"The 2022 Il Nicchio is composed entirely of Cabernet Franc, reflecting the conditions of a warm draught vintage in which the Merlot vines suffered and the grapes were ultimately excluded from the blend. The wine pours a deep, saturated red hue and opens with layered aromatics of blueberry, boysenberry, lavender, sweet tobacco, and cedar. Full-bodied and plush, it offers a ripe, enveloping texture with notes of dark cocoa and dark fruit, supported by underlying freshness. There’s more richness and depth in this vintage, though it remains balanced and should improve as it sheds some of its baby fat with time. It is already approachable and expressive and offers more immediacy compared to the 2021. It was aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, 80% new, with the remainder in one-year-old barrels"