Wines made from Cabernet franc grapes of Bulgaria - Page 2
Discover the best wines made with Cabernet franc as a single variety or as a blend of Bulgaria.
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.
Bulgaria, while far from the most famous or prestigious of the world's wine-producing nations, certainly ranks among the most prolific. This Eastern European country has a Long history of viticulture, and its wine has more to offer than the sea of cheap reds (mostly Cabernet Grape/sauvignon">Sauvignon) that flowed westward in the 1980s would suggest. The country now has a growing number of promising wine pioneers, but perhaps the most remarkable era of Bulgarian viticulture dates back to the mid-14th century, just before the once-mighty Bulgarian Empire began to fragment and cede Power to the Ottomans. Bulgarian art, more than 1,000 years Old, depicts wine as Part of Bulgarian culture, especially among the ruling classes.