Most people have heard of Cabernet Sauvignon. Fewer have heard of Cabernet Franc.

What almost no one knows — until they do, and then it reshapes how they think about wine — is that Cabernet Franc is the parent.

Cabernet Sauvignon is a natural crossing: Cabernet Franc, crossed with Sauvignon Blanc, somewhere in Bordeaux, probably in the seventeenth century. The child became famous. The parent stayed quiet. And in that quietness, Cabernet Franc developed something the child, for all its success, does not quite have: a transparency. A willingness to show you exactly where it comes from.

What to Notice in the Glass

Cabernet Franc occupies interesting territory — lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, more structured than Pinot Noir. It is not trying to be either.

The flavour that distinguishes it, once you know it, is graphite. Pencil shavings. A cool, dry mineral note running through the fruit like a spine. Around it: red plum, dark cherry, sometimes raspberry, often violet or iris — a floral lift that makes the wine feel elegant rather than heavy.

There is also an herbal edge. In cooler climates, or in years where the grapes do not fully ripen, this becomes a green, almost bell pepper quality — pyrazine, the same compound present in Cabernet Sauvignon but more pronounced here. In skilled hands and ripe vintages, it becomes a subtle freshness. In lesser examples, it dominates. Knowing this is how you buy wisely.

The tannins are fine-grained, silky rather than grippy. The acidity is present but not sharp. It is a wine that opens in the presence of food in a way that is almost immediate — pour it alongside the right dish and watch what happens.

Why the Loire Is Its Best Home

Cabernet Franc grows in Bordeaux, where it plays a supporting role to Merlot on the Right Bank. It grows in Washington, in the Finger Lakes, in pockets of northern Italy. All of these are worth exploring once you have the benchmark in your memory.

The benchmark is the Loire.

Chinon, Bourgueil, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil — here, the cool climate, the tuffeau and schist soils, the particular quality of the light along that river valley produce a Cab Franc that is precise in a way warmer-climate versions rarely are. It does not try to be opulent. It does not try to impress. It simply expresses the place it came from, with a clarity that is, if you slow down enough to notice, rather beautiful.

The Practical Difference from Cabernet Sauvignon

This comparison changes how you shop, so it is worth making plainly.

Cabernet Sauvignon wants rich, fatty food and often needs time — in the cellar or in the glass — to show its best. Cabernet Franc is more immediate, more versatile, particularly good with herbed preparations, goat’s cheese, lighter meats, mushrooms. If you want a red wine that works across a wider range of food situations, Cab Franc is often the more useful choice. Neither is better. They are different instruments playing different notes.

How to Choose

Entry points begin around $12 — Touraine AOP, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Washington State Columbia Valley. From $22 to $45, the appellation character sharpens: gravel-soil Chinon, better Bourgueil, quality New World examples. Above $50, single-vineyard Chinon with a few years of age — wines where patience and good terroir show what they can produce together.

Serve all of them cooler than instinct suggests — 60 to 63°F. Fifteen minutes in the refrigerator before opening. The aromatics open up. This is not a rule. It is a practice worth trying once.

The Shift Happens in the Glass

Find a Cabernet Franc this week and taste it with the 5 S’s. But specifically: look for the graphite. Look for the violet. Notice whether the herbal edge feels like freshness or like something unripe. Those distinctions are the beginning of a vocabulary that travels — to any shop, any wine list, any table.

Thursday, we bring this wine to a meal. Herbed pork loin, a preparation the Loire practically designed for itself.

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