2021 LINGUA FRANCA ESTATE EOLA-AMITY HILLS PINOT NOIR A rising star in Oregon's prized Eola-Amity Hills region, Lingua Franca winery is the brainchild of Master Sommelier Larry Stone. Collaborating with legendary Burgundy icon Dominique Lafon, Lingua Franca's organic and biodynamically farmed vineyard neighbors iconic sites, Argyle's Lone Star, Domaine Serene's Jerusalem Hill, and Evening Land's Seven Springs vineyards. The winemaking team produces world-class wines that balance New World intensity with Burgundian finesse, and for the 2021 Estate Pinot Noir, winemaker Thomas Savre consulted with Lafon and fermented 20% whole clusters for added complexity. Aged in primarily neutral French oak barriques to preserve the fruit's natural essence and reflect the region's terroir, this stunning example of Pinot Noir beautifully showcases a harmonious blend of concentration, balance, and a strong sense of place reminiscent of Burgundy but grown in Oregon. WINERY NOTES: This Estate Pinot 2021 has a large proportion of fruit from some of our finest sites, 48% coming from Blocks 1 - 3, planted with PN777 clone. Another 44% is sourced from two blocks of the bold PN 115. The elegant and nuanced PN777 Pinot Noir grown on Gelderman-Jory soils creates the top notes of mineral, rose petal and savory elements while the PN115 provides the fruit, body and weight of the wine. Lingua Franca Estate Pinot Noir enters with red fruits of raspberry and pomegranate, juicy red cherry, and has moderate, round tannins that provide structure. The finish is medium long and mineral with a discernable salinity. The fruit was sorted in the vineyard, hand-picked, then fermented with wild yeast in medium sized concrete and stainless-steel tanks. The Estate Pinot had 21% whole cluster fermentation without any carbonic. The rest of the fruit was destemmed with only whole berries selected for the final wine. The grapes are sorted first in the vineyard and then by hand and machine at the crushpad. Only whole berries are carried by forklift to the stainless-steel fermenters. Fermentation is spontaneous with wild yeast. Punch downs are done by traditional pigeage. After fermentation, the Estate Pinot Noir 2021 was aged in a combination of 25% new and 75% old French oak barriques for 12 months and four in tank, prior to bottling.