Mick O'Connell | Wines of the Week

There is a red grape variety that really doesn't get the credit it deserves. It is part of the blend of some of the world's greatest wines, and yet most of us don't even know it's there.
Cabernet franc's home is the Loire valley, centred around the town of Saumur. But in Bordeaux, it is part of some of the finest red wines, the most regal in the Old World such as Cheval Blanc, and don't forget a little Super-Tuscan called Sassicaia.
In recent years, cab franc has also found a new home in Mendoza, as Argentina tries to move away from being a one-trick pony with malbec. 
Cabernet franc of old, in the Loire, tended to be green, austere, tart, words that people didn't necessarily associate with fine wine. Now, fashions have changed and people enjoy brighter, crunchier styles of wine, so cabernet franc has become on-trend.

Arnaud Lambert, "Terres Rouges" Saumur Champigny, 2023

Saumur Champigny, 2023, 13%, €27 | 92 Pts

Delightfully fresh and crunchy but with a ripe, compact core of dense black fruit, this is what cabernet franc in the Loire valley is all about. From the village of Saint-Cyr en Bourg, just south of Saumur and made from biodynamically grown fruit, it shows a real purity and precision that is reminiscent of the best-in-class producer Clos Rougeard. 

Rutini Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc, 2018

Mendoza, 2018, 14%, €59 | 93 Pts

Wonderful, high-altitude cabernet franc from Mendoza showing what sunlight can do to the grape. A growing number of people myself included, think cab franc 
may just be Argentina's most exciting grape and is, at the very least, its most interesting prospect. Dark fruits with a plush generous core helped along by 50 per cent new oak.