The 2020 Saffredi is compelling. Deep yet quite structured, 2020 is unlike any Saffredi I can recall tasting because of its balance of intense dark fruit and vertical structure. Plum, blackberry, pencil shavings, lavender and spice saturate the palate. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2020 is not as showy as most vintages at the same stage.

This blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot is exuberant and explosive. The 2020 Saffredi reveals a very ripe and rich interpretation of this iconic wine made by Elisabetta Geppetti and her family. The blend of fruit is the same, but 2020 actually sees less oak intervention to allow that dark fruit to shine through. There is blackberry, perfumed rose, dried apricot, spice and sweet cinnamon. In all, the wine offers immediate fruit and a vertical delivery of flavors. Finding that combination of wine versus oak is not easy, Elisabetta tells me.

A rich, juicy nose presents handfuls of cherries and mulberries, along with slices of passion fruit, but a fresh savoriness keeps the sweetness in check. On the palate, dark chocolate brings depth, while tannins and acid attack in tandem. Bold and self-assured-a precise wine.