Cabernet Franc

Herbal, peppery parent of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cabernet Franc is the elder grape — DNA testing showed it crossed with Sauvignon Blanc to produce Cabernet Sauvignon. It plays a supporting role in Left Bank Bordeaux blends and a leading one in cooler Right Bank sites like Cheval Blanc. In the Loire's Chinon and Bourgueil it goes solo, producing medium-bodied, high-acid reds with raspberry, graphite, and a signature green-pepper or pencil-shaving note from pyrazines. Cool-climate New World plantings — Finger Lakes, Niagara, Virginia — have grown into a credible category for the same reason: it ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon and tolerates marginal sites.