15 Facts About Cabernet Franc

DNA analysis indicates that Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carmenere.

Cabernet Franc is believed to have been established in the Libournais region of southwest France sometime in the 17th century, when Cardinal Richelieu transported cuttings of the vine to the Loire Valley.

In 1997, DNA evidence emerged to show that Cabernet Franc had crossed with Sauvignon Blanc to produce Cabernet Sauvignon.

In general, Cabernet Franc is very similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, but buds and ripens at least a week earlier.

Cabernet Franc can adapt to a wide variety of vineyard soil types but seems to thrive in sandy, chalk soils, producing heavier, more full bodied wines there.

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In parts of northeast Italy, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and the right bank region of Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc both plays a more prominent role in blends and is vinted as a varietal.

In France, Cabernet Franc is found predominantly in the Loire Valley and in the Libournais region of Bordeaux.

Outside France and Italy, sizable plantings of Cabernet Franc are found in Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia particularly in the Savudrija part of Istria, Croatia.

Cabernet Franc is becoming more popular in Canada, being planted in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, Prince Edward County, the north shore of Lake Erie, Pelee Island, and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

In Washington State, the first plantings of Cabernet Franc were cultivated in experimental blocks by Washington State University in the Columbia Valley during the 1970s.

In 1985, Cabernet Franc was planted in the Red Willow Vineyard for use in Bordeaux style blends.

Washington Cabernet Franc is distinctive for its fruit forward style with blueberry and raspberry fruit.

Cabernet Franc can be bottled alone, making lighter-bodied wines than the country's typical Malbecs, or either as a majority or minority in blends.

Cabernet Franc tends to be more lightly pigmented and produces wines with the same level of intensity and richness.

Cabernet Franc tends to have a more pronounced perfume with notes of raspberries, blackcurrants, violets and graphite.