Important variety famous for playing second fiddle to Cabernet Sauvignon, even though it has shown that it can make some extremely fine wines in its own right. With Sauvignon Blanc, it is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon and looks very like it except that the leaves are much less indented.

In very general terms, wine made from Cabernet Franc tends to be aromatically fruity, lighter and less tannic than Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is widely planted in Bordeaux and is particularly well adapted to the Gironde right bank's cooler, damper climate where Cabernet Sauvignon can be difficult to ripen. Cabernet Franc buds and ripens earlier, which makes it more susceptible to coulure but it needs less heat to ripen fully. In left bank Bordeaux, on the other hand, it is seen, with Merlot, as a sort of insurance policy against a cool season. It is also the most important black grape grown in the Loire.

In the Médoc, it may constitute up to 15% of a typical vineyard. It is always blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is used to add bouquet and complexity to the wines. It is more widely used in St.Emilion where it adapts well to the cooler and moister clay soils - Cheval Blanc is the most famous Cabernet Franc wine in the world, with the final blend consisting of up to 65% of the grape.

Cabernet Franc is an ingredient in most of the reds of South West France, but especially thrives in the Middle Loire where the cooler growing conditions serve to accentuate the grape's herbaceous, grassy, lead pencil aromas. The best pure Cabernet Franc wines come from the tuffeaux limestone slopes of Chinon and Bourgeil where growers produce intense well-structured silky wines that possess excellent cellaring potential. Other famous wines are Saumur-Champigny and Anjou-Villages.

The grape is widely grown in north east Italy and some Friuli examples are ripe enough to be thrilling. It is also grown over the border in Slovenia, although Cabernet Sauvignon is much more common in the rest of central Europe.

In the New World, in most of which Cabernet Sauvignon can easily be ripened, Cabernet Franc is sometimes used in a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Some varietal Cabernet Francs have emerged from Australia, South Africa and North and South America and have shown just how good this variety can be unblended - and how much more conveniently earlier-maturing than Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc really shines in cooler regions, however, such as Long Island in New York State, parts of Washington State and New Zealand.