Wines made from Cabernet franc grapes of Nahe
Discover the best wines made with Cabernet franc as a single variety or as a blend of Nahe.
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.
Nahe is one of the smaller German wine regions, named after the Nahe river which joins the Rhein at Rheinhessen/bingen">Bingen. The viticultural carea here is characterised by dramatic topography with steep slopes and craggy outcrops of metamorphic rock. Like most of the regions on or near the Rhine, its most prestigious wines are made from Riesling. There are around 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of Vineyards, spread across seven Grosslagen (wine districts) and over 300 Einzellagen (individual vineyard sites).