Lingua Franca LLC

2019 Estate Chardonnay

2019 Lingua Franca Estate Chardonnay
Date Picked: September 12-13, 2019
Finished Wine: Alcohol: 13%, pH: 3.18

AVA: Eola-Amity Hills
Suggested Retail: $50-$55

The Estate Chardonnay is vibrant and focused, with classic acidity and structure. The green and golden skinned fruit was fully ripe with brown, lignified stems at harvest. The wine promises to have a long aging ability but is already showing signs of its greatness. A worthy successor to the 2018 vintage. The wine has classic structure and balance, with moderate alcohol and a round, enveloping mouthfeel. Thoughtful farming practices and an exceptional site help to influence the timing and quality of harvest. The brightness and precision of CH76 are here augmented by the richness in flavor and texture of CH548.

Vinification

The fruit field sorted, hand-picked, then whole cluster pressed, settled in tank for 24 hours on average, barrel fermented with wild yeast in a combination of 21% new, 600-liter puncheons and 80% old French oak puncheons and barriques from diverse coopers, then left to age for 11 months on lees. Full malolactic fermentation completed spontaneously in each barrel. The wines were combined in tank with their lees for five months prior to bottling.

2019 Vintage

The vineyard was recovering from drought so that the harvest again brought in low yields but of excellent quality and intensity. Harvest proceeded with fruit in perfect balance. Lingua Franca Estate Chardonnay is sourced from the shallowest volcanic soils on the ridge of our lower blocks, where vines have excellent exposure and find water in the cracked bedrock.