Wines made from Cabernet franc grapes of Beaujolais
Discover the best wines made with Cabernet franc as a single variety or as a blend of Beaujolais.
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.
Beaujolais is an important wine region in eastern France, famous for its vibrant, Fruity red wines made from Gamay. It is located immediately South of Burgundy, of which it is sometimes considered a Part, although it is in the administrative region of Rhône. The extensive plantings of Gamay in this region make Beaujolais one of the few regions in the world that is so concentrated on a single Grape variety. Pinot Noir is used in small quantities in red and rosé wines, but in the name of regional identity, it is being phased out and will only be allowed until the 2015 harvest.
There’s no doubt that 2021 was a challenging vintage. Most explanatory statements or technical sheets handed out over the past few weeks have mentioned the unfavourable, oft disastrous weather conditions, the sometimes very low and disheartening yields and the slightly varied or unusual blends on offer in 2021. Difficulties faced by vignerons both inside and outside of the cellar have been explained in detail as has the raft of highly important decisions needed be made throughout the year, ...
It is always reassuring to find flourishing examples of family continuity in French wine estates. At the famous Domaine Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, Pierre-Emile Humbrecht is the latest to join the family business. In preparation, he studied at the Changins School of Viticulture and Enology in Switzerland and then completed internships at wine estates, beginning with Thérèse Chappaz in that same country for 18 months, followed by a six-month period at Domaine Tissot in the Jura and then nearly eigh ...
BCAP, a group controlled by the Castéja family, has agreed to acquire Château Peyrabon and Château La Fleur Peyrabon from Millésima, a subsidiary of the Bernard family, a joint-statement by both families said. Financial details weren’t disclosed. Peyrabon, in Haut-Médoc, was ranked as a ‘Supérieur’ estate in the Cru Bourgeois 2020 classification, which saw the ranking return to a three-tier system. ‘Supérieur’ is above standard Cru Bourgeois level but below ‘Exceptionnel’. Millésima and the Bern ...