Cabernet Franc

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"Petit Fer" redirects here. For another French wine grape known as Petit Fer, see Béquignol noir.
Cabernet Franc
Grape (Vitis)
Cabernet Franc in Viala & Vermorel
Color of berry skinBlue-black
SpeciesVitis vinifera
Also calledBouchet, Bouchy, Breton (more)
OriginBordeaux, France
Notable regionsBordeaux, Loire
Notable winesChâteau Cheval Blanc
VIVC number1927

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black

United States and Argentina, it is sometimes made into ice wine
in those regions.

Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon,

aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, bell pepper, cassis, and violets
.

Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century, although it was planted in Loire long before that time. DNA analysis indicates that Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carménère.[3]

History

Cabernet Franc grapes

Cabernet Franc is believed to have been established in the

Sauvignon Blanc to produce Cabernet Sauvignon.[4]

Viticulture

Cabernet Franc leaf

In general, Cabernet Franc is very similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, but

mutation than Cabernet Sauvignon, less so than Pinot noir.[5]

Cabernet Franc can adapt to a wide variety of

yield sensitive, with over-cropping producing wines with more green, vegetal notes.[5]

Wine regions

Across the world Cabernet Franc is one of the twenty most widely planted

right bank region of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc both plays a more prominent role in blends and is vinted as a varietal.[4]

France

Chateau Cheval Blanc
from St-Emilion.

In France, Cabernet Franc is found predominantly in the Loire Valley and in the Libournais region of Bordeaux. As of 2000, it was the sixth most widely planted red grape variety in the country. Other areas with significant plantings include the

Madiran Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOCs). By the early 20th century, there were nearly equal plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux with around 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) by the late 1960s. Most of these plantings were along the right bank of the Gironde in the Fronsac, St-Emilion and Pomerol regions. Towards the end of the 20th century, even though plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon had rapidly increased in Bordeaux to a 2 to 1 ratio in proportion to Cabernet Franc, plantings there were over 35,360 acres (14,310 ha) of the latter, nearly half of the country's total 88,900 acres (36,000 ha).[4]

In the Loire Valley, Cabernet is widely planted in the

Saumur-Champigny regions.[4]

Italy

By 2000 there were over 17,300 acres (7,000 ha) of Cabernet Franc in Italy. However, the grape variety is commonly confused with both Cabernet Sauvignon and the ancient Bordeaux grape

Tuscany have been increasing in recent years, particularly in the Bolgheri and Maremma region where the grape is prized for the balance and elegance that it brings to blends. Italian wines often labelled simply as "Cabernet" tend to be primarily Cabernet Franc or a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.[4]

Cabernet Franc on the vine

Hungary

Cabernet Franc in

Hungary had gained attention by the end of the 1990s when in some wine producing regions climate and growing conditions proved to be not optimal for Cabernet Sauvignon to reach its full ripeness. Successful varietal examples from Villány and Szekszárd show great potential, some international experts declared that Cabernet Franc "found its new home in Villány
region". Hungarian varietal Cabernet Franc is a typically full-bodied, moderately or highly tannic wine with rich aromas of spices, blue flowers and red/black berry fruits with a reasonably good aging potential of about 10 years. These wines typically undergo 12 to 18 months of aging in new Hungarian oak barrels.

In addition to being found in Villány and Szekszárd, Cabernet Franc is also present in Eger, and in South Balaton and Sopron vineyards, to a lesser extent. Cabernet Franc often complements Bordeaux-style blends from these regions and occasionally plays a role in rosé production.

Other European regions

Outside France and Italy, sizable plantings of Cabernet Franc are found in Greece (where it is known as tsapournakos),

Catalunya (DO), Costers del Segre, Empordà, Pla de Bages, and Priorat
. It is also grown Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha. In 2015, Spain grew 732 hectares (1,809 acres) of Cabernet Franc.

Canada

Cabernet Franc is becoming more popular in Canada, being planted in

acidity
.

United States

A Cabernet Franc from Washington.

Interest in the grape started with

Sonoma counties.[4]
In 1986, Casa Nuestra Winery in Napa Valley initiated the first Cabernet Franc program in the United States, winning a Double Gold and Best of Class Medal in the Los Angeles Times Wine Competition for their first vintage. The program continues today.

More recently the grape has caught the attention of growers in cooler areas such as

hybrid grapes.[4]

In Washington State, the first plantings of Cabernet Franc were cultivated in experimental blocks by

olives.[7]

Argentina

Cabernet Franc plantings in

Wine Advocate was a Cabernet Franc scored at 97 points.[9] Cabernet Franc can be bottled alone, making lighter-bodied wines than the country's typical Malbecs (with wines scoring up to 95 points in Tim Atkin's report in 2016), or either as a majority or minority in blends.[8]

Other New World regions

The first varietal Cabernet Franc in Washington State was produced by Columbia Winery from grapes grown at Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley.

In the New World, Cabernet is used predominantly as a blending component and is found in scant amounts in

Victoria, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley.[6] In New Zealand, many winemakers have found that the cool climate of their terroir contributes to Cabernet Franc-like flavors in their Cabernet Sauvignon and plantings of true Cabernet Franc have remained limited with only around 519 acres (210 ha) planted as of 2006. In South Africa, Cabernet Franc has become a favorite of some of the country's boutique wineries and acreage has slowly been increasing to nearly 2,470 acres (1,000 ha) by the mid-2000s. In Chile there were around 2,910 acres (1,180 ha) planted by the early 21st century.[10]

Wines

A Chinon wine from the Loire Valley made from Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet Franc shares many of the same

harvesting the grapes to try to minimize the green leafy notes.[5]

Synonyms

Genetically verified: Tsapournako (Greece), Verdejilla Tinto (Aragón in Spain).[11]

Other synonyms: Achéria (Basque Country, mainly in Irouléguy), Ardounet (Béarn), Bidure (Graves), Bordeaux (Switzerland), Bordo (Romania), Boubet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Bouchet Franc or Gros Bouchet (Saint-Émilion and Pomerol), Bouchy (Madiran and Béarn), Breton (Val de Loire), Cabernet Gris, Cabrunet (Pomerol), Capbreton Rouge (Landes), Carmenet (Médoc), Couahort (Béarn), Plant Breton or Plant de l’Abbé Breton (Chinon in Indre-et-Loire), Sable Rouge (Tursan), Trouchet (Béarn), Véron (Nièvre and Deux-Sèvres), Vidure, Vuidure, Grosse Vidure (Graves),[11] Aceria, Arrouya, Burdeas Tinto, Cabernet, Cabernet Aunis, Cabernet Franco, Fer Servandou, Gamput, Grosse Vidure, Hartling, Kaberne Fran, Messanges Rouge, Morenoa, Noir Dur, Petit Fer, Petit Viodure, Petite Vidure, Petite Vignedure, Véron Bouchy, Véronais.[12]

Varieties commonly mistaken for Cabernet franc:

País Vasco in Spain).[11]

References

  1. ^ "Discovery Channel: "DNA analysis reveals mysterious past of Cabernet Sauvignon"". Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  2. ^ a b "Cabernet Franc". www.winepros.org. Archived from the original on 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  3. ISBN 9780141968827
    – via Google Books.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-19-860990-6
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-15-100714-4
  6. ^ a b Radden, Rosemary. "Grapes and Wines of the World". The State Library of South Australia, GPO Box 419, Adelaide SA 5001. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  7. ISBN 0-520-24869-4
  8. ^ a b Argentina 2016 Special Report, by Tim Atkin MW
  9. ^ Discovering the dark horse of Argentine wine[usurped] Squeeze Magazine
  10. ^ Wines of Chile http://www.winesofchile.org/wp/the-wines/wine-varieties/hectares-planted/ Archived 2015-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-1-846-14446-2
    .
  12. ^ Maul, E.; Eibach, R. (June 1999). "Vitis International Variety Catalogue". Information and Coordination Centre for Biological Diversity (IBV) of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Deichmanns Aue 29, 53179 Bonn, Germany. Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
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