Moving to the 2018s from barrel, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Ranch is another incredibly pure, vivid, elegant wine from Biagi that has a classic Cabernet Sauvignon nose of blue fruits, damp earth, and spring flowers. The blend at the moment is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot, and it's aging in 75% new French oak. It shows the more medium to full-bodied, seamless style of the vintage and should shine with just short-term cellaring.

This 2018 Oakville Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is a barrel sample blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. Medium garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with vibrant red and black cherries, red currant jelly and cassis scents with hints of red roses, pencil shavings and fallen leaves plus a waft of lavender. Medium-bodied, elegantly played and with fantastic quiet intensity, the palate sings of perfumed red and black fruit with beautifully ripe, fine-grained tannins and bold freshness, finishing with epic length.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Ranch is dense, powerful and brooding. It is also incredibly tightly wound, with tons of structure, but less of the sensuality of the year coming through. Today, the 2018 is marked by the high acids that are typical of this site and potent, big tannins and the natural structure of the 15% Franc in this blend - the highest ever. These wines have a way of coming together during their aging; I imagine that will be the case here as well, like Avoyelles. The higher percentage of Franc in this blend works well, but it also tilts the wine closer stylistically towards the Oakville Ranch Cabernet.