The Cork Guy
EDMOND — This is the fourth in a six part-series on the six varietals that make up the Bordeaux blend, or Meritage, as it is known in the New World. The next three varietals we will discuss will be the better-known of the six sixters. They are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It is this last varietal we will be concerned with today in this column. It also is one of the Cork Guy’s favorites, and as we say, it is what you and your palette like that counts.
As we stated earlier and in the previous three columns, Cabernet Franc is one of the six major varieties of red wine grapes originally produced in Bordeaux to construct the Bordeaux blend.
It mostly is grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but also is vinified alone, particularly in Chinon in the Loire. It also is made into ice wine and bottled separately as a stand-alone varietal in Canada and the northern United States.
Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon (of which it is a parent). Recent DNA research has shown that Cabernet Sauvignon is the result of a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
As a blending grape, it contributes finesse and a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on growing region and the style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, raspberry and cassis, sometimes even violets. The Cabernet Franc wine’s color is bright, pale red.
Other than in the Loire, Cabernet Franc usually is planted by growers wanting to emulate the Bordeaux blend, known elsewhere as the Meritage blend. Aside from the countries mentioned already, it is planted in Argentina, the Balkans, Chile, Hungary, Australia, New Zealand, Romania and South Africa.
The finest Cabernet Franc being produced today is 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. While it most often is used in blends, it is gaining popularity as a single varietal. Ripening about two weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon in Ontario, it often does better in Canada’s cooler climate than its more popular relation. Ontario Cabernet Francs often add a characteristic vegetal raspberry-like flavor to a wine — increasing its complexity — while its moderate acidity works well with a variety of foods.
The ice wines made from Cabernet Franc in the Niagara Peninsula are world renowned for their quality.
There are more than 14,000 hectares of Cabernet Franc planted in France. It is valued in Bordeaux for adding finesse to blends containing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but is seldom more than 10-20 percent of the blend. One notable exception is Château Cheval Blanc, in which it makes up about two-thirds of the blend.
Interest in the grape started with California wine makers, who wanted to replicate the Bordeaux blend (now marketed as Meritage). Plantings since 1980 account for most of the 800 hectares now grown in California, more than half of which are in Napa and Sonoma.
More recently it has caught the attention of growers in cooler areas such as Long Island and the Finger Lakes of New York, and Michigan’s west coast.
If possible here in Oklahoma, you should visit one of your local wine shops to see if any of their distributors carry Cabernet Franc from the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario. The Cork Guy was fortunate to travel to that area in the summer of 2007 and purchase a couple of cases from various wineries. It is a real treat, with sumptuous fruit flavors, highlighted by raspberry with a long-lasting, balanced finish. It might be time to take the bride on another excursion to refill the wine locker. The vintages in 2007 and 2005 are the best of late. If your local wine shop has Cabernet Franc from one of the other growing regions mentioned try one from there as well, so when you do get the chance you can compare it to one of the Canadian varietals.
Cheers!
CONTACT the Cork Guy at thecorkguy@thecorkguy.com.
