A Day Back at Linden

It’s abundantly clear that the 2023 vintage is the kind of year that we will want to savor and cellar for a long, long time. Today was my third tasting of 2023 wines right out of the barrel, only shortly after they went in. I do believe that this has the potential to be the best vintage of Virginia Wine we’ve had yet. Time will tell!

At Matt’s recommendation, I jumped on the opportunity to buy a few tix to Linden’s Pre-Release of 2020 wines and Barrel Tasting of 2023. We met up with two Va Wine Lovers (Stephanie and Ashley) who have fantastic instagram feeds, (and they bring lots of Virginia Wine interest and experience and general fun) and had the best afternoon.

I realized that it’s really been three or four years since I’ve been to Linden. I’ve ordered some wine to be shipped to me since then, but it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and how much has changed in my life since then. You’re most likely not reading for all that, you want to know about the wines. Here we go.

First up, at the tasting bar, we enjoyed the two newly released 2020 Chardonnays – Hardscrabble and Avenius.

I almost always prefer the Avenius white wines to the Hardscrabble and that held true today – I find the Avenius (grown at a higher altitude than the Hardscrabble) to be lighter and crisper. Higher altitudes tend to bring more acidity to the grapes, so this makes sense. I think Emma at the bar told us the Avenius also had less time in oak, and less new oak than the Hardscrabble, so that also makes sense for my preferences. Hardscrabble carries a more elegant and slightly heavier feel to it – both are solid and very drinkable – Emma suggests Avenius with a lightly prepared white fish and Hardscrabble with some more elaborate preparation like salmon with a creamy dill sauce – I can design an entire menu around this I think.

After the Chardonnays it was off to the cellar.

In the cellar we met up with Shari Avenius, Richard Boisseau and Jonathan Weber, along with Jim Law, to taste the 2023 wines in the barrel. I’m so very glad they did this, because checking in on the wines now that fermentation is done and they are settling into developing their identities is like getting a sneak preview of the next season of House of the Dragon – it’s your private, special insight into the future. These wines are vibrant right out of the barrel, and I can honestly say there is nothing at all like them.

Shari had us taste some of the Merlot from her vineyard.

Remember when I told you about Jake’s 2023 Merlot? This was just as stunning but in a very different way. While Jake’s was bold and brash and soulful, this one was restrained and refined, but had muscular undertones that reminded me of his. The intensity of the 2023 struggle the vines went through to produce fruit – the long dry periods with very infrequent rains to replenish made the vines believe they were dying and push forward highly concentrated fruit in hopes that some wandering animal would eat the berries and then leave the seeds behind somewhere wetter to grow another day. That intense struggle pushes forth some of the biggest, boldest wines we can make – and hence California, where you can play God with irrigation, is all about bold red wines. The trick for a Virginia is how to temper that and have intensity and strength with a sense of refined grace. That is what I took from Shari’s barrel of Merlot. While it was different from the other ’23 Merlot I tasted, it was equally as exciting. This will go into her red blend, not be a single varietal – but I would be so excited to see what this is like around 2026 or so.

After talking a bit with Shari, we went to see Richard Boisseau who was tasting Cabernet Franc from his vineyard. This had just been treated a bit with some sulfur to prevent oxidation and any other unpleasantness, which gave it an odd nose, but the taste was lovely. Young Cabernet Franc often comes with a vegetal quality (even if it turns into amazing wine later) that is a bit too strong for me, and that was totally absent here. Rather we got a smooth sensation of Cabernet Franc, that I have no doubt is going to simply deepen over time. I am using to finished Cabernet Franc that tends to be bolder, and I wasn’t sure what I was getting from this barrel – but with the very low intervention they do, this was smooth and pleasant.

Finally we went to see Jonathan Weber, who had the 2023 Hardscrabble Cabernet Sauvignon. What a conundrum this grape is for Virginia – in super-wet years it can be a nightmare and disaster in soils that don’t drain well. In a 2023 where it is hot and dry and there is a several month drought, it can be a total rock star. And this truly is. Liquid silk. Smooth, subtle, tantalizing. This barrel holds so much promise for the future. We were all standing there almost speechless because it was so shockingly good, even at a few weeks in barrel. I cannot wait to see what this will turn into as they enter blending trials.

We made a short cheese stop (thank you Shari for cutting us more Gouda) and then we met Jim for the pre-release of the 2020 Hardscrabble and Avenius reds.

We began with the Avenius, a nice blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. I adore this. Remember I also loved her 2017 red blend the best too at that release. This blend isn’t quite as restrained as the 2023 barreled Merlot was, but it was absolutely delicious. It’s always hard for me to speak to the notes I pick up in the wines, and I didn’t write anything down in my notebook, sadly. What I appreciated about this blend is the mixture of grace and boldness – there is refined complexity in the wine, while also having the presence of Virginia Wine – it demands to be seen, heard and understood. Hardscrabble Red (which you will see below) comes across as the sophisticated older cousin who has interesting things to say but is hanging out inside with the grown-ups while we’re rough-housing in the backyard with people our own age. You love and appreciate this wine, and you’re going to spend lots of time with it, but for excitement you go to Avenius.

Jim poured the 2020 Hardscrabble Red next. This added some Cabernet Franc to the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot mix and was also really nice. I did prefer the Avenius because (see above) I found it to pack a little more punch to it. I find Hardscrabble to be more classic in style, and that fits Jim’s general tendency – he wants to emulate the styles of wines he loves from France. I find Shari’s reds to be more in line with a “new world” style, to be heavier and have more punch and weight behind them.

Jim also pulled out a 2017 Boisseau Red because it was tasting so good right now. We savored this. It is made with 34% Petit Verdot and therefore has that intense astringency and depth that only PV can bring to a wine. All four of us in the group absolutely loved this wine. I was convinced that it was another 2020 and so confused that it wasn’t on the order form upstairs – alas, because it was the 2017. It has aged stunningly well. We ended up getting a bottle for the table after our full tasting was done.

Listening to Jim is like taking the best graduate course in wine-making at the most prestigious University. I always learn something and stand in awe of the wisdom of experience he brings to his craft. We discussed the overall lower yields of his Cabernet Franc blocks and how that limits what he can use in the red blends, and if the wine that is produced that year calls for a higher percentage of Cabernet Franc, then it limits the overall production of Hardscrabble Red, and then the rest of the wines go into the Claret. He does not base his blend on what ingredients he has available, he makes the best blend from the wines he has, and when the essential ingredients are used up, the remaining wine goes to Claret. This process is about paying attention to what the grapes are telling you, not what the market demands. Another interesting tidbit from Jim- the Chardonnay vines on the Hardscrabble property are at 40 years old and are now producing half of what they did in their prime and it’s time to make decisions about replanting. While that hurts due to the incredible wines coming from those blocks, those vines have gotten old and tired. Again, quality ranks over profit and sales – making something truly great that builds a legacy matters more here.

After these samples, we headed back upstairs for two more white wines – a new Boisseau Viognier (2020 I think, but I’d had a bit of wine at this point) and the Wabi Sabi (also maybe 2020 but I’m not sure). We already know that I do not care for Viognier as a varietal. We had an interesting discussion about what it is in the wine that I may be tasting when I get the “woody” flavor from Viognier – no one else seems to get what I get from it. Anyway, as is typical for me, this was not one I loved. The Wabi Sabi, however, was quite nice – less sweet than the vintage I recall previously. It’s a blend of Vidal, Petit Manseng and Semillon. It was subtly sweet and had some tropical notes to it. Very drinkable – refreshing too. Especially after some big red wines.

We settled in at our table and Matt ordered us a baguette and shared some cheese he brought. We loved the 2017 bottle of Boisseau Red and chatted about our love of today’s wines and various other wineries.

I have really missed Linden, and I learned a pretty cool and quick back way there that keeps me off main roads. Of course I passed about 12 wineries on the way there too, which won’t be dangerous at all to my wallet.

What did we learn on this trip? We learned that across vineyards, the 2023 vintage is settling into barrel in an amazing way and is wow’ing us already. Every winemaker I’ve been hearing from is raving about the wine this vintage will become, and saying it is likely to be the best vintage yet, and the samples are showing very powerfully. I’m hoping we will see more opportunities for 2023 barrel sampling – and even hear from winemakers sharing their notes about 2021 and 2022, or even amazing 2017 at this stage of development so we can compare the trajectory we are on here. Starting in late 2025, the Virginia Wine scene will get very, very exciting.

Oh, and to make it the best day ever, another customer at the tasting bar stopped me and said, “I love your shirt, I have to know where to get one.” What did I do? Hand him the blog business card and tell him to order online, of course.

You can too. Here.