What’s not to love about Cabernet Franc?

It's dark, it's velvety, it's juicy and it's smooth. And it's one of the parents of the much more famous Cabernet Sauvignon, so it has been a pretty important grape in the Bordeaux region for quite a while now, say a few hundred years at least. It is also the most important red grape variety in the Loire Valley, in terms of making red wines rather than the rosé for which the Loire is popular for. 

So, why has it taken so long to come to our attention of mainstream wine drinkers?

It's likely there is more than one reason but since Cabernet Franc is typically blended and not labelled on the bottle, this is strong possibility for this grape variety to fly under the radar so spectacularly. But more importantly, Cabernet Franc is more popular on the right bank of Bordeaux in St Emilion and other areas but the left bank is home to all the classed growth wine producers. This makes it tough for anyone to get a look in, but with climate change shining a light on Franc's greatness in a wider range of areas and more people internationally beginning to question the validity of Bordeaux 1855 classed growth structure, the gateway has opened for other grapes and wines to shine. 

One of the small handful of New Zealand winemakers who produces a 100% Cabernet Franc wines is Amy Farnsworth from Amoise wines in Hawke's Bay. The grapes in her Cabernet Franc  grown on the TK vineyard next door to Oak Estate in the Bridge Pa Triangle area of Hawke's Bay.

Her Cabernet Franc accentuates the smooth side of this powerful red grape variety. She ferments with indigenous yeasts made specifically from the vineyard for  this wine. Cabernet Franc's juicy dark fruit flavours are balanced by refreshing nerve and acidity. The wine was aged in older oak barrels for seven months with no new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

It is one of many Cabernet Francs that we see, taste and love here at Regional Wines. 

Buy this great red here...

2022 Amoise Cabernet Franc RRP $38.99

Dark, smooth, velvety and full bodied and made from hand picked Cabernet Franc grapes grown on some of the oldest vines in Hawke's Bay. The grapes in this wine were grown on the TK vineyard, beside Oak Estate in the Bridge Pa Triangle sub region of the Bay. Grapes were fermented with indigenous yeasts made specifically from the vineyard to ferment this wine, which expresses Cabernet Franc's juicy dark fruit flavours with refreshing nerve and acidity. It was aged in older oak barrels for seven months with no new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.