Wirral Life May 2018 | Page 38

WONDERFUL CABERNET FRANC BY THE CQ I am sure most, possibly all, of us have heard of the wonderful grape that is Cabernet Franc. But do you drink it? How often do you buy well known wines, made from well known grapes? How often do you buy a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, or merlot, or shiraz, or malbec or a rioja made from the tempranillo grape (but to name a few)? Quite often I would guess. But how often do you buy a bottle of 100% pure, unadulterated, cabernet franc? I suspect not that often, and almost certainly not often enough! CABERNET FRANC – THE GRAPE So what is cabernet franc, where do we find it in the wine world and what does it taste like? A few pointers: It is the fragrant, well structured, parent of the perhaps better known cabernet sauvignon grape. Compared with its illustrious offspring, however, we get a wine that it is a little lighter, slightly paler, crisper, softer and more aromatic. Whilst closely related the two grapes can, and do, produce very different and distinctive wines. Not only subtly fragrant and aromatic, but the cabernet franc grape produces wines that can sometimes be almost perfumed. You get pepper, sometimes almost perfumed pepper, along with supple blackcurrant, red berry fruit and cassis in abundance. As they age, some can take on an almost vegetal or herbal quality, but still retain their wonderful abundance of fruit. Cabernet franc is often seen as a blending grape (i.e. where it is blended with other grapes to make the final cuvee). As a single varietal wine, though, I guess it’s real heartland is the Loire Valley in France where it shines (think of the aromatic wines from Chinon, Bourgueil and Samur- Champigny). In terms of blending with other grapes, cabernet franc is one of the most important varieties in the Bordeaux region (as those claret aficionados amongst you will know). Along with merlot it plays an important 38 wirrallife.com part in, and is the backbone, of many Saint-Émilion wines (the great wine of Château Cheval Blanc being, here, an obvious example). To a lesser, but still to a very important extent, cabernet franc also plays a part in the final blend of many Bordeaux left bank wines (e.g. the great wines from Pauillac, St Julien, Margaux and Saint Estephe). So, yes, cabernet franc is a superstar in France. Yet this wonderful grape is now being grown around the world where it is used to produce stunning, sumptuous, fragrant, aromatic and silky smooth single varietal wines. It is ever increasingly being used to make fine single varietal wines in countries such as Argentina, Italy, Chilli, USA, Canada and South Africa (again but to name a few). SINGLE VARIETALS Without wishing to consciously ignore its famed blending qualities I want to concentrate, in this article, on the great single varietal cabernet franc wines that we can find around the world today. I have been drinking some of these great wines for a number of years now. So, in a way – can I entice you to depart from what may be, for you, the norm and go and find, and then experience, some of these wonderful wines? After all - the wine world is all about exploring! So here goes! The following four wines are examples of superb single varietal wines made from cabernet franc. They have all been tasted during the last few weeks, some with friends, where they have impressed or shone in their own way. They vary in price, but offer up good examples of what the cabernet franc grape can offer. Compared with many of their more illustrious competitors in the market place you can get real value for money, from the bottom to the top of the range. They will all benefit from a few hours breathing before drinking, and the latter two probably a double decant wouldn’t go amiss either.