Grape variety saga: cabernet franc

In France, a wealth of synonyms accompanies Cabernet Franc across its favoured terroirs: bouchy in Madiran, bouchet in Saint-Émilion and Bergerac, gros cabernet, carmenet, grosse vidure in the Médoc, achéria in the Basque Country, etc.

Cabernet Franc is an old Bordeaux grape variety whose cultivation spread to the Loire Valley, though the date of its introduction is disputed. The most widely held view is attributed to Comte Odart. When the estate of Richelieu was elevated to a duchy-peerage in 1631, Cardinal Richelieu, who was staying in Guyenne, had several thousand cuttings of the most highly regarded vine in the Bordeaux region sent to his steward, Abbé Breton, who planted them in the region of Chinon and Bourgueil, the cardinal having inherited the assets of the Abbey of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil. 

Cabernet Franc is recognisable by its young leaves, with a reddish-green hue and bronzed patches. The bunches are medium-sized, cylindro-conical, more or less compact, sometimes winged, with small to medium, spherical berries with thin skin of a beautiful bluish black.

This grape variety produces pleasurable wines whose smoothness is a delight on the palate. Less tannic and astringent than Cabernet Sauvignon, it is also more supple, and gives an impression of fullness when harvested at maturity. Depending on its ageing, it offers a cellaring potential of several years. When used as the primary or sole grape variety, it produces balanced wines with soft tannins and controlled acidity. From clay-sandy soils, Cabernet Franc yields a wine with aromas of tobacco, raspberry, blackcurrant and liquorice-tinged violet. On other terroirs, it also develops notes of green pepper.

Château la Soujeole in Malepère is the perfect setting for this grape variety, which reveals it in a new and unique light for the Languedoc in the wine Château la Soujeole Grand Vin rouge. This grape variety is also one of the 7 varieties in the Cigalus Rouge.