Wines made from Cabernet franc grapes of Serra Gaúcha
Discover the best wines made with Cabernet franc as a single variety or as a blend of Serra Gaúcha.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
Serra Gaúcha is a Brazilian wine region in the Southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, where Brazil meets Uruguay. Its name is apt: the landscape here is characterized by low mountain ranges (serras) and populated by gaúchos, the cowboys of the Brazilian Pampas. Small landholdings of just a few hectares are the norm in Serra Gacúha, which makes co-operative winemaking almost a necessity. The cost of buying and maintaining winemaking equipment is considerable, so local vignerons pool their resources and invest in shared, co-operative wineries.
The prestige attached to winning at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) means that being awarded a Bronze medal for some wineries will mean huge celebrations in China, Japan, India, or Thailand. Since the competition began in 2004, I have often reminded judges on my panel about this – whether they are journalists, sommeliers, educators, Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers. Scroll down for new tasting notes and scores on Jia Bei Lan vintages: from the Chinese wine label that won big at DWWA 20 ...
Fine wine prices have outperformed mainstream equities in 2022, notably led by top Burgundy and Champagne brands, said Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade. ‘Fine wine continues to offer relative stability and act as an inflationary hedge,’ said the group, which is considered one of several indicators of market performance. Its benchmark Liv-ex 100 index rose by 7.1% in sterling currency in the first 11 months of 2022, despite dipping in November. The 10 most traded wines by value on Liv-e ...
Pale salmon in colour, a basket full of freshly-picked summer berries backed by the tell-tale, mouth-watering English acidity – these pink delights are wines made for summer and glorious celebrations. In fact, rosé is likely to become ‘one of the most important styles made in Britain over the next 10 to 20 years,’ as Oz Clark put it in his 2020 book on English wines*. The top examples of English sparkling rosés tend to be made mainly from the red Champagne grapes using the traditional method, wi ...