Wine · Grape variety · Short entry

Cabernet Franc

An old black grape, probably from south-west France, and a parent of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It makes aromatic reds of medium weight in the Loire, where it is called Breton, and is a blending partner in Bordeaux.

Parent of the Bordeaux family

VIVC gives no parents for Cabernet Franc, but it sits at the centre of the Bordeaux family. DNA work showed it to be a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon (with Sauvignon Blanc) and of Merlot (with Magdeleine Noire des Charentes). Boursiquot and colleagues also place Carmenère among its offspring.

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The Breton of the Loire

The Chinon specification says Cabernet Franc came up the Loire from Nantes in the Plantagenet period, which is why it is called breton locally. In Anjou its plantings, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, accelerated after phylloxera. The vine is fairly vigorous and moderately resistant to grey rot. Its wines are aromatic, with average ageing potential and moderate sugar, acidity, colour and tannin.

In France it covered 9,743 ha in 1958, 38,691 ha in 2008 and 32,676 ha in 2018. In Pomerol a record of 1761 already mentions bouchet (Cabernet Franc) beside Merlot and Côt.

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How it connects

Grape variety

parent of Cabernet Sauvignon
parent of Merlot
parent of Carmenère

Wine region

grown in Loire Valley
grown in Bordeaux
grows New York
grows Virginia
grows Finger Lakes
grows Ontario
grows Niagara Peninsula
grows Anjou
grows Saumur
grows Touraine
grows Chinon
grows Bourgueil
grows Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil
grows Saumur-Champigny
grows Madiran
grows Eger