Lingua Franca

In 2010, Master Sommelier Larry Stone began negotiations for the 150-acre Janzen Farm in the Eola-Amity Hills, and he completed the purchase at 4 pm on December 31, 2012. Stone had been working at Evening Land's adjacent Seven Springs vineyard. The original plan was to sell the grapes, but Dominique Lafon came on board, and his protégé Thomas Savre became head winemaker, with Lafon consulting. Lingua Franca was co-founded by Larry Stone and Dominique Lafon in 2015. The name pays homage to Stone's vision of unifying people from every culture through wine, a lingua franca being a universal language used to connect people of diverse backgrounds. Stone sought new investors in 2019 to expand hospitality and direct-to-consumer sales at the winery. Lingua Franca bottled no wine in 2020 because of smoke damage from that year's wildfires. In March 2022, Constellation Brands acquired the Lingua Franca business, including a collection of Oregon-based luxury wines, a vineyard, a production facility, the trademark and inventory. The price was not disclosed, and the purchase was Constellation's first foray into Oregon. At the time of the sale, Lingua Franca made 12,000 cases a year from two estate vineyards, the 66-acre Larry Stone vineyard at the winery and nearby Bunker Hill, and sold about 35 to 40 percent of its estate fruit. The Lingua Franca website footer carries a 2025 Constellation Brands, Inc. copyright line.

• 2010: Larry Stone begins negotiations for the 150-acre Janzen Farm
• December 31, 2012: Stone completes the purchase
• 2015: Lingua Franca co-founded by Larry Stone and Dominique Lafon
• 2020: no wine bottled because of wildfire smoke damage
• March 2022: Constellation Brands acquires the Lingua Franca business

Lingua Franca's team page lists Larry Stone as founder, Dominique Lafon as cofounder and Thomas Savre as Director of Winemaking. Stone became the ninth Master Sommelier in the United States, and his career as a restaurateur and sommelier included the Four Seasons, Charlie Trotter's and Rubicon Restaurant. As of April 2022, after the sale, he was to remain on board as brand ambassador and adviser. Lafon is the namesake, director and winemaker of an estate in Meursault, and he took over the family domaine in the 1980s. Savre joined Lingua Franca from Evening Land, where he was Assistant Winemaker, Enologist and Assistant Vineyard Manager and worked closely with Lafon on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Seven Springs Vineyards, directly adjacent to Lingua Franca. He is responsible for overseeing the winemaking and farming. Regenerative viticulturist Mimi Casteel guided the farming principles under which the estate vineyard was planted.

• Larry Stone: founder; ninth Master Sommelier in the United States
• Dominique Lafon: cofounder; namesake, director and winemaker of an estate in Meursault
• Thomas Savre: Director of Winemaking, formerly at Evening Land
• Mimi Casteel: regenerative viticulturist who guided the estate's farming principles

The estate is the Janzen Farm, an east-facing site with a 300-foot elevation gain and Nekia, Gelderman and Jory soils, and the vineyard covers 66 acres. Following low-impact, organic and biodynamic farming principles, Lingua Franca planted the estate vineyard with different combinations of rootstock and budwood to reflect the varying soil conditions within it. The vineyard blocks are farmed by organic and regenerative farming principles, and the estate vines are dry-farmed. Lingua Franca places the farm beside the Lone Star Vineyard of Argyle, the Jerusalem Hill Vineyard of Domaine Serene and the Seven Springs Vineyard of Evening Land. The 2023 Plow Pinot Noir drew two-thirds of its fruit from Blocks 1 and 2 and 33 percent from block 3, from a massale selection of PN777 on Gelderman-Jory soils with a layer of large gravels. Estate Chardonnay is sourced entirely from the original blocks planted by Larry Stone. For the 2023 Avni Pinot Noir, a third of the fruit came from the estate, with other sources in Yamhill-Carlton on Jory soils, at Loubejac in the Van Duzer Corridor on Willakenzie marine sediment, and in Mt. Pisgah. The 2023 Chers Amis Chardonnay came from two sources on shallow basalt soils: a neighboring vineyard and the Yamhill-Carlton property planted to CH76 on which the first Sisters Chardonnay was based.

• Janzen Farm: 150 acres, east-facing, 300-foot elevation gain
• Soils: Nekia, Gelderman and Jory
• Vineyard: 66 acres, planted with rootstock and budwood combinations matched to soil conditions
• Avni Pinot Noir 2023: one-third estate fruit plus Yamhill-Carlton, Loubejac and Mt. Pisgah sources

The 2023 Estate Pinot Noir was sorted in the vineyard, hand-picked and wild-yeast fermented in medium-sized concrete and stainless-steel tanks, with less than 2 percent whole cluster, the least of any vintage. Punch-downs are done by traditional pigeage, and the wine aged 12 months in 24 percent new and 76 percent old French oak barriques, then six months in tank. The 2023 Plow Pinot Noir has 14 percent whole cluster and aged 12 months in 22 percent new and 78 percent neutral French oak barriques, followed by five months in stainless-steel tank. For the 2023 Avni Pinot Noir, 10 percent of the fruit went through traditional carbonic maceration, and the wine aged in 25 percent new French 500, 600 and 3,200-liter casks, around 11 months on its lees, with a further three months in tank. The 2023 Estate Chardonnay was 77 percent whole-cluster pressed and 23 percent crushed and pressed, then barrel fermented with wild yeast in 25 percent new, lightly toasted 500-liter puncheons and 75 percent old French oak puncheons and barriques. Full malolactic fermentation completed spontaneously in each barrel, and after 11 months on lees the wines spent five months in tank before bottling.

• Estate Pinot Noir 2023: less than 2 percent whole cluster; 24 percent new French oak barriques for 12 months
• The Plow 2023: 14 percent whole cluster; 22 percent new French oak barriques
• Avni Pinot Noir 2023: 10 percent carbonic maceration; 500, 600 and 3,200-liter casks
• Estate Chardonnay 2023: 25 percent new 500-liter puncheons; full malolactic

The Lingua Franca range includes Estate Pinot Noir, Estate Chardonnay, Avni Pinot Noir, Avni Chardonnay, The Plow Pinot Noir, Bunker Hill Chardonnay, Sisters Chardonnay, Chers Amis Chardonnay, Inspiras Chardonnay, La Belle Pinot Noir, Novo Vivo Pinot Noir, Tongue n Cheek Pinot Noir, Petit Géant Pinot Noir and Mimi's Mind Pinot Noir, along with l'Atelier Gamay Noir Willamette Valley and L'Atelier Chenin Blanc. Estate Pinot Noir and Estate Chardonnay carry the Eola-Amity Hills appellation, while Avni Pinot Noir, The Plow and Chers Amis carry Willamette Valley. Club shipments include first access to Petit Géant Pinot Noir, Inspiras Chardonnay and Novo Vivo Pinot Noir. In October 2026, the winery's online shop listed the 2024 Estate Pinot Noir at $60, the 2024 Estate Chardonnay at $55, the 2024 Avni Pinot Noir at $40, the 2023 Avni Chardonnay at $35 and the 2024 Plow Pinot Noir at $75.

• Estate Pinot Noir and Estate Chardonnay (Eola-Amity Hills)
• Avni Pinot Noir and Avni Chardonnay
• Named cuvées including The Plow, Bunker Hill, Sisters, Chers Amis, La Belle and Mimi's Mind
• Club-first cuvées: Petit Géant Pinot Noir, Inspiras Chardonnay, Novo Vivo Pinot Noir

In its tech sheets, Lingua Franca calls itself "the exploration of Oregon with an open mind, focused on picking fruit optimally for freshness, tension and complexity." In the same notes: "The land, the way it’s farmed and the quality of the light on east-facing slopes in the Willamette Valley are what shape the wines." Stone told Decanter in 2022: "I began this project to demonstrate the quality of the terroir you can find in Oregon." Wine Spectator wrote in 2022 that the wines "combine the best of the Old and New Worlds, offering elegantly complex fruit with steely acidity and hints of minerality."

• Picking for freshness, tension and complexity, in the estate's own words
• Wine Spectator (2022): elegantly complex fruit with steely acidity and hints of minerality

Lingua Franca offers seated tastings at its winery in the Eola-Amity Hills, with a choice of two tastings. The tasting room was crafted by Skylab Architecture and furnished by Andee Hess of Portland's Osmose Design. Club members receive two shipments a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, each beginning as a curated six-bottle selection that members can customize.

• Seated tastings, two formats
• Tasting room by Skylab Architecture, furnished by Andee Hess of Osmose Design
• Club: two shipments a year, spring and fall

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.linguafranca.wine/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/about/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/team-member/larry-stone/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/team-member/dominique-lafon/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/team-member/thomas-savre/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/visit/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/join/, https://www.linguafranca.wine/trade/, https://shop.linguafranca.wine/Wines/All-Wines, and the 2023 tech sheets (PDF): https://www.linguafranca.wine/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2023-Estate-Pinot-Noir-Tech-Sheet-NP.pdf, https://www.linguafranca.wine/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-Estate-Chardonnay-Tech-Sheet-NP.pdf, https://www.linguafranca.wine/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-Avni-Pinot-Noir-Tech-Sheet-NP.pdf, https://www.linguafranca.wine/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-The-Plow-Pinot-Noir-Tech-Sheet-NP.pdf, https://www.linguafranca.wine/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-Avni-Chardonnay-Tech-Sheet_NP.pdf (this link serves the 2023 Chers Amis Chardonnay sheet). Constellation Brands, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended November 30, 2022: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/16918/000001691823000006/stz-20221130.htm. Oregon Wine Board winery listing: https://www.oregonwine.org/wineries/lingua-franca/. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (7 April 2022): https://www.winespectator.com/articles/constellation-buys-oregon-s-lingua-franca; Decanter (Martin Green, 29 April 2022): https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/master-sommelier-larry-stone-explains-why-he-sold-lingua-franca-to-constellation-brands-479303/. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.