Let's Be Franc

Due to California’s intense, sunny climate, Franc has also found its feet there, especially in Sonoma, Napa and Alexander Valley. A wine produced here is a more muscular version of its French relations and typical American Francs ripen juicily with cassis and black plum to tart cherry and licorice. Francis Ford Coppola’s ex-sales director has his label, Lang and Reed that particularly highlights the plump succulence of Californian Cabernet Franc. Franc is also found in Hungary and in the Bolgheri region of Italy where Bordeaux-style wines are all the rage and grows beautifully in Coonawarra and Margaret River in Australia.

So if there is the option of having an aged Cabernet Franc as opposed to a Sauvignon, try it. It may not be the wine shouting the loudest, but as the saying goes, it’s the steady, quiet plodding ones who eventually win in the lifelong race. It just needs time.