2018 Elephant Hill Cabernet Franc Stone

It's rare to see a varietal Cabernet Franc bottling, but the 2018 Cabernet Franc Stone is ripe with red cherry, fruitcake and a lifted violet note as well as a hint of volatile acidity. While there's a little padding through the mid-palate, the bony soils of the Gimblett Gravels give a dry, firm finish and a square frame of stone-licking tannins. Ambitious but lacking in natural flesh; the best Cabernet Francs of the Loire Valley are not planted on alluvial soils.