Cabernet Franc

See Cabernet Franc Wine section in Anuva Wine Store.

Origin of Cabernet Franc

Another Bordeaux beauty, the Cabernet Franc grape was first cultivated in the Loire Valley in the 1800s, and planted at the Abbey of Bourguell. This grape is actually one of the parents of the famed Cabernet Sauvignon (the other parent being the white wine Sauvignon Blanc). It tends to ripen earlier and makes wines that are slightly lighter and fruitier than its Cabernet Sauvignon offspring. Cabernet Franc is often used to blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. This thin skinned grape mostly grows in Bordeaux and Loire, France, but can grow in many cool climates with many types of soil, though the grape flourishes in sandy earth. 

Commonly grown in...

Vines are found all over the globe, from Europe to Asia to America, especially in Ontario, Napa and Sonoma in California, Washington state, Hungary, Romania and Friuli, Italy. Cabernet Franc grows on 300 hectares of Mendoza, Argentina—specifically in the Valle de Uco of Mendoza.

Typicity

A bit softer and less tannic than Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc is known for its raspberry, black currant, and blueberry aromas. Pepper, tobacco, and purple flower (such as lilacs and violet) tastes emerge in the mouth. When Cabernet Franc is over-planted, the wine becomes more vegetal, with notes of green pepper and occasionally leaves, rather than its signature, smooth fruit taste. Argentina’s Cabernet Franc is typically dark and velvety with bell pepper and dark berry tastes and aromas.

tags: cabernet · cabernet franc ·