After the rich and more concentrated 2017 vintage, the 2018 Merlot Cabernet Franc Altrovino comes off as more specific to the grapes used in the blend. It shows light shadings of garden herb and spice that come from the Cabernet Franc (which is aged in terracotta amphorae), and those flavors are enhanced by the cherry and blackberry delivered by the Merlot. This is a beautifully pure expression, one of the clearest I remember in recent memory. The wine pours forth with dark fruit, spice, tilled earth and cured tobacco.