Celebrating Cabernet Franc Day with 3 Sustainable Wine from the Loire Paired with a fall harvest menu of Stuffed Squash and Smoked Ham

Are you a fan of fragrant, elegant Cabernet Franc? You know, the grape that is the parent of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere? While most people enjoy it as a grape blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot whether they know it or not, it is most well known on its own in the Loire, France where my writing partner Sue Hill and I found ourselves during harvest in 2019 on our way to the World Wine Tasting Championship at Chateau Chambord.

Chateau Yvonne winemaker Mattui Vallee and his dad during the 2019 harvest — SO CUTE!

While Sue is a huge fan of wines with a lot of the turpene or chemicals that give Cabernet Franc its distinct “green” notes of bell pepper, green bean, and jalapeño, I am not — unless those green notes are balanced with fruit and lovely tannins like we found in the biodynamic wineries we visited in the Loire: Continue reading →