Jim Law

Linden Vineyards

Jim Law is the owner/winemaker of Linden Vineyards and winegrower of Hardscrabble. An Ohio native, he was raised in the 1960’s and 1970’s by parents who loved to share their passion for food and wine. Study in Europe and two years teaching agriculture as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire (Congo) led to the desire to grow grapes.

Jim’s first vineyard job was in Indiana where he traded work for a place to live. He then got a real job in Ohio at Chalet Debonne where he learned the nuts and bolts of grape growing and cellar work. In 1981 Jim was hired to start a winery in the Shenandoah Valley where he fell in love with the area and viticultural possibilities. In the mid 1980’s while establishing Linden Vineyards he consulted for other wineries and taught winegrowing at local Community Colleges. He is currently obsessed with growing the greatest wine and having the happiest vineyard. When not in the vineyard he enjoys cooking, eating in France, and writing for trade publications.

More about Linden Vineyards

Jura

The Jura defies many expectations, nowhere more so than in its wines. The leading whites have a nutty, sherry-like aroma that many people regard as hopelessly oxidized, but they are actually tangy, complex, pure and delicious. The best reds barely have enough color to be called red. They are delicate and graceful, yet with an earthy intensity that can stand up to the smelliest of cheeses. Almost singularly among wine regions, the reds are usually served before the whites in the Jura because they are lighter in texture. The region's most profound wine, vin jaune, or yellow wine, is hard to find in the United States. It is traditionally sold in squat clavelin, 62-centiliter, or about 21-ounce, bottles, a size that is not sanctioned by the American government, a pity since the saline, mineral force of this wine is extraordinary.

Domaine Rolet:

Domaine Rolet Vin Jaune 1998