INSIDER'S PICK: 2017 LINDEN 'VILLAGE' CHARDONNAY VIRGINIA $31.99 2015 LINDEN 'HARDSCRABBLE' CHARDONNAY VIRGINIA $39.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

Our last celebration of our anniversary month pays homage to one of the handful of Virginia wineries that have been doing it longer than we have been around AND are still going stronger than ever. Jim Law is arguably one of the Mount Rushmore icons for Virginia winemaking, and his work at Linden since their first harvest in 1987 have cemented our reputation as a state that can make serious wines recognizable across the country. The Hardscrabble vineyard on their estate has always been a cornerstone to their wines; the Bordeaux varietal red blend that carries it's name, portions of their single varietal red and white wines, and this Chardonnay. If Virginia were to ever award a 'Cru' designation to individual parcels of land as they do in the French system, this would be among the very first based on its history of excellence. It is in the spirit of this Cru concept that the 'Village' Chardonnay was made in 2017, using the youngest plantings in the Hardscrabble vineyard. Those vines were always harvested separately, declassified out of the Hardscrabble program, and blended into the winery's basic Chardonnay. With the 2017 vintage, the second one using the 'Village' name on the label, the Hardscrabble vines commanded a much higher portion of the blend than usual, and the site character finally is becoming more evident in the maturing vines. This is truly a 'baby Hardscrabble', the same way you can talk of a Burgundy being a 'baby Meursault' or 'baby Echezeaux'. Buy why offer just one or the other? Por que no los dos! Now, you can absolutely try just one or the other for the 10% Insider's Pick discount, but the fun will be trying them side by side and exploring the site character of the Hardscrabble vineyard. Village is made with no malolactic fermentation and using only older barrels, while the vineyard designate does see some malo and a portion of new barrels, but much of the other winemaking methods used are common to both wines. Virginia wine at it's best!

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