Attractive brambly red fruit, as well as gently sappy notes and fresh bracken. This smells quite pure and fresh. The palate has athletic tannin structure that swirls around a central core of ripe red-fruit flavors. Well structured and drinkable. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Pleasantly leafy and herbal—without getting into the vegetal end of things—Hickinbotham's 2019 The Nest Cabernet Franc is the third consecutive strong vintage for this wine, which is loaded with dark cassis and black cherry fruit. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated and richly textured, it finishes long, with echoes of cigar box and pipe tobacco.

A floral note of violets mingles with sage and bay leaf details in this red, with a core of blackberry and currant flavors that are round, juicy and supple. Earl grey tea and black pepper accents linger on the long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2040. 121 cases made, 100 cases imported.

Mint sauce and tobacco and white pepper underlay plump plum and cherry fruit on this Cab Franc, which vibes more Bordeaux than Loire. There's a lick of polished vanillin oak present, too. Tannins are distinctively textured, raspy and spicy, weaving through the plush red fruit. Well structured, this could be drunk now with a roast leg of lamb or cellared through to 2030.