Lingua Franca LLC

Fall Newsletter

Written by: Founder and CEO, Larry Stone

Dear Friends,

This year has been challenging for so many reasons within our country and around the world. Fortunately, people are rediscovering the importance of family and friends, they’re spending more time cooking and baking at home, and sharing meals and wine together. Nightly dinners at home with my wife Nancy along with a bottle of wine to contemplate have brought us closer together and made it so much easier to get through the pandemic.

Of course, Lingua Franca was forced to change overnight to meet the new conditions imposed by Covid-19, but we are grateful to have had so much support from our customers like you throughout the year, which enabled us to keep every member of our team fully employed and gave us hope for the future.

Harvest has just begun as I write this message. Instead of the international team of interns we’ve had in the past, we employed a small group of experienced interns from around the U.S. who are working in accordance with safe practices for Covid both on the crush pad and inside the winery. At least we are still able to have leisurely communal lunches together — suitably separated at a long table — with a couple of wines selected by Thomas and me that are served blind for educational purposes and enjoyment. This sense of community is one of my favorite aspects of harvest.

Then, as if the pandemic wasn’t enough, a couple weeks ago fires broke out in the Cascades to our east, with strong winds from the east spreading the flames and blowing smoke in our direction. Fortunately, none of the fires were close to us and the air quality improved once the usual Van Duzer winds resumed their inland course. To protect our vineyard team, we paused picking and resumed well after the air quality improved.

Though we have dealt with adversity this year, our cohesiveness, thoughtfulness and respect for one another have allowed us to prevail. Your support carries us onward for now, and we look with anticipation to the day when we’ll be able to share a glass of wine with you once again. Until then, we are thrilled to share three new releases with you and hope that your enjoyment of them, shared with close friends or family, will help get you through the rest of 2020.

All the best,

 

 

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We're Proud to Announce New Releases from the 2018 Vintage:

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