Because of the clear dominance of Cabernet Sauvignon in American winemaking, especially out west in California, the likelihood that you’ll hear “I love a good Cab” or something to that effect is strong. There are very few grapes that have become as slangy in American parlance about wine; indeed “Napa Cab” is about as brand-oriented a way of talking about wine as you can get.
The irony of this is that few people actually know much about Cabernet Sauvignon as a variety—that it rose to fame in Bordeaux as a powerful blending grape, for example, but even now struggles to obtain full ripeness in colder seasons there. Lesser known is that Cabernet Sauvignon’s origins are much older than Bordeaux, having been crossed in the Loire Valley from another two grape parents. It’s here we can introduce you to Cab’s progenitors: Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. This white and red grape were crossed in the Loire some centuries ago, and the more ancient red variety, Cabernet Franc, has never quite received the shine it should.
Cabernet Franc is softer and often more elegant than Cabernet Sauvignon—slightly less tannic, alcoholic, and powerful. But it still showcases a beautiful depth of deep forest-y and black fruits, purple flowers, and intoxicating dimensions of spice, pepper, and soil. It can be refined or paysan, lighter in body or potent like its offspring, and if anyone tells you it always smells like bell pepper, that’s a distorted version of the wine that comes from folks who don’t tend their vines carefully and allow the variety to overproduce or grow too wild (in which case, yes, she can end up smelling a bit like a supreme pizza).
We here introduce you to a pure and perfect natural version of Cab Franc from the Loire, her home zone and where the variety shines currently as the world’s best iterations, both more structured and lighter and fine. But we also offer a mesmerizing iteration of the grape from Burgenland in Austria and from our very own Finger Lakes in upstate New York, proving that the Cabernet Franc can express a great range far outside of its native France!
FEATURED PRODUCTS:
La Grange de Noue Méa 'Le Patriste'
Barry Family Cabernet Franc Finger Lakes
La Grange aux Belles 'Cuvée 53'
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