I miss living closer to Linden. Time was I could go on a whim and it would be an easy drive west on I-66 for one hour and boom, amazing wine. Now I need to plan for a two hour drive each way and plan around our dogs and the remainder of the day. It’s not an impossible problem, but it’s much less convenient. But it remains worth the trip.
I voluntold hubby that he would join me to spend two hours at Linden checking out a vertical comparison of the Village Chardonnay and some 2021 red blend releases they were featuring. The 2021 Claret has been on the menu for a bit, but the 2021 Avenius Red Blend and 2021 Hardscrabble Red Blend are just now being released to the public. We had a blast checking all these wines out.
Our welcome wine was the 2021 Boisseau Viognier. While I’ve found a few Viogniers that I enjoy lately, it’s a grape I largely avoid. While this wine had a nice aroma and certainly was pleasant, it had some of the same characteristics of Viognier that I never enjoy, so I ended up pouring mine into the bucket. If you love Virginia Viognier, you will enjoy this wine – it’s subtle and pretty. As we finished the welcome wine, Matt and Annie showed up and took a spot at the bar next to us.
We moved to the vertical of 2017, 2018, and 2019 Village Chardonnay. I have long adored this wine from Linden – preferring it to any of their single vineyard Chardonnays. Our server explained the major differences in the growing years – of course amazing 2017, ultra-wet 2018, and hot 2019. 2017 and 2018 went into neutral oak barrels while 2019 went into a mix, roughly 15% new French Oak. Some interesting nuances too – all of the Village Chardonnay mixes grapes from all three vineyards. However, 2017 and 2019 is from grapes that didn’t go into a vineyard-designate Chardonnay. Due to the heavy rains in 2018, that vintage brought all of the Chardonnay together – even grapes from the oldest vines on the property. Our server shared that because of this, the 2018 vintage has characteristics that set it apart – more layers and complexity than we typically see in this wine from Linden. For hubby and I, we were not wild about the 2019 vintage due to the oak that came through (even with such a small percentage of new oak barrels) but we really enjoyed the 2017 bottle and felt the 2018 bottle had the best flavor profile. I ended up bringing two 2018 Village home. Interestingly, Matt and Annie preferred the 2017 vintage to the other two.
And then the reds came out.
Linden’s red wines are always showstoppers, and the 2021s are no exception. Jim Law takes the time to write about each vintage year on his website, and here he makes a point about what likely enhanced the power of these wines:
The 2021 red wines were able to take advantage of a streak of cool, sunny and dry weather in late September and early October. This final kiss saved the vintage. As with their white counterparts, there is an elegance and terroir expression that defines the vintage.
Elegant they are. The Claret made a beautiful fruit explosion in the mouth – gorgeous on the nose with surprising depth and charm. I always viewed Claret as a simpler Linden wine – a nice red table wine to enjoy after the day’s work was done. This Claret has more gravitas to it. It brings fresh fruit at the beginning but has a very strong backbone with a solid tannic finish. This wine will age nicely. I absolutely adored this vintage of the Claret. They make Claret from grapes that don’t go into the vineyard designate red blends or into any single variety bottles they choose to make that year. If Claret are the stepchild grapes, then the golden children are going to be incredible. Hubby, Matt, and Annie also loved this wine.
Next up we tried the 2021 Hardscrabble Red. For 2021, this signature blend is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon. If faithful readers remember back when I went to the first 2023 barrel tasting Linden held, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Hardscrabble had this shocking, silky quality. It was a wine that honestly felt ready to drink as it was. The Cabernet Sauvignon from this site is incredible – the vines are very well established here and producing some amazing fruit. The remaining 5% in this blend is Cabernet Franc from the Hardscrabble site. Franc is providing some tannic grounding for this blend, although the Cabernet Sauvignon is bringing plenty of tannins to the party. Jim, who had stopped by our group at this point, noted that he felt like he should add more Cabernet Franc to this blend, but it didn’t feel right when he did, so left the blend minimal. Our server noted that Jim lets the wines provide the direction and just follows them. This wine was beautiful, but also very tight. It will age for a long time, and grow in beauty as it does so. I loved this wine, and really want to see how it changes in the coming years.
Likewise, the 2021 Avenius Red which was nearly equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon (55%) and Merlot (45%), was beautiful, but wound up. It’s young and restrained, or better yet constrained, right now. In two or three years this wine will be a show off. Hubby was surprised that the Merlot wasn’t softening it more, since the Cabernet Sauvignon was showing a lot of tannic structure. I think we both liked the Hardscrabble better today. It’s important to remember that from the 2017 vintage, my favorite was the Avenius Red. Time shifts the wines, and our palettes are drawn to different selections. That Merlot will provide a lovely refined quality to this blend over the next few years as they integrate in the bottle, and I think in two years, we will swoon over this wine.
We ended up grabbing a bottle of the Claret and setting up at a table for some bread, cheese and olive oil. At this point the overcast day turned sunny, and we were able to enjoy the gorgeous view of the vineyard. We sat by the fire and chatted about Linden and everything from work to insurance to what Dan should put in his case for “Friends of Linden” renewal. I brought home:
- Two 2018 Village Chardonnay
- Four 2021 Claret
- One 2021 Avenius Red
- One 2021 Hardscrabble Red
- Four 2021 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc
I swear I checked the box for Avenius Sauvignon Blanc. In my brain I’m sure I did, but when I checked the paper, I checked Hardscrabble. Guess that means I’ll head back up. That’s ok. I ended up opening one of the Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blancs after it had chilled for a few hours and it wasn’t quite as floral on the tip of my tongue as I recall. I tend to prefer Avenius because it’s so high in acidity that it’s just a big, bright, fresh ball of sunshine in my mouth and I don’t pick up the floral aspects so typical of Sauvignon Blanc. I’m ok with this mistake. Until I make another round up there.
Any day at Linden is a good day, and I’m so glad I got to share this with Hubby, since this is truly unique and exceptional Virginia Wine. It was fun to hang with Matt and talk a little more with Annie. Linden has been on this site for 40 years now, and very few Virginia wineries claim that longevity. Now that I’m a “Friend of Linden” again, I can get a heads up and lower priced tickets to some great events that showcase the incredible wine library they have. It will be two to three years before the 2023 reds hit the tasting bar though, so I will have several renewals to go through…. stay tuned! Consider this your call, it’s release season, and many fantastic wines are hitting the tasting bar. Where are you sipping?
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