Lingua Franca

A vineyard that brought people together

Lingua Franca began with Larry Stone’s belief in a vineyard site in the Eola-Amity Hills. He acquired the Janzen Farm at the end of 2012 and planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The estate’s account places Dominique Lafon’s recognition of that site at the turning point: the Burgundian winemaker proposed making wine together.

Founded in 2015 by Stone, David Honig and Lafon, the project brought Thomas Savre into the winemaking role. Their different experiences met in a shared ambition to understand this Oregon hillside. Lingua Franca’s name—the idea of a common language across backgrounds—gives that collaboration a fitting expression.

Burgundy experience, an Oregon voice

Lafon’s reputation was rooted in Meursault and the work of his family’s domaine. Savre brought Burgundy training and cellar experience, then a working relationship with Lafon at Evening Land in Oregon. Their shared history gave the new venture a foundation of trust and practical experience.

The estate describes Savre arriving as its first employee in May 2015. His task placed the vineyard’s individual blocks at the centre of the work: observing differences, learning from each harvest and carrying those distinctions into the wines. Lafon’s own reflections describe adapting Burgundy knowledge to Oregon’s conditions. The ambition was for the place to find its own expression.

That is the thread to follow through Lingua Franca’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: Larry’s conviction about the land, Lafon’s recognition of its potential, and Savre’s detailed winemaking work. The wider team and the way the vineyard is farmed belong in that story too.

Alongside estate fruit, the winery has used other Willamette Valley vineyard sources. A particular wine’s vineyard and vintage notes provide the next chapter. Follow our Burgundy regional guide → to understand the French connection, then return to the Willamette Valley → for its Oregon setting.

Explore an actual winery

The photographic tour here is the Google-hosted view linked from Lingua Franca’s official visiting page. Explore the space, then ask which activity each area supports. A tour image documents a place at the time it was photographed; it does not establish today’s complete equipment inventory.

Two grapes, two useful trails

Our Pinot Noir Wines guide explores red-wine handling and the assembly of lots. Chardonnay Wines opens pressing, lees, vessel choices and malolactic decisions. Read these beside the estate’s own account to separate a general method from a documented practice for a specific bottling.

Then return to Willamette Valley for the broader map. A regional introduction, a winery profile and a wine guide answer related but different questions.

Planning a closer look

Use the official visiting page for current experiences and booking information. The photographic tour offers an introduction to the place; follow the winery’s visiting information to plan an experience.

For the founding voice, follow the credited 2019 Larry Stone oral history. Its date matters: it preserves the project’s earlier story without serving as a current ownership chart.