Red Grape · Tuscany
The grape that fathered Cabernet Sauvignon, then spent a century in Italy being mistaken for something else entirely.
Cabernet Franc is the quieter half of the Bordeaux pair. It is lighter and more perfumed than Cabernet Sauvignon, which it happens to have fathered. In Italy it does its best work in Bolgheri and in the cool vineyards of Alto Adige. In Bolgheri it lifts Super Tuscan blends.
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Clearing it up
The anchor fact: For most of a century, vines across northeast Italy labelled Cabernet were neither Cabernet Franc nor Cabernet Sauvignon. They were Carmenere, known locally as Cabernet nostrano, and only DNA work in the early 1990s settled it.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Cabernet Franc described against grapes you already know.
Lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon and closer to Merlot, which is why it lifts a Bolgheri blend rather than weighting it down.
Present but not gripping. Half the tannic weight of its own offspring, so the wines drink far earlier than a Cabernet Sauvignon of the same age.
High enough to keep the perfume airborne, and the reason cool Alto Adige bottlings taste so much fresher than their alcohol suggests.
Raspberry and redcurrant rather than blackcurrant jam, with a herbal streak that stops the fruit ever reading sweet.
Key flavours
The map
Cabernet Franc is medium-bodied, moderate grip, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Cabernet Franc.
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Serving guide
Serve at
16-18°C
A touch cooler than Cabernet Sauvignon keeps the violet and raspberry in focus.
Decant
30 minutes
Thirty minutes is the sweet spot. Longer blurs the perfume that is the whole point of the grape.
Glass
Bordeaux Glass
A Bordeaux bowl suits the Tuscan bottlings; lighter Alto Adige versions do well in something narrower.
Drink within
3-5 days
Approachable young because the tannins are moderate, unlike its offspring.
Cellar
3-8 years
Good Bolgheri examples hold eight years or so, trading raspberry for tobacco and leather.
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Cabernet Franc on sale in the UK right now.
12 of 182 bottles
17 retailers
Toscana
17 retailers
£78.00
14 retailers
Bolgheri Sassicaia
14 retailers
£127.00
12 retailers
Toscana
12 retailers
£274.00
11 retailers
Bolgheri
11 retailers
£125.00
9 retailers
Bolgheri
9 retailers
£55.00
8 retailers
Toscana
8 retailers
£600.00
6 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
6 retailers
£27.61
6 retailers
Toscana
6 retailers
£115.40
6 retailers
Bolgheri
6 retailers
£118.00
5 retailers
Sicilia
5 retailers
£12.95
5 retailers
Toscana
5 retailers
£16.00
5 retailers
Toscana
5 retailers
£18.00
Denominations
The appellations where Cabernet Franc plays a starring role.
Where it grows
From galestro hills in Chianti Classico to the single Brunello rise of Montalcino and the sea-facing Cabernets of Bolgheri, Tuscany is Italian wine's stage in Read more
Italy's largest wine region by volume, where Prosecco hills, Valpolicella ridges, and Soave's volcanic plain shape three different Italian classics. Read more
Italy's alpine wine country: Teroldego from the Piana Rotaliana, Trento DOC sparklers raised on dolomitic limestone, and Alto Adige whites perfumed by glacial Read more
The terroir
The same grape reads quite differently depending on how warm the site is.
Bolgheri coast
Tuscan coast, Livorno province
Riper and darker, with black cherry joining the raspberry and the herbal note softened to a whisper. Usually a blending partner rather than a solo bottling.
Alto Adige
Alpine valleys of Trentino-South Tyrol
Cool and high, giving a lighter, red-fruited wine where the green pepper note is front and centre.
The northeast
Veneto and Friuli
Historically the most confused ground in Italy, where much of what was called Cabernet turned out to be Carmenere.
Editorial
Cabernet Franc is a parent, not a sibling. A natural crossing with Sauvignon Blanc produced Cabernet Sauvignon. The child then outgrew it almost everywhere. In Tuscany the two now grow side by side on the Bolgheri coast. Cabernet Franc is rarely the loudest part of a blend there, but it is often the one that supplies perfume and lift.
Growers called it Cabernet nostrano, our own Cabernet, for the better part of a century. It took DNA analysis to reveal they had been tending Carmenere all along.
Carmenere entered Italy's national vine registry in 1996Italy's relationship with the grape is complicated by a long case of mistaken identity. Across the northeast, growers spent the best part of a century calling a different Bordeaux variety Cabernet nostrano, our local Cabernet. That stretch runs from Lombardy through Veneto and Trentino to Friuli. In many vineyards what they were actually growing was Carmenere. The two share Bordeaux parentage and a herbal streak. The vines also look similar. That is how the assumption held from the late 1800s well into the second half of the 1900s.
The correction came late. DNA work in the early 1990s established Carmenere as a distinct variety. It was not a weak or degenerated Cabernet Franc after all. Carmenere was only entered in Italy's national registry of vine varieties in 1996. By then the confusion had already travelled through decades of nursery material. That is why plantings that were never genetically checked can still surprise their owners.
In style, the grape sits between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is lighter in body and tannin than Cabernet Sauvignon, and firmer and more aromatic than Merlot. Cool sites in Trentino-South Tyrol push the herbal, red-fruited side. The warmer Tuscan coast rounds it out into something darker and riper.
Good to know
They are parent and child. Cabernet Franc crossed naturally with Sauvignon Blanc to make Cabernet Sauvignon. The child is darker, more tannic and fuller in body. Cabernet Franc is lighter, more perfumed and more herbal, with softer tannin and brighter acidity. In Bolgheri both grow on the same coast. Blends there often use Cabernet Franc for aroma rather than structure.
Yes, though it is usually a blending partner rather than a headline grape. The Tuscan coast around Bolgheri is its most important home. There it appears in Super Tuscan blends alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It also grows in Alto Adige, the Veneto and Friuli, where cooler sites give a lighter, more herbal version.
Across the northeast, growers called their vines Cabernet nostrano, meaning our local Cabernet, from the late 1800s onward. The vines look similar, and both varieties come from Bordeaux with a shared herbal note. So many people assumed Carmenere was simply a weaker local form of Cabernet Franc. DNA analysis in the early 1990s proved otherwise. Carmenere entered the Italian national registry in 1996.
Expect raspberry and redcurrant fruit, violets, and a clear green herbal note. It can read as bell pepper or fresh leaf. Tannins are moderate and acidity is high, so the wines feel lighter and more lifted than Cabernet Sauvignon. Warmer Italian sites such as the Bolgheri coast bring the fruit darker and riper, without losing that herbal signature.
A short decant helps more than a long one. Thirty minutes opens the perfume, which is the grape's best feature. Longer airing can blur the herbal lift that sets it apart. Serve it slightly cooler than a Cabernet Sauvignon, around 16 to 18 degrees, and the aromatics stay in focus.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
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