Principal red grape
Cabernet Franc
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Cabernet Franc is a black grape of unknown parents and, as DNA markers show, a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carmenère: 9% of Bordeaux’s red vineyard in 2020.
Cabernet Franc stands at the top of Bordeaux’s family tree. DNA markers show it is a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, as John Bowers and Carole Meredith of the University of California, Davis, found in 1997, and of Merlot, as Jean-Michel Boursiquot and his colleagues found in 2009; studies in 2009 and 2013 make it a parent of Carmenère as well. Its own parents are unknown. The grape geneticist José Vouillamoz traces it to the Basque Country, where, he notes, “Acheria” is the Basque name of its most archaic type.
In the old Bordeaux books it goes by many names, and not all of them are settled. Armand d’Armailhacq, a Médoc proprietor, in his 1855 book on the vines and wines of the Médoc, called it the gros cabernet or carmenet, and gave the writer Secondat’s name for it, “the big hard vine of the Graves” (“grosse vigne dure des Graves”). In 1874 Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, whose Bordeaux et ses vins was the reference book of the Bordeaux trade, added “Gamput” in the Bas-Médoc, “Grosse-Vidure” in the Graves, and “Gros-Bouchet” at Saint-Émilion; in 1922 they wrote “Gros-Cabernet ou Cabernet-Franc”. These most likely mean this grape, but “gros cabernet”, “grosse vidure”, and “bouchet” stay open: VIVC, the international grape catalog, also keeps a distinct Gros Cabernet.
Its reach beyond Bordeaux came with a story. Auguste Petit-Lafitte, professor of agriculture of the Gironde, in La vigne dans le Bordelais (1868), repeated the comte Odart’s account that Cardinal Richelieu, then in Guyenne, sent several thousand plants of “the most esteemed vine in the Bordelais” (“la vigne la plus estimée dans le Bordelais”) to his intendant, the abbé Breton, who had them planted; on the Loire, Petit-Lafitte adds, the cabernet is known as Breton. He also reports that Secondat called the cabernet “the grape without a fault” (“le raisin sans défaut”), and that at Saint-Émilion the name Bouchet covered both cabernets of the Médoc.
Its modern course has run against Merlot’s. In the Gironde it fell 28% between 1988 and 2018, a loss of 3,769 hectares, to under 10,000 hectares, by the count of Agreste, the statistics service of the French agriculture ministry. In June 2023, by the account of the Wine Scholar Guild’s Bordeaux Masters textbook, Château Jean Faure in Saint-Émilion hosted the first symposium devoted to Cabernet Franc.
Oldest record in my library: the sources diverge, and each old name is open. “Vidure”, 1675, in Adrien de Valois, Notitia Galliarum, as José Vouillamoz reports; “Cabrunet”, 1716, as Vouillamoz reports; “gros Cavernet-Sauvignon”, 1784, in the Pauillac catalog sent to the intendant, as Auguste Petit-Lafitte reported in La vigne dans le Bordelais, 1868; “Grand carmenet du Haut-Médoc, carbouet ou grande vigne dure des Graves, carmenelle des Palus”, 1785, in Jean-Baptiste de Secondat, Mémoires sur l’histoire naturelle du chêne […], sur la culture de la vigne, et sur le vin de la Guienne, Paris, De Bure, 1785. Under the name cabernet franc: Charles Cocks and Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins, 1868
The family
Parents unknown.
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon shown by DNA markers
Merlot shown by DNA markers
Carmenère shown by DNA markers
Morenoa proposed; direction uncertain
Hondarribi Beltza proposed; direction uncertain
- Bowers & Meredith 1997, Nature Genetics 16:84-87; VIVC 1929
- Boursiquot et al. 2009, AJGWR 15:144-155; VIVC 7657
- Boursiquot et al. 2009; Lacombe et al. 2013 (both VIVC hypotheses include Cabernet Franc); VIVC 2109
- Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012), pedigree diagram; no pedigree on VIVC 3265; inverse possible
- Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012), pedigree diagram; no pedigree on VIVC 8768; inverse possible
The discovery: In 1997, DNA markers showed Cabernet Franc to be a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon; in 2009, a parent of Merlot.
The names
As the Gironde books wrote it: gros cabernet, carmenet, Carmenet-Blanc, cabernet-gris, cabernet blanc, cabernet à calote, cabernet tardif, cabernet rouge, cabernet Saint-Jean, grosse-vidure, vidure, grosse vigne dure des Graves, grande vigne dure, bouchet.
Other names in VIVC: Acheria, Ardounet, Aroia, Arrouya, Bidure, Bouchet, Bouchet Franc, Bouchet Saint-Emilion, Bouchy, Breton, Cabernet, Capbreton Rouge, Carbenet, Carbouet.
Old names: Bouchet (open), Breton (open), Cabernet (open), Carbouet (open), Carmenère (likely), Carmenet (open), Fer (open), Grande vidure (open), Gros cabernet (open), Grosse vidure (open), Hourcat (open), Petit-Fer (open), Vidure (open)
In today’s rules
Principal (red) in 30 of the appellations and designations on this site; principal (rosé) in 1; principal (sparkling) in 1.
- Principal · red
- Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (red and clairet), Bordeaux Supérieur, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux, Canon Fronsac, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Côtes de Bordeaux, Côtes de Bourg, Entre-deux-Mers, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Fronsac, Graves, Graves de Vayres, Haut-Médoc, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Listrac-Médoc, Lussac-Saint-Émilion, Margaux, Montagne-Saint-Émilion, Moulis, Médoc, Pauillac, Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol, Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Georges-Saint-Émilion, Saint-Julien, Saint-Émilion, Sainte-Foy Côtes de Bordeaux
- Principal · rosé
- Bordeaux
- Principal · sparkling
- Crémant de Bordeaux
Area planted
- 9% share of red-variety area, Bordeaux vineyard (CIVB), 2020
CIVB, Bordeaux Key Facts 2021 (data labeled 'Signature grapes (2020 data)'), PDF hosted at https://www.about-drinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CIVB-Bordeaux-Key-Facts-2021_09.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - <10000 ha planted area (upper bound), Gironde, 2018
Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), p. 73 text, https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 27,418 ha planted area, France, 2024
FranceAgriMer, Les chiffres-clés de la filière viti-vinicole 2024 (December 2025 edition), p. 11 'Les principaux cépages plantés en 2024', source printed: DGDDI, déclarations de plantation au 31/07/2025 (CVI), https://www.franceagrimer.fr/sites/default/files/2025-12/20251121_CC%20VITI%20VINICOLE%20%202025.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - -37% change in planted area since 2000, as the Wine Scholar Guild reports, Bordeaux, 2000-c.2022
Wine Scholar Guild / M. Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition (2024), Unit 2, pp. 41-47 (secondary textbook)
Stands out at
In the books
“[Its vineyard] is made up only of the best grapes, such as Cabernet-Sauvignon, Franc-Cabernet, and Petit-Verdot.”
est uniquement composé des meilleurs cépages , tels que : Cabernet- Sauvignon , Franc - Cabernet et Petit - Verdot
“The vines, kept low in the Médoc fashion, are made up entirely of fine grapes: cabernet-sauvignon for 1/4, cabernet franc for 1/2, malbec and merlot for 1/4.”
Les vignes tenues basses, à la façon mé- doquine, sont entièrement composées de cépages fins : cabernet-sauvignon pour 1/4, cabernet franc pour 1/2, malbec et merlot pour 1/4
“In old French vines, free of American stock, 17 [hectares], made up of 3/4 bouchet or cabernet, 1/4 merlot and malbec.”
17 en vieilles vignes françaises, exemptes de plants américains et comprenant : 3/4 bouchet ou cabernet, 1/4 merlot et malbec
“The Capbern estate, whose vineyard adjoins the best growths of the commune, produces 70 to 80 tonneaux of an excellent wine coming solely from cabernet-sauvignon and franc-cabernet.”
Le domaine de Capbern , dont le vignoble avoisine les meilleurs crus de la commune , produit de 70 à 80 tonn . d'un excellent vin provenant uniquement de cabernet - sauvignon et de franc - cabernet .
My library records it planted at 41 estates, and 12 of them have a page here:
- Château Marquis de Terme 1868
- Château Grand Clapeau Olivier 1874
- Château Malescot Saint-Exupéry 1874
- Château d’Angludet 1874
- Château Capbern 1886
- Château Haut-Bailly 1886
- Château de Portets 1886
- Château La Conseillante 1893
- Château d’Aiguilhe 1893
- Château d’Arsac 1898
- Château Ferrière 1922
- Château Saint-Pierre 1922
Timeline
- 1534Rabelais praises 'ce bon vin breton', grown not in Brittany but in the Véron (Loire); the link to Cabernet Franc (Breton) is marked with a question mark.
José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets' (Wine Scholar Guild lecture slides), September 17, 2023 - 1675First mention in Bordeaux, as 'Vidure', in Adrien de Valois, Notitia Galliarum.
José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets' (Wine Scholar Guild lecture slides), September 17, 2023 - 1716Recorded as 'Cabrunet'.
José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets' (Wine Scholar Guild lecture slides), September 17, 2023 - 1823The name 'Cabernet' is recorded.
José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets' (Wine Scholar Guild lecture slides), September 17, 2023 - 2018Cabernet Franc has fallen 28% since 1988 in the Gironde (minus 3,769 ha) to under 10,000 ha.
Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), p. 73 text, https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12; Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), '1. Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, p. 73, Figure 2 'Évolution des surfaces par encépagement entre 1988 et 2018, en hectare' (sources printed: RGA 1988, CVI 2018), https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed 2026-10-12 - 2023First symposium dedicated to Cabernet Franc, held at Château Jean Faure in Saint-Émilion (June 2023).
Wine Scholar Guild / M. Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition (2024), Unit 2, pp. 41-47 (secondary textbook)
In the lab
More than 1,771 studies and theses in the Bordeaux Reviews library mention this grape.
- L'exploration de la diversité variétale en production viticole à fin d'adaptation au changement climatique à travers des approches écophysiologiques, chimiques et sensorielles. Application au vignoble bordelais
Marc Plantevin, 2025 - No major impact of new grape varieties on Bordeaux wine typicity: expert assessments in blind and non-blind tastings
Marc Plantevin, Sophie Tempère, Cécile Thibon, Lucile Dijkstra, Julien Lecourt, Agnès Destrac-Irvine, Cornelis van Leeuwen, 2025 - Mise en place d'une sélection massale de Cabernet franc au Château Angélus.
Étienne Moreau, 2023 - Quantifying the grapevine xylem embolism resistance spectrum to identify varieties and regions at risk in a future dry climate
L. Lamarque, C. Delmas, G. Charrier, R. Burlett, Ninon Dell'acqua, J. Pouzoulet, G. Gambetta, S. Delzon, 2023 - The genomes of 204 Vitis vinifera accessions reveal the origin of European wine grapes
Gabriele Magris, Irena Jurman, Alice Fornasiero, Eleonora Paparelli, Rachel M. Schwope, Fabio Marroni, Gabriele Di Gaspero, Michele Morgante, 2021
Sources
- John E. Bowers & Carole P. Meredith, 'The parentage of a classic wine grape, Cabernet Sauvignon', Nature Genetics 16: 84-87, 1997
- Boursiquot, J.-M.; Lacombe, T.; Laucou, V.; et al., 'Parentage of Merlot and related winegrape cultivars of southwestern France: discovery of the missing link', Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 15 (2): 144-155, 2009
- Lacombe, T.; Boursiquot, J.-M.; Laucou, V.; et al., 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2): 401-414, 2013
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport ids 1927 (Cabernet Franc), 2109 (Carmenère) and 22758 (Gros Cabernet), accessed October 2026
- José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets' (Wine Scholar Guild lecture slides), September 17, 2023 (Basque origin; 'Acheria'; 1675 'Vidure' in Adrien de Valois, Notitia Galliarum)
- Armand d'Armailhacq, La culture des vignes, la vinification et les vins dans le Médoc, 1855, ch. 2
- Charles Cocks (rev. Édouard Féret), Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 3rd ed., 1874, Cépages de vignes rouges, p. 12
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 9th ed., 1922, Ampélographie, p. 8
- Auguste Petit-Lafitte, La vigne dans le Bordelais, Paris, J. Rothschild, 1868 (title page: 'Professeur d'agriculture du dép. de Gironde')
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 2nd ed., 1868 (crû marquis de Terme)
- Charles Cocks (rev. Édouard Féret), Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 3rd ed., 1874 (château Grand-Clapeau)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 7th ed., 1898 (La Tour-Figeac)
- Charles Cocks & Édouard Féret, Bordeaux et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite, 9th ed., 1922 (domaine de Capbern)
- Agreste Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Études n°7 (June 2020, rectificatif), C. Lavaud and J. Bonotaux, '1. Le foncier viticole: la Gironde', p. 73 text and Figure 2, https://draaf.nouvelle-aquitaine.agriculture.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/AgresteNAEtudes_7juin2020_FFvitiGironde_RECTIFICATIF_cle0edc51.pdf, accessed October 2026
- CIVB, Bordeaux Key Facts 2021 ('Signature grapes (2020 data)'), https://www.about-drinks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CIVB-Bordeaux-Key-Facts-2021_09.pdf, accessed October 2026
- Wine Scholar Guild / M. Gorman-McAdams MW, Bordeaux Masters study manual, 5th edition, 2024, Unit 2, pp. 41-47
- Jean-Baptiste de Secondat, Mémoires sur l'histoire naturelle du chêne [...], sur la culture de la vigne, et sur le vin de la Guienne, Paris, De Bure, 1785 (archive.org bub_gb_STHLT_Yvi-IC, public domain)
- Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026
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