2019 Lingua Franca, The Plow, Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon, USA

Full bottle 1,355 g. Clone 777 planted on particularly promising Blocks 1 and 2 where the soils transition from shallow Geldermann to Jory.Mid garnet. Quite a rich nose but then appetisingly savoury on the palate. Good grip and follow-through. Some real framework for future development but approachable already. Sappy fruit.Drink 2021 - 2027jancis_robinson_mw MW, JancisRobinson.com (October 2021)

Aromas of red and black cherry, baked strawberry and rose water. Medium-to full-bodied with slightly tight tannins. Brooding on the palate, with ground spice and dark fruit. Well structured. Best after 2025james_suckling, jamessuckling_com (June 2022)

The 2019 Pinot Noir The Plow has inviting aromas of blackberry, cranberry, blood orange, forest floor and star anise. The light-bodied palate is chalky and refreshing with a deep core of floral fruit and a long, spicy finish. It will benefit from another 3-5 years in bottle.Drink 2025 - 2035erin_brooks, Wine Advocate (August 2023)

The 2019 Pinot Noir The Plow is ripe with raspberry liqueur, cedar, and moss-covered earth. The palate has a wonderfully energetic and persistent drive and fills with grenadine, iron-rich earth, and candied rose. This is another impressive wine from the team at Lingua Franca.Drink 2024 - 2035audrey_frick, JebDunnuck.com (August 2022)

Deep magenta. Expansive red and dark berry and floral aromas are complemented by hints of star anise, sassafras and cola. Sappy, seamless and fleshy on the palate, offering intense black raspberry, cherry cola, candied lavender and mocha flavours underscored by a vein of smoky minerality. Seductive in character, finishing with powerful thrust and supple tannins that meld smoothly with the sappy, persistent fruit.The Pinots made by the team headed by Larry Stone (whose resume I won’t bore you with; it’s pretty well known and available on Google) and winemaker Thomas Savre (whose own CV is also quite impressive) have quickly become among the best in the United States. For to my palate, the 2018s show wonderful clarity and no warm-vintage shortcomings, and I’ll wager that the 2019s are the best set of wines yet made here. In both years, one gets the generous fruit expression that marks the vintages and identifies the wines as “New World.” At the same time, there is distinct tension and focus in play, which confounds such stereotypes. New oak isn’t eschewed by Savre, but when it’s there, I find it well-played: an integral supporting actor, but not a star (think rhythm guitar versus lead). It’s early days to predict where these wines will go with age, but the right boxes (depth, energy, focus, structure and balance) are all ticked, suggesting that the 2018s and 2019s will deliver big dividends down the road.Drink 2024 - 2034josh_raynolds, Vinous.com.com (February 2022)

This superb Chardonnay is produced from the Estate vineyard in the Eola-Amity hills across the street from Seven Springs. 2019 produced a wine with vibrant acidity and a well-developed fruit with a lemon peel and passionfruit nose that is also informed by the full malo and long, reductive aging in cask (20% new). The wine has an elegant balance between the freshness of the vintage and a ripe, dense fruit character that will allow it to age for years to come.Drink 2021 - 2034Charles Curtis MW, Decanter.com (February 2022)