Cabernet Sauvignon Sicilia Vigna S. Francesco DOC 2018 Tasca

This has a polished nose of cedar, blackberries, dark plums, cloves, ash and graphite. Firm and chewy tannins here, with a medium to full body. Structured and serious, with a long, firm finish. Wait and see. Try in 2024.

Savory tobacco and green olive aromas and flavors meet ripe black and red currant fruit on the palate of this fresh, structured red. Offers hints of minerally iron and graphite, espresso and balsamico that underscore the flavor range, with fine, chalky tannins firming the finish. Drink now through 2028.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Vigna San Francesco is dusty and floral in character, with peppery herbs and wildflowers giving way to masses of crushed raspberry. This is silky and refined, communicating pure elegance from the start, with a wave of ripe red and black berries that wash across the palate, leaving fine-grained tannins to linger under an air of sweet violet and rose tones. It tapers off much fresher than anticipated, and also only lightly structured, as nuances of blueberry skin linger, along with a hint of balsam herbs. The 2018 Cabernet Vigna San Francesco shows the difficulties of the vintage, lacking a bit of ripeness and depth, yet the end result is actually quite satisfying.