Wineries are popular places to visit, but the reasons for
this aren’t immediately obvious. Growing
grapes and making wine are not easy tasks, but they involve a fairly small set
of standard practices. Vintners around
the world spend their time doing pretty much the same things in facilities that
differ very 
little in functional terms.
You could get the idea that seeing one is seeing them all, and though
that is not entirely wrong, it turns out to be superficial and misleading.
Along with particularities of climate and soil, the real
essence that differentiates one winery from another radiates from the
priorities of the proprietor. It only
takes a few minutes at Linden Vineyards to sense that the place is run by a
farmer. Neither a merchandiser nor an entertainer,
Jim Law is first and foremost a farmer, and that’s what makes Linden Vineyards
such a distinctive and valuable enterprise in Fauquier County.
The vineyard itself is free of ornamentation, and
refreshingly so, at least for those who prefer vineyards that aren’t dotted
with a gazebo at every turn. T-shirts
and mementos and packets of potpourri are conspicuous by their absence in the
tasting room, which seems surprisingly singular in its devotion
to—tasting. The vista from the hilltop
winery is beautiful, but to be more precise, it is naturally, rustically
beautiful rather than what Law calls “golf course beautiful.”
All of this suggests that Linden’s proprietor is sharply
focused on what he wishes to achieve and present to the public, and that comes
through clearly in conversation with Jim Law.
He wants to make the best wines he can produce by coaxing his land to
provide the best grapes it can grow.
That’s about it. He’s one the
most focused vintners I’ve ever met, and I’ve met more than 1,500 of them
during site visits around the world over the past 25 years.
There’s something worth remembering about focus: It isn’t just about zeroing-in, but also
about occluding everything outside the point of focus. In the case of a winery seeking world-class
quality in northern Virginia, that means saying no to busses, limousines,
groups larger than four, picnics, private parties, and weddings, all of which
can be quite lucrative…but also pretty distracting. Like bars, some wineries really get going at
5:00 p.m., but that’s the hour when Linden closes to the public.
Jim Law didn’t grow up on a farm, but his affinity for
farming arose early, as a teenager growing up in Ohio. Interest in wine emerged in that same phase,
transmitted by wine loving parents, but vineyard work wasn’t exactly his first
foray into agriculture. After a stint at
a farming camp at Michigan State, Law spent two years teaching agriculture as a
Peace Corps Volunteer in the Congo. Upon
his return to the USA, he set his sights on viticulture, first in Indiana and
then Ohio, before being hired in 1981 to start a winery in the Shenandoah
Valley.
Soon convinced that excellent wine could be grown there, he
purchased an abandoned hardscrabble farm in 1983, and has devoted himself to
cultivating fine wine from the land ever since.
The notion of “cultivating fine wine” is worth emphasizing: For Law, wine is much more something he
“grows” than “makes,” and his whole approach is a vinous echo of the farm-to-table
movement.
That last sentence includes some buzz words, ones to which I’ve
heard vintners pay “lip service” more times than I care to recall. The one compensation for enduring all that
empty talk is that I’ve learned how to tell the difference when somebody really
lives up to his or her mission, and there’s no doubt that Jim Law is the real
deal.
Vines were planted immediately after the property was
purchased, but in his early days, Law also grew apples and blueberries on a
commercial scale and had what he calls “a nice little pick-your-own-fruit
business as a hedge for the winemaking enterprise.” But all of that’s gone now, and Law is no
longer hedging his bets. Years of
working directly in the vineyard have taught him which vine varieties are best
suited to his property, and also which particular slopes and parcels are best
for growing each grape.
Law is still tweaking things, and notes that he is
currently, “planting Cabernet Sauvignon and pulling it out elsewhere at the
same time” in order to get it situated optimally. This seems like a case in point for the
winery’s motto, “Never Content,” but after 35+ years of experimentation, he has
placed his bets squarely on making Bordeaux-style red blends, varietal Petit Verdot,
single-site Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs, plus a “village” Chardonnay
blended from three vineyard sites, and a late harvest Petit Manseng. Whether white or red, all of the wines are
crafted in a tastefully restrained, mineral, age-worthy style that leans more
toward Europe than California.
Although Linden isn’t the place to go for a party, it is a
great place to go to learn, and Law is a friendly and engaging teacher. Walking around the property and looking
through the cellar offer opportunities to replace misconceptions with
knowledge: Wine is not just a commodity
shipped in from some exotic point on the globe, but something crafted by one’s
neighbors. It isn’t simply a luxury
product skimmed from nature like caviar, but an agricultural product conjured
from the soil by the honest labor of farmers.
Vineyards are not just the stuff of travel brochures, but beautiful
additions to our local landscape that keep land in agricultural production and
serve as barriers to urban sprawl. And
wine is not an impenetrably complicated product, but an essentially natural
beverage made by a surprisingly simple process that can be grasped readily when
explained by an articulate vintner.
Lessons like these are the real reasons to visit a winery,
and there’s no better choice than Linden for learning them. You can get there in less than an hour from
DC’s infamous Beltway, and I strongly encourage you to do so. Friday is the best day for a visit, but in
any case, check the website and call ahead, as you’ve already learned that Linden
is the opposite of a tourist trap.
Here are four reviews of current or impending releases from Linden,
just to whet your appetite:
Linden Vineyards (Virginia) Red Wine “Hardscrabble” 2016
($50): The 2016 release of this wine is
scheduled for January of 2020, with the 2015 still available in both 750 ml and
half bottles. The 2016 is terrific,
showing impressive pigment concentration in the glass…and things only get
better from there. Quite expressive
aromatically, it shows topnotes of spices and light toast and a subtle whiff of
woodsmoke, and those notes carry through in the flavors, which are driven by a delicious
core of dark-toned fruit. Stylistically,
this isn’t overly “polished,” which is very much to my liking, and the overall
impression is slightly rustic and natural rather than “juicy” or overt. The tannins and oak lend just the right amount
of grip in relation to the wine’s level of fruitiness, making it possible to
enjoy this on its own despite its considerable flavor impact. Blended from 56% Cabernet sauvignon, 41% Merlot
and 3% Cabernet Franc, it is very impressive.
93
Linden Vineyards (Virginia) Sauvignon Blanc “Avenius” 2017
($36): This is among the most serious
and complex renditions of Sauvignon Blanc made in the USA, and one that I’d
show “blind” with confidence against any Sauvignon grown anywhere, for that
matter. Don’t be scared off by the 2017
vintage, thinking that this might be losing its edge, as the exact opposite is
true, and this won’t likely hit its peak for another year or two. Intensely acidic but not remotely sour, it is
vital that this not be served too cold, as it could then seem to tart for some
tasters (though not Yours Truly), and would only show citrus flavors rather than
the mélange of fruit notes it displays when less chilled. These include white melon notes along with somewhat
more prominent suggestions of lemon and lime, and there’s even a hint of tangerine
when this gets close to room temperature.
A mineral undertone lends added complexity, and the overall character of
the wine makes me crave of a giant platter of freshly shucked oysters. Sourced from a cool vineyard owned by Shari
Avenius that has been growing wicked good Sauvignon for years, this is a wine
of the loftiest seriousness and intensity.
93
Linden Vineyards (Virginia) Chardonnay “Hardscrabble” 2015
($42): This excellent wine isn’t quite
as strikingly distinctive as Linden’s “Avenius” Sauvignon Blanc, but it is
still terrific and not quite as challenging, as it sits closer to the high-end
global norm stylistically. Sourced from
Linden’s home vineyard, the fruit begins fermentation in tank before being
racked into French oak after a week, with 20% of the barrels being new. Bâtonnage
is minimal, with freshness being sought more than creaminess, though the
finished wine shows good concentration.
Subtle scents of nuts and spices prove quite alluring, followed by ripe
but focused flavors and very energetic supporting acidity. I tasted this recently from a 375 ml bottle,
which is presumably a bit more evolved than the same wine in a 750, and yet it
remains not only very fresh but sure to develop in a positive direction for another
couple of years. 92
Linden Vineyards (Virginia) Chardonnay “Village” 2017
($32): In Burgundian terms, the word “Village” generally denotes a wine
cobbled together from multiple sites rather than a single vineyard of Premier
or Grand Cru stature, so the use of the term on the label of this wine gives it
a sense of modesty that could be misleading in relation to its high
quality. It is indeed a blend of 80%
from the estate Hardscrabble Vineyard plus 15% from Boisseau and 5% from
Avenius, but it sure doesn’t taste like a wine thrown together from “table
scraps.” It is fresh (no malolactic
fermentation) and notably “primary” (fruit flavors at the fore, with no new
wood utilized) but also interestingly complex, thanks to a very good growing
season and the variegated aromas and flavors contributed by the three
sites. The balance of fruit and acidity
is just right, making for a very versatile wine that could be sipped solo with
great pleasure or paired with a wide range of dishes. 91
