Last weekend a group of friends and I went on what amounts to a pilgrimage to one of our favorite wineries in the state – Linden Vineyards.

I say ‘pilgrimage’ only half-jokingly. While I’ve seen owner/winegrower Jim Law described as the ‘high priest of Virginia terroir winemaking’, he actually dislikes lavish praise. Jim’s favorite title by far is ‘winegrower’, and he’s modest enough to still bus tables at his own winery.

Moreover, this wasn’t my standard visit. This event marked the return of Linden’s cellar tastings, an event that disappeared when COVID hit.

Linden’s cellar tastings include either a vertical (same vineyard different years) or horizontal (same vintage year but different vineyards). This particular event included verticals of Hardscrabble chardonnay (2015, 2019, 2020), and Avenius red (2015, 2019, 2020), plus a barrel sample of their 2024 Petit Verdot.

Weather-wise, we lucked out with a warm but not overly hot afternoon. I didn’t get a chance to chat with Jim, but I did catch up with his daughter Samantha, who was running tastings at the bar.

I did learn that despite the rain, things were looking OK in the vineyard. It also looks like this will be their last vintage of their Wabi Sabi white blend, which I’m not entirely sad about. Jim did spray earlier than usual to address the Spotted Lanternfly issue, which is unavoidable now given their prevalence in the state.

Once the last person arrived, we headed down to the cellar with McKenzie, a new addition to Team Linden. I didn’t get her full background, but she did have experience working the DC restaurant scene prior to moving to Culpepper. Hopefully we’ll see more of her.

I believe nearly everyone who attended this event was familiar with Linden’s wines, so we didn’t need to spend too much time on Jim’s low-intervention winemaking philosophy. That said, McKenzie was very extroverted host who loved telling us about the 6 wines before us.

We kicked off with our Hardscrabble Chardonnay flight (made from the estate vineyard). I’ve had all of these before, but except for the 2019s not recently. I was especially excited by the 2015 Chardonnay, which Jim once said was one of the favorite wines he’s ever made.

• 2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Very ‘full’ as white wines go. While it was starting to turn nutty, it still doesn’t present itself as a decade-old wine. Except for ‘age’ on the nose, it was still pretty vibrant and a tribute to the ageability of Jim’s wines. That said, Jim once told me this wine was probably at its peak, so it wouldn’t get any better than it was now.

• 2019 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Very different from the other two. Much more stone fruit, plus very ‘bright’ due to being the product of a very warm year. I did detect a tad bit of newer oak on it. I think this wine will only get better.

• 2020 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Stylistically similar to 2015, but riper. Good acidity; Kenny Bumbaco said it was ‘Chablis-y’. It was better than I remembered, although not quite in the same league as the other two. Still, it was a good wine from a vintage that isn’t well regarded in Virginia wine.

Next up was the Avenius red blend flight, grown just down the road at Shari Avenius’ vineyard. Shari has retired from the tasting room so I haven’t seen her in a long time, but it seems she is still tending her vineyard.

• 2015 Avenius (46% Cab Sauv, 46% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot): Earthy nose. Not a lot of fruit but doesn’t need any, as it was an overall amazing wine. I have ‘persistent and chewy’ in my notes. I’m very glad I have a bottle of this in my cellar, although I probably should drink it sooner than later.

• 2019 Avenius (50% Cab Sauv, 42% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot): Mix of fruit and earth on the nose. Good fruit on palate. You could likewise tell this was the product of a hot year, due to its ripeness.

• 2020 Avenius (57% Cab Sauv, 47% Merlot): OK; admittedly not my favorite. Brett on the nose and some on the palate, which gave it that barnyard/funk quality. I think you have to appreciate a little bit of brett to enjoy this, although it did give this wine an extra oomph of complexity and earthiness.

With the cellar tasting complete we adjourned upstairs for their regular tasting. Linden only recently switched over to a ‘summer’ tasting, now comprised of the 2023 Avenius Sauv Blanc, the 2023 Hardscrabble Sauv Blanc, the new 2022 Claret, and a full-varietal Cabernet Franc. And oh yeah – that 2024 Petit Verdot sample!

• 2024 Petit Verdot: Fruitier and lower in tannin than I expected. While different from what I usually expect, I definitely liked it. I believe it was made in steel, which is likewise unusual for PVs.

• 2023 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc: Something a return to form, as this wine had a dash of Sémillon. Layered. In a way, it was like a riper version of a white Bordeaux.

• 2023 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc: Notes of boxwood…which is sometimes referred to as ‘cat pee’ (I hate that term, BTW). It was higher in alcohol, which meant the acidity wasn’t as prominent as it usually is.

• 2022 Cabernet Franc: This was the first full Cab Franc I’ve ever seen from Linden; certainly the first since 2010. All Hardscrabble vineyard fruit. It had a slight hint of the pyrazine notes that Cab Franc is known for, but they didn’t lean into that direction at all.

• 2022 Claret: I don’t have any notes for this one!

Afterwards we adjourned for snacks on their patio on a perfect summer day, ordering a 2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay for the table and eating charcuterie. Then it was off to Barrel Oak, which has been upping its game of late (click this link for Dan’s blog on Barrel Oak; he loves more hits!).