What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon then having a cellar tasting with Shari Avenius. That’s exactly what we did last Saturday. After a trail ride at Marriott Ranch we headed over to Linden Vineyards. Bedecked in our riding togs, we arrived at Linden Vineyards just in time to sign up for a cellar tasting. To our surprise, Shari Avenius conducted the tasting, and an added treat was the fact that we were the only ones who had signed up for the cellar tasting at that particular time. Shari’s wines have a cult following, and no wonder—her Sauvignon Blanc was the crowd pleaser at a tasting conducted by the Old Ebbitt Grill. The tasting featured Sauvignon Blancs from around the world, and Shari’s placed in the top three. During the course of the cellar tasting, Shari gave us an experiential tour of Linen wines, and in the process provided us with an education on terroir and its importance to the winemaking process. We also found Shari to be very friendly and our time with her seemed to fly!
The cellar tasting allowed us to compare wines from previous vintages. For review was the 1999 Chardonnay and the 2001 Chardonnay; the 1995 Linden Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2001 Glen Manor Red, and a late harvest Vidal Blanc dessert wine. All of these selections were outstanding. Warren favored the fuller-bodied 1999 Chardonnay and the bigger, rustic 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon; he found the 1995 Cabernet to be particularly special. This one had a deep garnet color with dense dark fruit and tobaccor flavors. Tannins were evident but pleasingly so; Warren thought of this one as a cigar wine, but a steak dinner would really moo for this bold red. Unfortunately, the 1995 Cabernet was from owner Jim Law’s own wine library and not for sale. Paul’s favorite was the 1999 Chardonnay with its apple/pear flavors and creamier texture.
We did hammer Shari with questions about her own special wines; in particular, we wanted to know what made her Sauvignon Blanc so superior. The answer, not surprisingly, was terrain. These vines grow in a rocky terrain that lends itself to producing classic Sauvignon Blanc. We also found out that Shari will release a red in the next month—we’d like to be the first in line to sample! Also, Shari will be visiting Alsace to tour vineyards there and to meet with winemakers from the area.
After our amazing cellar tasting with Shari we opted for a bottle of the medium-bodied 2004 Linden Red. We enjoyed it with venison sausage, Derby cheese, and a baguette. We enjoyed the beautiful fall views from the deck while eating our lunch and sipping the red wine.
We plan to return to Linden in the near future to taste and most likely purchase Shari’s new red. We are huge fans of her Sauvignon Blanc and are confident we’ll enjoy the red as well.
If you take a trip to Linden, be sure to tell them you read about them on the Virginia Wine Time blog.