2020 Cabernet Franc, San Leonardo, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy

Tenuta San Leonardo

Trentino-Alto-Adige

Formerly part of Austria and known to the locals as Südtirol,Trentino Alto-Adige, Italy’s most northern province, is perhaps an unsurprising source of the country’s crunchiest white wines; they are made from grapes such as Kerner, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Gewurztraminer to suit the thriving tourist market.

The vines cling onto the bare gneiss rocks that line the draughty Brennero pass that links Italy with Austria, and red varieties Schiava and Lagrein are grown on the pockets of porphyry soil found at the heart of the region.

Recommended Producers: Cantina Terlano
 

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is widely planted in Bordeaux and is 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 thrives in the Loire where the cooler growing conditions serve to accentuate the grape's herbaceous, grassy, lead pencil aromas. The best wines come from the tuffeaux limestone slopes of Chinon and Bourgeil where growers such as Jacky Blot produce intense well-structured wines that possess excellent cellaring potential.