Lingua Franca was co-founded by Larry Stone and Dominique Lafon in 2015, inspired by the exceptional vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills that Larry bought in 2012 and planted in 2013. Thomas Savre, who worked at some of the top domains in Burgundy, is responsible for overseeing the winemaking and farming. He is a master at capturing the character of each vineyard site with every vintage.
This is a vintage with finely chiseled features at Bunker Hill. Our Bunker Hill Estate Vineyard in the South Salem Hills is the oldest source of fruit for any of our wines, having been planted in 1995 to CH76. It is among the earliest of the Dijon-clone plantings in Oregon, situated on the remnant of a pioneer farm.
A cold and rainy spring led to a late frost that devastated the Chardonnay crop. However, the end of June brought a weeklong heatwave of 95-104 degrees Fahrenheit that helped kickstart the period of bloom. July was calm and moderate with little rain. Set was complete, even, and record-breaking in its potential yield where vines had been unaffected by the frost. This came very late and forecasted a Chardonnay harvest that could come no earlier than the last week of September.
