Ronco delle Betulle Cabernet Franc, Friuli, Italy 2007

This exceptional Cabernet Franc is from low-yielding (35-40 hl/ha) vines from grapes harvested in mid-October. The skins are soaked for twelve days and there is a malolactic in wood. 40% of the wine is aged in large Slavonian barrels; 30% in second fill barriques and 10% in second fill tonneaux for sixteen months with ten months on the lees to gain aromatic complexity and mouthfeel. The wine is bottled without filtration.