Cabernet Franc vs Cabernet Sauvignon: Parent and Child Compared

Cabernet Franc is Cabernet Sauvignon’s parent. In 1997 DNA testing showed that the world’s most famous red grape is simply a cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc that happened in a Bordeaux vineyard a few hundred years ago. The parent is lighter, earlier to ripen, leafier and cheaper, and for most of history it was the blending grape behind its more famous child. It is now having a moment of its own. Here is how the two compare and when to reach for each.

Table of Contents

1. The short version
2. Why they taste different
3. Where each one is at its best
4. The Australian angle
5. What to buy
6. What to eat with them
7. Frequently asked questions

The short version

	Cabernet Franc	Cabernet Sauvignon
Relationship	The parent	The child (with Sauvignon Blanc)
Colour	Bright, paler red	Deep, dark red
Smells of	Raspberry, violets, graphite, leaves, green capsicum	Blackcurrant, cedar, mint, tobacco
Body and tannin	Medium body, softer tannin	Full body, firm tannin
Ripens	At least a week earlier	Late; needs a warm site
Home ground	Loire Valley (Chinon, Bourgueil, Saumur-Champigny); Right Bank Bordeaux	Left Bank Bordeaux; Napa; Coonawarra; Margaret River
Usual job	Blending partner, or a light, food-friendly red on its own	The star of the blend, or a big varietal wine
Ready to drink	Young; three to eight years for the best	Needs time; ten to twenty for the best
Serve at	14 to 16°C; can take a light chill	16 to 18°C

Why they taste different

Cabernet Franc has thinner skins than its child, so it gives less colour and less tannin, and it ripens at least a week earlier, so it can be grown in cooler places where Cabernet Sauvignon would never get there. Both grapes carry the same family of compounds that smell of green capsicum when the fruit is underripe. In Cabernet Sauvignon that note is a fault to be avoided; in Cabernet Franc a little of it is part of the charm, a leafy, herbal edge over raspberry and violet fruit that makes the wine smell like a garden after rain. The best descriptions of Cabernet Franc also mention graphite, the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil, which is as good a way as any to tell it from its child in a blind tasting.

Cabernet Sauvignon, being thick-skinned and late, is darker, more tannic and more structured, with blackcurrant instead of raspberry and cedar instead of leaves. It needs warmth to ripen and time to soften, and rewards both. That is why it took over the world: in the right place it makes the biggest, longest-lived, most collectable reds there are.

Where each one is at its best

Cabernet Franc’s home is the Loire Valley, where Chinon, Bourgueil and Saumur-Champigny make it as a light, bright, savoury red that is often served cool and goes with almost anything. In Bordeaux it is usually the third grape in the blend, but on the Right Bank it can lead: Château Cheval Blanc, one of the most expensive wines in the world, is mostly Cabernet Franc. It is one of the twenty most planted grapes globally and has serious followings in the Loire, north-east Italy, Hungary and the eastern United States.

Cabernet Sauvignon’s home is the Left Bank of Bordeaux, and from there it has gone everywhere warm enough: Napa, Chile, Coonawarra and Margaret River above all. Our Coonawarra guide covers the Australian benchmark and our Cabernet Sauvignon guide the grape itself.

The Australian angle

Australia grows a fraction as much Cabernet Franc as Cabernet Sauvignon, and most of it goes into Bordeaux-style blends in Margaret River and Coonawarra where it adds perfume and lift. As a varietal it grows in north-east Victoria, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley, and a new wave of small producers is making it in the Loire style: pale, fresh, herbal, and served a little cool. Look for it at independents rather than the chains. Our Cabernet Franc guide has the producers.

What to buy

Cabernet Sauvignon prices are Dan Murphy’s shelf prices on 9 September 2026 and will move about; BWS stocks many of the same names. Cabernet Franc is named without prices because most of it comes through independents.

Wine	Price band	Why
Wynns The Siding Cabernet Sauvignon	About $14 to $21	Coonawarra at an entry price; blackcurrant and mint
Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon	About $27 to $49	The Australian Cabernet benchmark
A Chinon or Bourgueil (Charles Joguet, Bernard Baudry, Domaine de la Chevalerie)	Dan Murphy’s or an independent	The Loire style: light, leafy, raspberry, made for food
An Australian Cabernet Franc (Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, King Valley)	Dan Murphy’s or an independent	Small producers, often a little riper than the Loire
A Margaret River Cabernet blend (Cape Mentelle, Vasse Felix, Cullen)	$30 to $100	Both grapes in one bottle, the Bordeaux formula done well

Heads up: the boxes below link to Just Wines, our partner shop. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices were checked when this was written and move about.

Honesty corner: the partner shop had no straight Cabernet Franc when we checked. Here is the Cabernet Sauvignon side:

For Cabernet Franc on its own, try the Loire shelf at Dan Murphy’s for a Chinon, or ask BWS for an Australian one from the Adelaide Hills or McLaren Vale.

What to eat with them

Cabernet Franc is the more useful dinner wine. Its lighter body and herbal edge suit roast chicken, pork, lamb with herbs, charcuterie, goat’s cheese, green vegetables and dishes with a bit of bitterness. Serve it at 14 to 16°C, or lightly chilled in summer. Cabernet Sauvignon wants fat and protein: steak, roast lamb, a beef pie, hard cheese. Our Cabernet snack pairings handle the small plates, and if the table is mixed, the Franc will please more people.

Frequently asked questions