There was a special wine tasting event at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan with only three one-hour sessions, and it was all booked up.  The tasting was hosted by Larry Stone, the founder of Lingua Franca.  More about his wines is forthcoming, but within months of becoming the ninth Master Sommelier in the United States, he became the first American to win the prestigious Best International Sommelier in French Wines competition in Paris.

The first wine that was poured was Lingua Franca “Avni” Chardonnay Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022.  Larry Stone bought the estate in 2012, was planted in 2013 and the winery was co-founded with Dominique Lafon in 2015. The estate is sixty-six acres in the Eola-Amity Hills district of Willamette Valley.  The wine is pure Chardonnay and sourced from multiple vineyards in the region with the fruit grown on shallow volcanic soils; Eola-Amity Hills Lingua Franca’s Bunker Hill Estate Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains’ Yamhill Carlton and a site in the Van Duzer Corridor with marine sediments. Whole cluster pressing with settling in the tank for twenty-four hours, barrel fermented with wild yeast.  Initial and Malolactic Fermentation were spontaneous and completed in barrels, with French Oak, of which twenty-six percent is new, for eleven months Sur Lie.  The wines were then put back in closed tanks with their lees for another six months prior to bottling.  A soft golden-yellow wine that offered notes of fruit, citrus, white florals, minerals and spice.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of green apple, pears, lemon zest and ending with a medium-count finish of white fruit, spice and terroir.

The second wine that we had was Lingua Franca Estate Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon 2022.  The estate is composed of individual vineyard blocks, which are farmed by organic and regenerative farming principals.  This wine is pure Chardonnay, and eighty percent is sourced from the original plots that were planted in 2012, while the balance is from some new plots planted in 2018 and 2019.  The fruit is manually harvested, with field sorting, resulting in eighty percent whole cluster pressing and the other twenty percent crushed and pressed, then is allowed to settle for twenty-four hours in a tank, barrel fermented with wild yeast in French Oak, of which twenty-seven percent is new.  Initial and Malolactic Fermentation is completed spontaneously in each barrel, and the wine lays on the lees for eleven months, then combined in tanks with the lees for five additional months on the lees, prior to bottling.  This soft golden-yellow wine offered notes of jasmine, gardenia and lemon blossoms.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well balanced wine displayed tones of green apples and lemon cream, chamomile and sea salt; ending with a medium-count finish of while florals, terroir and a salinity that beckons another sip and some more food. 

The penultimate bottle of white was the Lingua Franca Bunker Hill Chardonnay Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022.  Their Bunker Hill Estate Vineyard is in South Salem Hills, and represents the oldest source of fruit, as it was planted in 1995 and is among the earliest of the Dijon-clone plantings in Oregon.  The grapes are hand-harvested, with sixty-seven percent whole cluster pressed and thirty-three percent crushed and pressed, settled in a tank for twenty-four hours, then barrel fermented in French Oak with twenty-six percent new, on fine lees.  Full Malolactic Fermentation occurred spontaneously in each barrel.  After eleven months of aging on the lees, the wines were combined in a tank with their lees for an additional five months prior to bottling.  This pale-yellow-green colored wine offered notes of green apples, yellow flowers, flint, herbs, wet stones and lemon zest.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of green apples and thyme, very polished and ended with a medium-to-long count finish of fruit, spice and a mineral salinity that was very refreshing and totally food friendly.