Cabernet Franc

  • Aromas : strawberry, blackberry, plums and especially violets spicy in aroma
  • Over-cropping and underexposure each tend to accentuate the vegetative flavor elements
  • Lower overall acidity, when compared to cabernet sauvignon
  • AKA: Known as “Bouchet” in Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.  As “Bouchy” in the Madiran and as “Breton” in the Loire Valley and, particularly in Touraine and Saumur
  • France has by far the most cabernet franc plantings of any other country
  • Grown mainly in the Bordeaux region where it is one of the 5 “Bordeaux Varietals”
  • Because it is less perfumed and structured it is more often used as a secondary or tertiary element in varietally-blended red wines, such as Bordeaux or Meritage, instead of as a stand-alone varietal
  • The only terroirs to supply pure Cabernet Franc are the red wines from Loire Valley:  Bourgueil, Chinon and Saumur-Champigny
  • Also grown in Romania, Hungary, the Balkans, and the Friuli region of north eastern Italy
  • In the United States: Long Island, New York, California and in Washington state
  • New plantings in the 1990s in Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina
  • One of the genetic parents of cabernet sauvignon (the other is sauvignon blanc)