Grape variety
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc: parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenère, the grape of Chinon and Cheval Blanc. Style, where it grows and what to eat with it.
- Colour
- Red
- Origin
- Probably south-western France; parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenère
- Main regions
- Loire (Chinon, Bourgueil), Bordeaux (Saint-Émilion), Friuli, Veneto, Hungary
- Typical aromas
- Raspberry, violet, pencil lead, fresh herbs, green pepper (when underripe)
- Classic pairing
- Poultry, rillettes, charcuterie, goat’s cheese
- Grown in Switzerland
- About 90 hectares, about a third of it in Valais
Cabernet Franc is the patriarch of a famous family and rarely takes the limelight itself. DNA analysis has shown that it is a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon (with Sauvignon Blanc), of Merlot (with the nearly vanished Magdeleine Noire des Charentes) and of Carmenère (with Gros Cabernet). It probably comes from south-western France, has been known there for centuries and carries many names: “Breton” in Touraine, “Bouchet” in Saint-Émilion. Worldwide it covers about 50,000 hectares, more than half of them in France.
Next to its more famous child it is lighter and more fragrant. Its wines have less tannin, more freshness and a paler colour, and because the grape ripens about a week earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, it also does well in cooler places. In the glass you find raspberry, violet, pencil lead and fresh herbs; where the grapes do not quite ripen, green pepper appears.
Its home in the glass is the Loire. In Chinon, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Saumur-Champigny it is the main red grape, with at most 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon in Chinon and Bourgueil. The wines often recall raspberry in Bourgueil and violet in Chinon; simple ones are drunk young and happily slightly chilled, while the best single-site wines can age for years. It also gives the sweet rosé Cabernet d’Anjou.
In Bordeaux it is the third partner beside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with about a tenth of the region’s red vines. Its domain is the right bank: in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol it spices up Merlot, and at Château Cheval Blanc it makes up more than half of the vines, which makes that wine a special case. It is also widely grown in Italy, above all in the north-east, in Friuli and Veneto, where it was often mistaken for Carmenère; in Tuscany it is gaining ground around Bolgheri, and in Hungary it is growing in importance in Villány and Szekszárd.
In Switzerland it covers about 90 hectares, about a third of it in Valais, the rest divided mainly between Geneva, Vaud and Ticino; the wines are mostly fresh and delicate. At the table Cabernet Franc is the more versatile of the two Cabernets: it goes with poultry, roast pork, rillettes and charcuterie, grilled vegetables and goat’s cheese, where a tannic Cabernet Sauvignon struggles. Serve it at 14 to 16 degrees.