2016 Lingua Franca Avni Chardonnay Willamette Valley

$65

$55

(15% off)

Total $55
Total

Winemaker Notes
The aroma is complex with layers of mineral, smoke, herbs. The wine is silky, racy and complex on the palate. A lasting finish of citrus, pear, and white flowers concludes with flinty, mouthwatering minerality.

"Avni is Latin for stone, or rock, and a hallmark found across the Willamette Valley. In contrast to Lingua Franca's single-vineyard wines, this is sourced from various sites across the greater Willamette, including Dundee, Salem, and Yamhill-Carlton. Mostly Dijon clones, this was harvest early, pressed and rested in tank for one day to settle and then a natural fermentation and full MLF before a year in French puncheons (20% new) and a tightening stint back in tank before a light filter and bottling. A lovely and potent flick of flint leads into green apple, lemon curd and peel, all textured with a subtle stony grain and shaped by its time in wood. There's a wonderful, natural lift and brightness here to this structural wine, drinking beautifully now but with a capacity to age—one of USA's top wineries. (Treve Ring)." - Gismondi on Wine

93 | Wine Spectator
Refined and gracefully complex, with precise and vibrant Meyer lemon, river stone and apricot flavors that glide on a long finish.

ABV 13.0%

Vintage 2022

Appellation Willamette Valley

Aging 26% new, 600-liter puncheons, 74% neutral large wooden casks and old French oak puncheons and barriques for 11 months sur lie.

The 2022 Avni Chardonnay is sourced from multiple vineyards in the region, focusing on fruit grown on shallow volcanic soils. Sources include vineyards in the Eola-Amity Hills and near Lingua Franca's Bunker Hill Estate Vineyard, as well as from selected vineyards in the Chehalem Mountains, Yamhill Carlton, and from a unique site in the Van Duzer Corridor with marine sediments.

This wine marries well with a wide range of fish dishes, such as simply poached or sautéed fish dishes with herbed butter, garlic butter, or a classic Beurre Blanc sauce or nage. Beacause of its creaminess it would work with richer shellfish dishes with sauces as well, even a sauce Nantua or Armoricain. Roast chicken with butter, thyme and lemon or a breaded veal scallopini dish with a squeeze of lemon. It also would be excellent with a variety of more powerful sashimi or sushi, such as Unagi, Anago, Shirako, Sake, Otoro, Chutoro or Maguro. Western smoked salmon or gravlax, or grilled salmon with a dill mayonnaise. Experimentation is welcome!

Winter was extremely cold, with a historic ice-storm that left the region without power for over two weeks. It remained cool and wet throughout early spring but warmed up, in time to have a major heat dome event at the end of June with a record-breaking 116 F temperature scorching trees and killing vegetation all over the region. The resiliency of the non-irrigated soils in our vineyards, having fractured basalt as an insulating influence as well as the source of stored rainwater, meant that our vines almost had no negative effect and were verdant all the way through and after the experience. The heat event had the positive effect on our vineyard that helped to reduce the mildew pressure we normally experience after a wet spring.

93 Pts. "The Avni Chardonnay, which means stone is loaded with rip-roaring minerality and brilliant acidity to match. Aromatics of struck flint, sea breeze and green mangoes elicit a familiarity with the wine's core of minerality. Mouthfuls of sea salt, crushed granite and salted lemon leave a thirst-slaking impression and beg for someone to shuck some oysters." — Jonathan Cristaldi, Decanter

92 Pts. "The 2022 Chardonnay Avni boasts a lovely, generous bouquet, with notes of white peach, pithy lemon, white flowers, and wet stone. Medium to full-bodied, it has a rounded feel, with a good deal of elegance and approachability, and a lovely, clean finish. A fantastic entry to the range, this highly consistent wine is outstanding for restaurant programs and offers a wide drinking window over the next 5-6 years." — Jeb Dunnuck

92 Pts. "Orange blossom, lemon zest and grapefruit on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with bright acidity, giving notes of Fuji apple, grilled peach and honeysuckle. Mineral and precise. Drink or hold." — James Suckling