Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Going Big! with Kevin Gentry
Episode: 🎙️ Going Big with Jim Law: A Vineyard, a Vision, and the Virtue of Patience
Guest: Jim Law, Founder of Linden Vineyards
Release Date: September 8, 2025

This episode features a deep-dive conversation with Jim Law, a renowned pioneer in Virginia wine, celebrated for his relentless pursuit of quality, minimal-intervention approach, and influence on the region’s new generation of winegrowers. Host Kevin Gentry explores Jim's journey from his early days in the Peace Corps to founding Linden Vineyards, investigating the lessons of patience, experimentation, and leadership in both wine and life. The episode is packed with insights on terroir, the art of “wine growing,” and living a values-driven, hands-on life.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

The Vision: Why Virginia, Why the Blue Ridge?

• Kevin introduces Jim Law as a trailblazer who saw potential in Virginia wine where most saw obstacles. Jim credits early influences like Barboursville (03:06).
• Site Selection: Jim was captivated by the Blue Ridge’s higher elevation and potential for cool-climate wines. His European wine palate pushed him to pursue a site with cooler temperatures and “virgin terroir”—soil and climate unexplored by grapes (04:32, 05:33).
  • “I was especially infatuated by the mountains, the high elevation, and the potential for the soils.” – Jim Law (03:21)
  • “Even though nobody was talking about climate change at that point, I still knew that to get the style of wine that I wanted to grow, I needed to be cool for Virginia.” – Jim Law (05:48)

Roots: From Peace Corps to Wine

• Peace Corps in Congo: Jim’s love for farming started while teaching agriculture in a small Congolese village, where he learned to grow perennial crops like coffee and cocoa (07:42, 08:15).
• First Vineyard Jobs: After returning to Ohio, Jim started on the lowest rung as a “cellar rat,” falling in love with all aspects of wine farming (08:34).
  • “I learned I was what was called a seller rat... I was happy as a clam.” – Jim Law (09:18)

Calling and Scale: “Going Big” by Staying Small

• Quality > Quantity: Despite producing only ~4,000 cases per year, Jim’s passion is relentless experimentation and quality—a philosophy inspired by European traditions and humility before terroir. Hands-on work is non-negotiable; going big in scale would mean losing touch with the land (10:45, 11:56).
  • “If we got big, I wouldn’t be doing that work… That’s if I want to do what I want to do, then I have to keep small so that I can do it, not just direct other people.” – Jim Law (11:10)

Wine Grower vs. Winemaker: The Philosophy

• Vineyard First: Jim draws a distinction between “wine growing” (focus on terroir, soil-vine relationship, and minimum manipulation) and “winemaking” (correcting or compensating for less-than-ideal fruit) (13:25).
  • “The whole idea with a wine grower is you do everything you can to bring in what we call balanced grape…the right sugar, just the right acidity, the right flavor…You don’t have to manipulate it.” – Jim Law (14:06)
• Jim stepped back from head winemaker duties in 2017, mentoring others and emphasizing humility before nature (15:30).

Experimentation, Mistakes, and Apprenticeship

• Hands-on Learning: Organizations and apprentices at Linden rotate through all tasks—for a holistic understanding of every step from soil to bottle (11:56).
• Mistakes are Growth: Jim emphasizes learning from errors in matching grape variety to soil type—choosing to tear out and replant rather than forcing poor results (12:22).
  • “You can’t force a wine to be good because if it’s not grown on the right soil... you have to make the right big decisions of pulling it out if you made a mistake.” – Jim Law (12:40)
• Cultivating Curiosity: Apprentices are encouraged not just in technical skills but in envisioning their ideal daily work and lifestyle (26:24).

The Terroir Exploration: “Virgin Territory”

• Terroir Defined: Virginia’s east-facing, rocky Hardscrabble soils present unique challenges and learning opportunities. Jim relishes the “unmapped” nature of Virginia as “virgin terroir” (16:56–18:28).
  • “There’s very few places in the world where you can start from scratch and be the first... It’s like going to the moon… That’s part of the journey.” – Jim Law (17:44)

Soil, Rain, Climate, and Grape Varieties

• Soil-Grape Match: Over the years, Jim learned that Cabernet thrives on granite (rocky, well-draining) soils, while Merlot prefers moister, clay-based soils. Mistakes in early plantings led to major improvements (19:34).
• Coping with Virginia Weather: Excess rain calls for drainage rather than irrigation; lessons come from European regions with similar climates, not West Coast models (21:41–23:35).
• Climate Change & Futureproofing: Jim’s experimental vineyard trials new grape varieties—like the southern Italian white Fiano—in anticipation of future heat and humidity (32:04).

Process, Patience, and Humility

• Long Horizons: Each vineyard experiment can take years to bear fruit—site prep, planting, raising vines to maturity, fermenting and aging wine (32:46–33:35).
• Patience is Essential: “Farmers have to have humility and patience... but you have to love the process. To us, the process is much more interesting.” – Jim Law (33:41)

Advice for Aspiring Winegrowers:

• Develop Your Palate: The path to great wine starts with tasting the best benchmarks, extensively and intentionally—even if it means pooling resources with friends for one expensive bottle (25:13, 35:24).
  • “You have to know what the goal is... How can you make great wine if you don’t know what it tastes like?” – Jim Law (35:27)
• Focus on Values Over Profit: Material aims should not eclipse the pursuit of excellence or enjoyment in one’s work (36:30).
  • “You can live a great life and you don’t need material goods. If you can keep away from that profit motive…you can be comfortable with it.” – Jim Law (36:42)
• Continuous Learning & Improvement: Embrace mistakes as learning, and keep pushing for “better,” not just “more.”
  • “The driving force for everybody that works here is to make better wine…We have confidence now because we can learn from each vintage.” – Jim Law (27:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Experimentation & Failure:
  “We planted Cabernet Sauvignon on all the wrong soils…until we found out it does much better on granite…Now the Cabernets are beautiful, but when we started, they weren’t so beautiful.” – Jim Law (19:34)

• On Terroir Discovery:
  “In the wine, because that’s what drew me to Virginia, is that it was what I call virgin terroir. Nobody knew.” – Jim Law (16:56)

• On Quality vs. Quantity:
  “If you get big, you’re not going to do that [hands-on work]. I have seen a lot of them get big and then regret it later.” – Jim Law (26:46)

• On Taste as the Ultimate Benchmark:
  “You have to taste the great wines to understand what the goal is…and that’s difficult because of the money, but it has to be done.” – Jim Law (36:01)

• On Humility and Patience: “Farmers have to have humility and patience…You have to love the process.” – Jim Law (33:41)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:06: The decision to plant vines in Virginia – site selection, influences, and vision
• 07:42: Peace Corps farming origin and perennial crop fascination
• 09:18: First winery job as a “cellar rat” – falling in love with the work
• 11:10: Why keeping operations small is key to quality and personal fulfillment
• 13:25: Defining “wine grower” vs. “winemaker” philosophy
• 16:56: Defining terroir and the thrill of experimenting with “virgin” land
• 19:34: Lessons on matching grape to soil; Cabernet vs. Merlot in Virginia
• 23:35: Lessons from Old World wine regions for dealing with rain and climate
• 26:24: The role of apprenticeship, mentoring, and teaching lifestyle choices
• 27:06: The focus on continual quality improvement and vineyard vintage library
• 32:04: Preparing for climate change by testing new grape varieties (Fiano)
• 33:41: The necessity of patience and a love for the process in farming and winemaking
• 35:24: The essentiality of tasting great wines as a pathway to making great wine
• 36:42: Eschewing material gain in favor of meaning, joy, and value in work

Closing Remarks

Jim Law’s story is a testament to visionary patience, humility before nature, and devotion to craft. For those seeking to “go big” in any field, this episode offers enduring lessons on taste, experimentation, values-based work, and the joy of building something meaningful—one vintage at a time.

Listen and learn more at: goingbigpodcast.com
Further resources: Linden Vineyards, Virginia wine history, apprentice programs

“The thing that makes me happiest is when I taste my wines alongside the great wines and realize that I’m in the ballpark.” – Jim Law (37:17)