions, which seemed sound at the time led to uneven ripening. This has a highly negative impact on red wine quality. These unfortunate decisions included less than optimal row direction, meager vine density, and failure to avoid unsuitable soils. The vineyard produced good Claret, but never great Hardscrabble. It was a “C-” planting on an “A+” site.

It is not an easy decision to remove acres of productive vines in the belief that a newer, more precise planting will produce much better wine. After many trips to Europe, meeting with some of the wisest growers, I was convinced that this was the only way Linden could get to the next level. I’m no spring chicken, so I knew that I had to start as soon as possible.

2016 was the last vintage of the original planting. We commenced removing those vines days after their last harvest. The fact that 2016 was a fabulous red wine vintage made the decision even more agonizing. The vineyard we were removing had given us some delicious wine.

If you would like to understand more about the establishment of our new vineyard, we have organized our past Terroir Project updates on Linden’s web site.

This coming year I will write in great detail about the steps involved to produce the first small crop of what we hope to be an extraordinary vineyard planting.

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