Cabernet Franc
Loire and Bordeaux
Raspberry, graphite and a leafy edge, with lighter tannin than its offspring Cabernet Sauvignon. Ripens earlier and in cooler sites.
At harvest
Each bar drawn against the full range of all 54 varieties
Sugar
22-25 Brix
22 - 25
Titratable acidity
6-8 g/L
6 - 8
pH
3.3-3.6
3.3 - 3.6
Juice yield
0.66 L/kg
free run plus a gentle press
Sugar per kilogram
170 g
at 23.5 Brix, the midpoint
Fruit for 23 litres
35 kg
before racking losses
Potential alcohol
12.9-14.1%
from 1.099 fermented dry. A range, because conversion varies by strain
What it punishes
Pyrazine. Under-ripe Cabernet Franc smells aggressively of green pepper, and nothing in the cellar removes it.
Made into
- Dry red
- Bordeaux blend
- Rose
Sulphite at this pH
At pH 3.45, protecting a red wine to 0.5 mg/L molecular SO2 takes 22 mg/L of free SO2. Work it out for your own reading.
More vinifera red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Bordeaux, and now everywhere warm enough
23-25 BrixMerlot
Right Bank Bordeaux
22-25 BrixPinot Noir
Burgundy
23-26 BrixSyrah
Northern Rhone
24-27 BrixGrenache
Southern Rhone and Spain
24-26 BrixMourvedre
Bandol and Spain
24-28 BrixZinfandel
California, and Croatia before that
23-25 BrixSangiovese
Tuscany