I like to host my birthday parties in style. So what better way to celebrate than to do a vertical of my favorite winery – Linden Vineyards. Even better, I was assisted by a group of friends with expert-level palates.

I started with a plan for a 9-vintage comparison of their Hardscrabble red blend. That expanded to 11 vintages. Since I was obviously committed, I decided to add a mini vertical of Hardscrabble Chardonnay.

If you’ve read my blog before, you are likely aware I’m a Linden Vineyards fanboy. But for first-time readers, here is a brief background of the winery and the man behind it, Jim Law.

Jim founded Linden in 1983 on an old apple orchard. Their estate vineyard is named Hardscrabble, which has 20 acres of vines planted between 1,100-1,400’. While Linden’s other (much smaller) vineyards – Avenius and Boisseau – have their own advantages, it’s fair to say Hardscrabble is what Linden is best known for.

Tasting 11 vintages is quite an experience. Virginia wine is renowned for its vintage variation, and that variation was on full display. Each vintage had varying levels of ripeness and acidity, as well as (sometimes dramatically) different blends.

But it was more than vintage variation. While Jim may lean “Old World” in style, he’s not afraid to fine-tune his winemaking approach to whatever the vintage requires.

Linden’s Hardscrabble Blog was of great assistance in this writeup. It provides an incredibly detailed record of every wine Linden has ever produced, down to seasonal growing conditions, individual winemaking notes, and recommended food pairings.

Hardscrabble Chardonnay Vertical (2015-2021)

If you ask Jim what his ‘flagship’ wine is, he’d probably say “Chardonnay”. It remains his first love, and arguably the variety Linden is best known for.

We had 4 vintages – 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. All were 100% Chardonnay.

What stood out is how these wines are meant to age. Some were a little reductive, but that was a winemaking decision to ensure they had staying power.

2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Wine Advocate would tell you this is a 95-point wine (the highest-rated Virginia wine at the time of the score). My group would say it was “Yummy!”

During various visits I remember Jim praising this wine, which is memorable since Jim is not a man known for being effusive regarding his own work.

The 2015 HS Chardonnay was extremely well integrated, with notes of hazelnut, baked apple, and maybe a bit of brioche. I also heard vanilla and cream.

It was full bodied, with the nutty characteristics I associate with older Chardonnays. It did have a ‘matchstick’ quality initially when we opened, but that dissipated quickly.

Last we spoke, Jim professed he didn’t think this wine would improve with more age. But having just tasted it, it easily has several more years before I’d be worried about a decline.

2017 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Also outstanding, in a different way. Fresher than the 2015, more aggressive, with more obvious ripeness in the fruit.

Group tasting notes mentioned hay, white flower, lemon peel, and a yeasty/brioche nose.

2019 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: My group notes focus on strong tropical notes, including pineapple and papaya, as well as green apple. Another participant mentioned cream.

It had good acidity, although it had a shorter finish compared to the earlier vintages. Those tropical notes were the first to drop off.

2021 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: I thought 2019 was tropical…until I had a whiff of this one. The nose completely jumped out of the glass.

This was more botanical on the palate, with more fruit than structure. It was relatively straightforward compared to the earlier wines. I hate calling it ‘easy drinking’ because that underscores its quality. But comparatively speaking, it was the easiest drinking of the four.

Hardscrabble Red Vertical (2012-2023)

For the reds, I decanted the 2021 and 2022 bottles for 3 hours each, and the 2023 for 4 hours. This was crucial since I was worried these younger wines wouldn’t show well, particularly the 2023.

In retrospect I wish I had decanted the 2017 and 2019 bottles as well. A late decanting of the 2017 helped it evolve, but by then our ‘favorites’ were mostly selected.

Most of these wines had Cabernet Sauvignon as their dominant grape, although sometimes not by much (only in the 2015 and 2020 vintages was Cabernet equaled by another grape).

2012 Hardscrabble Red: 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Aged in new (30%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 21 months. 14.4% alc.

This was one of the best wines of the day, with several participants selecting it as their #1 wine. Rereading Jim’s Hardscrabble blog I can see he was very conservative in his description, listing it as “Drink now till 2021”.

We found the 2012 Hardscrabble red to be surprisingly bright and fresh, with years left on it. It was tannic but not overly so.

Despite being 14 years old it was still showing primary and secondary characteristics. Tasting profile notes list black fruit on the palate that was just starting to evolve into dried fruit. Other descriptors include notes of black raspberry and violets.

The only downside was this wine’s best characteristics faded not long after we sampled it. If you open one – don’t let it sit for long.

2013 Hardscrabble Red: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, and 11% Cabernet Franc. Aged in new (30%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 21 months. 13.7% alc.

Important note here; this was our only 375ml bottle of the day, which impacted the wine’s tasting profile. The smaller format likely caused this wine to taste ‘older’ than it should have (although admittedly it was from a relatively weaker vintage than, say, the 2012).

We felt this wine had lots of tertiary notes, with an emphasis on tannin and structure. But we struggled to find the fruit, so it wasn’t as highly rated as the others. Jim projected a ‘drink through 2023’ date, although that’s hard for me to independently verify given my smaller-format bottle.

2014 Hardscrabble Red: 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot. Aged in new (50%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 21 months. 12.5% alc.

This wine was somewhat divisive. If you love ‘funky’ Bordeaux-like Old World wines, you’d like this one.

While we found some brett, it wasn’t present at a level we considered a fault (mostly on the nose, rather than the palate).

Group notes mentioned black cherry, and somewhat tart and astringent. It had high acidity but surprisingly it was only 12.5% alcohol. Someone mentioned ‘dainty cherry’ on the nose.

2015 Hardscrabble Red: 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 19% Cabernet Franc. Aged in new (50%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 21 months. 13.4% alc.

Ranking the favorites afterwards, this was our #3 wine of the day. The 2015 Hardscrabble blog notes Jim was very happy with this year.

The group had plenty of notes; so many it was hard to capture them all.

On the nose someone mentioned a candied quality, maybe violet. Someone else mentioned notes of iron or sanguine. On the palate it had fruit tannin, leaning towards a sweet fruit with a licorice finish.

That finish was something we talked about. It was a surprising “New World” style wine.

2016 Hardscrabble Red: 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Aged in new (60%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 21 months. 13.8% alc.

This was another hit. I’d go so far as to say this wine was the surprise of the day (at least for me).

2016 doesn’t exactly strike me as one of the more memorable years in VA wine history, either for positive or negative qualities. Jim notes it was an uncommonly dry September that produced ripe grapes and mature tannins.

This was one of the softer wines of the lineup. I’m tempted to say this has a ‘drink now’ quality, but keep in mind it’s a 10-year bottle that was showing extremely well. It wasn’t showing any evidence of decline, but the consensus seems to be it won’t get any better.

We thought it had very ripe fruit and soft tannins. I wasn’t able to capture any fruit notes from the group (my excuse is I’m too busy writing things down) but we enjoyed this immensely.

2017 Hardscrabble Red: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot. Aged in new (70%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 22 months. 13.7% alc.

“Smoldering” was my favorite descriptor for this wine. I very much regret not decanting it because it went from good to even better over time. Linden’s Hardscrabble blog notes Jim was very happy with this vintage.

This wine has structure and power, with a long finish. Good acidity and ripe fruit were mentioned. Group notes include blackberry, pomegranate, big tannins and a big finish, with the nose becoming even more expressive as it opened.

Pair this with steak (and invite me).

2019 Hardscrabble Red: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc and 16% Merlot. Aged in new (70%) and slightly used French oak barrels for 22 months. 13.1% alc.

This wine was ‘showy’, possibly because it was the product of an especially hot year so it just had that ‘come look at me’ vibe (when compared to the smoldering glances of the 2017).

Overall opinions were fairly divided. It had big fruit tannins, wasn’t as integrated as we would have liked. Chewy. Notes of raspberry, black raspberry, and plum.

This was another wine I wish I had decanted. We didn’t love this wine as much as the rest of the lineup, but I suspect that opinion would change if we gave it a few more years and some aeration. The Hardscrabble blog projects drink now till 2030, and that’s more than fair.

2020 Hardscrabble: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot. Aged for 12 months in used French oak barrels for Merlot and Cabernet Franc and new oak for the Cabernet Sauvignon. 13.3% alc.

This was possibly the biggest change in terms of style in the entire lineup because it was 45% Cab Franc; the largest percentage ever in this wine.

This year isn’t a favorite for much of Virginia because of the frost that devastated many vineyards. The year was characterized by fairly mild heat, so ripening was an issue. This was a vintage that favored Cab Franc, so Jim used it appropriately.

I didn’t get many tasting notes; mostly raspberry and an emphasis on it being floral. Perfectly nice wine with dinner, but not the show-stopper of several others in the lineup.

2021 Hardscrabble Red: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. Aged for 12 months in used and new French oak barrels. 12.9% alc.

Off the bat we were wowed by this nose. It wasn’t as structured as the other Hardscrabble wines of the day but made up for it by being elegant, hedonistic and delicious.

Tasting notes included flavors of stewed strawberry, blackberry, and cherry. I also heard black raspberry and vanilla.

We had differing opinions on its age-ability. I’d say it was more “New World” in style. If I was going to party and needed a wine everyone would like, I’d bring this.

2022 Hardscrabble Red: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Merlot. Aged for 12 months in used and new French oak barrels. 13.3% alc.

Another very expressive wine, although some noted it was edging towards being green. I heard differing opinions on its ripeness. The Hardscrabble blog put 2026 as the early window for opening this bottle, although it would benefit from another year of aging.

Tasting notes include a flavor of espresso; first on the nose then the palate. Smoked fruit on the palate, even jalapeno. I didn’t see it initially, but upon a re-taste two days later I understood what Jim meant by how this wine had exceptionally ‘fine’ tannins.

Based on our scoring, this wine wasn’t enjoyed as much as some others. But given it’s one of the youngest, I think that opinion will change over time.

2023 Hardscrabble Red: 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Merlot. 14.3% alc.

It. Was. Just. Gorgeous.

This wine had structure yet plenty of ripeness. I heard someone mention notes of Black Forest cake; while another said cherry liqueur. Notes of violet. Powerful and complex. This was everything you want in a wine right now, yet it’s still going to get better.

I admit…I opened a 2^nd bottle on the spot to share more.

Important note: this wine is not yet for sale to the general public. But you *can* buy it if you join Linden’s “Winegrowers Selection” club. It is so new, nothing about the 2023 Hardscrabble red has been posted on the Linden website.

I fully admit – I joined the club specifically to get access to this particular wine, and don’t regret a penny spent.

Overall Favorites

Hardscrabble Chardonnay: By a narrow margin, 4 participants favored the 2017 Hardscrabble Chardonnay, while 3 preferred 2015. No votes favored either 2019 or 2021.

I do have to say; 2015 vs 2017 was close. I started on Team 2017, but after re-tasting 2015 two days later I somewhat regret my earlier vote.

Hardscrabble Red: It was a showdown between 2012 and 2023 for top wines of the evening, with 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 competing for 3^rd favorite.

For the 2012 vs 2023 comparison, which was favored often depended on when you tried it.

If you went by ‘first taste’ out the gate, then 2012 may have had an edge. But several hours later it faded while 2023 was still going strong.

That said, the 2023 Hardscrabble red was (more-or-less) the top wine of the night.

The 2023 was the only red that all 7 voters selected as one of their “Top 3” wines of the day. That’s remarkable given it was also the youngest wine of my lineup and will only get better with age.

As much as I loved these two wines, I also need to give credit to the 2015, 2016, and 2017 Hardscrabble reds (and 2014, but only you like Old World funk in your wine).

I know Jim admires the 2015 vintage, so having a 2015 red in our lineup of favorites wasn’t surprising. My understanding is this was a slightly cooler vintage but dry and warm enough for good ripening. Great choice for 3^rd overall favorite.

The 2017 Hardscrabble red also had several supporters. It leaned “Old World” in style, to the point that at a separate blind tasting event, my guest from Bordeaux threw down the “I’m from Bordeaux, I can recognize Bordeaux!” and was surprised to learn she was wrong.

That said, the 2016 Hardscrabble red was absolutely peaking. Given it was from an otherwise ‘normal’ vintage, this was a shockingly strong showing.

Final Observations

A few, but I’ll keep them brief.

First, Linden wines emphasize restraint over power. Even the ‘biggest’, most powerful vintages were unmistakably Linden-esque. It was easy to see Jim prefers “Old World” finesse vs “New World” showy-ness.

Second, Linden’s wines are also especially ageable. This was something I knew going in, yet it was another thing to sample it first-hand. That a 2012 Hardscrabble red and a 2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay could be so delicious despite being over a decade old was a remarkable achievement.

Third, the 2023 vintage might be one of his best yet. I’ve known for a while that 2023 wines are going to break records for overall quality. The 2023 Hardscrabble red proved it.

Lastly, sleeper vintages were some of our favorites. Linden allows each wine to be an expression of its vintage, so variation was expected. But the reality is that some vintages simply have weather favoring them in a way other years don’t. That led me to privately bet in advance that 2017 and 2023 (two stereotypically ‘good’ vintages) would end up as the night’s favorites.

So you can imagine my surprise at how well received both 2015 and 2016 were. Maybe it was the luck of tasting it at exactly the right moment, but those reds were hitting just right.