Cabernet Franc has long since found fame in the wines of France’s Loire Valley – the grape of wines labelled Chinon, Bourgueuil, Saumur, Champigny or Anjou Rouge but, it is also favoured by other cooler climates around the world producing quality bottlings from Mendoza, California, Virginia and Stellenbosch.
Scroll down for 10 top-rated Cabernet Francs from around the world
It has soft tannins, moderate acidity and tons of charm and finesse combining bright raspberry fruit with intense floral aromatics and a silky texture akin to Pinot Noir. But it can also produce complex and structured wines and unlike Cabernet Sauvignon, which can take time to approach, they can be drunk young and with little or no oak treatment.
Some bottles can command large sums but many can be found at affordable prices.
The following list of 10 great Cabernet Francs comprises a mixture of single-varietal wines and grape-dominant blends.
Two of the 100% bottlings unsurprisingly come from the Loire with exceptional examples from Couly-Dutheil and Domaine de la Butte, priced £26 and £21 respectively, however varying in their expressions, the former being ‘attractive and youthful, with a smoky dark fruit core’ and the latter displaying ‘fresh hedgerow fruit scents with some intense violet, chocolate and damp earth notes’.
The others are spread across the globe with one of Italy’s best-known bottlings from Bolgheri in Tuscany – Le Macchiole’s Paleo 2016 scoring 96 points and noted as ‘soft and round with great volume on the palate’, Uco Valley with Rutini’s 2016, scoring 95 points and described as ‘seductive, classy and elegantly perfumed’ and Virginia with Ramiiisol’s Riserva 2014 rated 96 points, being ‘poised, resonant, with pepper and blackberry fruit and very silky tannins’.
See Ian D’Agata’s top Italian Cabernet Franc wines
South Africa is also a hot bed for both single-varietal Cabernet Francs and blends with plenty of good value wines to be found from producers including Vergelegen, Warwick and Raats whose 100% Cab Franc 2015 scored 96pts, available for around £25/$30 and MR de Compostella 2017 blend was rated 95 points.
Alternative highly-rated, but also more expensive (£100/$100+), blends include several from the USA namely California where a new wave of medium-bodied wines with charm and finesse are emerging. Sonoma County’s Vérité, Le Désir 2016 was highlighted for having a palate that is ‘broad and lush but exuberant, showing energy and flair’ while Napa Valley’s Smith Madrone and Favia have produced, respectively, a ‘generous and open’ 2013 and a ‘structured, well balanced and elegant’ 2015.
For more inexpensive drinking look to Doña Paula, 1350, 2017 from Uco Valley, available for less than £15/$20 and described by Andy Howard MW, in Decanter’s round up of exciting Argentinian wines under £25, as ‘cool and fresh in character: there is plenty of drive as well as complexity here.’
See 10 top-rated Cabernet Franc wines for every budget
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Antinori, Matarocchio, Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2015
97
Both the bud burst and flowering were early as compared with the preceding year. The summer season initially saw an important rise in temperature, which was then rebalanced during the second half of the month of August. The harvest took place during the final ten days of September, relatively early. A warm powerful vintage without the dryness of 2012 and with great potential. Matarocchio is crimson and super-restrained with straw, clove and oaky aromas on the nose, well balanced with fresh leather, fine herbal aromas, bramble fruit and savoury character in depth. It shows an austere palate; full, firm and chalky yet ripe, however it flows with the grace of the best Cabernet Franc.
2015
AntinoriToscana
Le Macchiole, Paleo, Bolgheri, Superiore, Tuscany, Italy, 2016
91
Paleo Rosso is the leading 100% Cabernet Franc wine in Bolgheri. Its elegance in vintages such as 2001, 2006 and 2013 has enhanced the reputation of this grape in this Mediterranean climate, however for different reasons 2014 and 2015 seem less precise. The 2016 Paleo Rosso shows great complexity of citrus notes, graphite depth and chinotto finish, well integrated with assertive 100% new French oak aromas and creamy, velvety tannins. It shows a touch of oxidative character, possibly the result of a less than perfect sample.
2016
Le MacchioleBolgheri
Ramiiisol, Cabernet Franc Riserva, Monticello, Virginia, USA, 2014
96
Made like the Classico (wild-yeast fermented, aged in large older oak vessels, unfined and unfiltered) but deeper, richer and weightier and with no overstatement. Poised, resonant, with pepper and blackberry fruit and very silky tannins. Precise and long, complex and tight. Fruit from portions of the estate's two best-performing blocks, vinified separately, and after a year were blended into two large Slovenian oak casks then aged for an additional two years and eight months. 3,700 bottles made.
2014
RamiiisolMonticello
Raats, MR de Compostella, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2017
95
Quite classic on the nose and palate, this is still a vibrant, youthful wine with much more to give. Weighty and concentrated on the palate, with vibrant dark-fruit notes. Fresh acidity, well-integrated oak and fine tannic structure; this will age very well. Refined and complex.
2017
Raats
Favia, Cerro Sur, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2015
95
In a vintage when many wineries produced overripe or baked wines, this has a wonderfully fresh, fragrant, and lively nose, with cherry and blackberry aromas. The attack is fresh too, with ample concentration and flesh, and no excessive extraction. There are firm tannins to give structure, but it's well balanced, with an elegant, long and lifted finish.
2015
FaviaNapa Valley
Rutini, Cabernet Franc, Uco Valley, Gualtallary, Mendoza, Argentina, 2016
95
Seductive, classy and elegantly perfumed with notes of blackberries, coffee beans, chocolate and sweet spices. Fine grained texture, wonderfully complex.
2016
RutiniUco Valley
Smith-Madrone, Cook's Flat Reserve, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, California, USA, 2013
94
Only 194 cases of this Cabernet Franc-dominant blend were made. Black cherries, tobacco and herbs dominate the tantalising aromas, which spill out of the glass. Generous and open, it’s not as floral or dense as the 2016 and shows a kind of savoury, briary style. Unlike the Estate Cabernet, it’s aged in 100% new French oak.
2013
Smith-MadroneNapa Valley
Couly-Dutheil, Clos de L'Echo, Chinon, Loire, France, 2016
94
Attractive and youthful, with a smoky dark fruit core. All about elegance, freshness, textbook pencil lead, a fine grip of tannin and great freshness.
2016
Couly-DutheilChinon
Domaine de la Butte, Mi-Pente, Bourgueil, Loire, France, 2017
94
A wine with plenty of concentration thanks to yields of around 15hl/ha, this displays fresh hedgerow fruit scents with some intense violet, chocolate and damp earth notes. The palate features a stony, mineral background and demonstrates great balance - an elegant canvas for the fruit. Terroir in action.
2017
Domaine de la ButteBourgueil
Doña Paula, 1350, Uco Valley, Gualtallary, Mendoza, Argentina, 2017
93
Cool and fresh in character: there is plenty of drive as well as complexity here. Spice notes on the palate among ripe, dark-fruit flavours and very well-integrated oak, with fine tannins. Finishes with a lovely freshness of spice and a hint of mint.
2017
Doña PaulaUco Valley