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.
As in the first editions of Tongue ‘n Cheek, 2022 is sourced from two outstanding sites on volcanic soils in Yamhill-Carlton (nearly 92%) and Dundee. The Yamhill-Carlton vineyard has been the source of some of the best Chardonnay we have made, including Sisters, so the addition of Pinot Noir from this site in Tongue ‘n Cheek is an exciting development.
Tongue ‘n Cheek was sorted rigorously, manually and by machine, then 100% destemmed and fermented with wild yeast in a combination of stainless steel and concrete fermenters. After fermentation, it was racked into 25% new oak barrels and aged for 12 months before being assembled in a closed-top stainless steel tank for 4 months prior to bottling.
