2018 Lingua Franca, Sisters Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Critics reviews
Picked late September after a very dry growing season. More than half the fruit was grown on the Van Duzer Corridor on calcareous soils, and the rest on Eola Springs Vineyard. Grapes were whole-cluster pressed, settled in tank for an average of 24 hours, then barrel-fermented with indigenous yeast and natural acidity in a combination of 18% new (600-litre puncheons) and 82% neutral French oak barriques from diverse coopers. Full malolactic conversion was completed in each vessel, and after the wine was blended it was put into a stainless-steel tank with its lees for six months prior to bottling. Just 290 cases produced.
Attractive blend of honey ripeness and crisp green-apple acidity. Hits the spot! Really rather beautiful confidence and transparency. Serious stuff with a real undertow.
Drink 2021 - 2027
Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com (Aug 2021)
Tim Fish, Wine Spectator (Mar 2021)
Paul Gregutt, winemag.com (Jan 2021)
About this WINE
Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca in Oregon is the fruition of Master Sommelier Larry Stone's lifelong ambition. In 2012, Larry acquired a site in the Eola-Amity Hills, partnering with David Honig and Dominique Lafon to craft expressive, nuanced wines. Winemaker Thomas Savre, a protégé of Lafon, brings experience from renowned Burgundian wineries and the The project's ethos emphasises creating wines with a sense of place, driven by the passion and expertise of its founders. The 27-ha vineyard, surrounded by notable neighbours like Seven Springs and Lone Star Vineyards, benefits from ideal easterly exposure. Larry planted exclusively Dijon and heritage clones of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, sourced from esteemed vineyards like Le Montrachet. The Chardonnay grows in stony soils for distinctive minerality, while the Pinot thrives in silty loam "Jory" and marine fossil Nekia soils. An organic and biodynamic approach guides the meticulous vineyard management at Lingua Franca, promoting biodiversity and vine health. The environmentally conscious winery reduces energy consumption and reuses water and CO2. In the winery, grapes are carefully sorted, and whole clusters are used to enhance complexity. Traditional pigéage (foot punching) is employed for better results. The range includes estate wines and fruit from single sites, embodying classic Oregon elegance with pure fruit, spice, and earthy notes.
Sonoma County
North Coast's Sonoma County is California's largest AVA with 19,800 ha (2005) of vines. It has forever been the home of the meek and mild small grower as compared to the grandeur and might of neighbour Napa; more picturesque too, as much of the sandy, gravely loam land belonged to true orchards and fruit farms until the 1970s.
Sonoma Valley covers a small part of Sonoma County but its wines often outshine its illustrious neighbours in Napa County. Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon are cultivated here with much success. Sonoma Valley has long enjoyed a special place in the history of California wine. The first vineyards in the valley were planted by Franciscan monks in 1823. In 1857 Agoston Haraszthy, one of the founding fathers of California's commercial winemaking, opened here the highly successful Buena Vista Winery.
Closer to the coast are the region's top producing AVAs for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Green Valley, while the slightly warmer Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys have earned a reputation as a hotspot for Cabernet, and increasingly, Zinfandel and Merlot.
Recommended producers
Ridge, Teira, Williams & Selyem, Rochioli are definitely worth investigating.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Named after Larry Stone’s mother and aunt who were inseparable for nearly 90 years, the Sisters Chardonnay is a blend from two vineyards and is a fabulous example of how a top-level New World Chardonnay can combine enormous depth with poised finesse. The nose is incredibly intense with overwhelmingly deep, complex aromas of ripe yellow apples with touches of brioche and a top note of cream.
The palate is equally devastating to the senses. This is a full-on, barrel-fermented Chardonnay but it somehow manages not to feel heavy at all. There is just so much flavour here hitting the palate: rich macerated lemon, yellow plums, a touch of passionfruit with a twist of pink grapefruit on the finish. It feels so fresh and focused, despite the richness of its (velvet) cloak of flavour. The wine has a lovely mouthfeel and a shimmering net of acidity weaves its way across the palate, framing the complexity and depth with delicious, moreish freshness. Layer upon layer of toasty minerality emerges on the extraordinarily long length. This is one for the connoisseurs’ table. Only 250 cases were made.
Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (Aug 2021)
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