We were coming up to the end of the special wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Larry Stone was very informative and unfortunately, he had only an hour per session to talk about his wines.  I was very happy that the photos came out well, as I am not a photographer by any stretch of imagination and I had to the photos while one of the assistants was pouring the wines.  I only had time to photograph the glass of wine and the label, but I could not feature the wonderful artwork that was also on each label.  

The next wine that we had was the Lingua Franca “The Plow” Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022.  The fruit for this wine comes from the estate’s Block One which represents “Massal Selection” the traditional French practice of replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines. Block One is planted on Gelderman-Jory soil, moderately deep, well-drained soils found in the foothills of the Willamette Valley.  The soil is comprised of basalt (volcanic lava) and tuff (volcanic ash).  Three other Blocks from the estate are also used, and each features a different Pinot Noir clone.  The fruit was hand-harvested and only four percent of whole cluster fruit was used, the balance was hand sorted and destemmed berries.  Fermentation was spontaneous using wild yeast in concrete and Stainless-Steel tanks, with gentle pump-overs and even some “pigeage” by foot (for fun, think of the episode of Lucy stomping on grapes).  The wine was then aged in French Oak, of which twenty-one percent was new, for twelve months, followed by an additional five months in Stainless-Steel tanks after blending the wines, before bottling.  This ruby-red colored wine offered notes of black cherry, pomegranate, raspberry and plums with violets and roses, and then spices, cocoa, and crushed rocks.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry, pomegranate, followed by tones of blood orange and vanilla blending with ripe tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, spice and terroir.

The penultimate wine for this tasting was Lingua Franca Tongue ‘n Cheek Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills 2022.  Tongue ‘n Cheek arose from a discussion over the use of whole cluster fermentations; that finer lots would benefit more compared to lighter lots.  This wine is made from two sites on volcanic soils: ninety-two percent in Yamhill-Carlton and eight percent from Dundee Hills.  The fruit was manually and mechanically harvested and sorted, then entirely destemmed and fermented using wild yeast, in a combination of concrete and Stainless-Steel tanks.  After fermentation the wine was racked into French Oak barrels, of which twenty-five percent was new, and aged for twelve months.  Then the wine was assembled in a Stainless-Steel tank and aged for an additional four months prior to bottling.  This ruby-red colored wine offered notes of black cherry and raspberry, roses and violets, and sous-bois and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry and raspberry, along with traces of licorice and cloves blending with full tannins and ending with a medium-to-long-count finish of fruit, black tea and terroir.

The last wine of the session was Lingua Franca Mimi’s Mind Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills 2023.  This wine is an homage to Mimi Casteel and her vineyard that was sold to Lingua Franca and is now their Block Eleven.  She had been a role model for regenerative farming in Oregon with practices to improve the environment. Even though she has sold her vineyard, she appreciated and approved of her name on the cuvée.  The fruit is hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyard and then again, prior to the crush.  The fruit is then destemmed and only whole berries for the fermenters.  Fermentation is spontaneous using wild yeast in Stainless-Steel tanks with gentle pump-overs, followed by traditional pigeage.  After fermentation the wine is placed in French Oak barriques, of which twenty-six percent is new, and aged for twelve months.  Then the barriques are emptied and blended in Stainless-Steel tanks for an additional five months before bottling.  For this tasting the wine was “splash decanted,” a process where the wine is decanted and aerated for about twenty minutes and then poured back into the bottle.  This ruby-red colored wine offered notes of black cherry and blackberry, violets and roses, sous-bois and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of cherry and blackberry, with black tea blending with firm tannins, ending with a medium-count saline finish of fruit, spices and graphite (terroir).