The rise of CALIFORNIA CABERNET FRANC

Move over Cabernet Sauvignon. The savoury, herbal intrigue of Cabernet Franc is now the grape on everyone’s lips in California. Here we chart its history and ascendancy in the Golden State, recommending 20 top wines to try from a comprehensive tasting of 60 wines

- KAREN MACNEIL

In the wake of the second destructive wave of the phylloxera bug in California in the 1980s and 1990s, Cabernet Sauvignon rose to such prominence and dominance (especially in Napa Valley) that I, like most people, assumed it must now be the most expensive grape variety in the state. Wrong. That would be Cabernet Franc.

Slowly, steadily and quietly, Cabernet Sauvignon’s father has displaced its son* as the priciest grape to buy and the grape that is generating ripples of excitement – especially in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. (*Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon.)

At this year’s Taste of Oakville culinary celebration (15 February to 10 March), where Harlan, Heitz, Opus One, Screaming Eagle and a score of other stars all pour their wines, I asked a dozen top winemakers which grape (besides Cabernet Sauvignon) Oakville would be known for in future. The majority answered Cabernet Franc.

PERFUME & TEXTURE

In a place where powerful wines sit on a pedestal, Cabernet Franc’s ascendency can seem puzzling at first. The variety is sleeker, less muscular, less extroverted, and ‘less everything’ than Cabernet Sauvignon. ‘It waits for you to notice it,’ says Diana Snowden Seysses, winemaker at Napa’s Snowden vineyards (and oenologist at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy). ‘It can be alluring, shifting, ethereal and mysterious.’ These are all good descriptions of Snowden’s excellent 2018 Cabernet Franc from the Melchior Kemper vineyard in Napa Valley.