Cabernet Franc is a French variety and, together with Sauvignon Blanc, one of the two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon. California's bearing acreage has grown since 2000, from 2,382 to 3,297 acres in 2025, spread across 40 counties but concentrated in Napa, which holds 37 percent of the statewide total, followed by Sonoma and San Luis Obispo. It ripens earlier than its offspring and produces lighter, more herbal wine; in California it is grown mostly as a blending grape, occasionally bottled varietally.
What kind of grape this is
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- NOIR
- Country of origin
- FRANCE
- Synonyms
- 106
- Approved on a US label
- Cabernet Franc
- FPS selections
- 17
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Cabernet Franc, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 865
county-years of acreage
40 counties, 3,297 bearing acres in 2025
- 422
district-years of crush
17 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 422
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 65
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
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Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 17 districts on one axis →
loading crush report…
Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
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Growers in this atlas's roster
- Alexander Valley Vineyardsbottled
Winery · CYRUS, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alpha Omegabottled
Winery · Proprietary Red Atlas Peak, Proprietary Red Oak Knoll, Right Bank
- Beaulieu Vineyardbottled
Winery · Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Beautour Napa Valley Red, Reserve Cabernet Franc and 1 more
- Bel Vinobottled
Winery · Cabernet Franc
- Bernardo Winerybottled
Winery · Cabernet Franc
- Black Stallion Winerybottled
Winery · Majestic Shadow, Meritage Red Wine
- Bryant Family Vineyardbottled
Winery · Bettina, Cabernet Franc
- Cakebread Cellarsbottled
Winery · Cabernet Franc
- Chappelletbottled
Winery · Cabernet Franc
- Chateau St. Jeanbottled
Winery · 8555 Red Blend, Cinq Cepages, Estate Cabernet Franc
- Cliff Lede Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Crossfade, High Fidelity
- Clos du Valbottled
Winery · Estate Cabernet Franc, Stags Leap District, Estate Three Graces, Rosé of Cabernet Franc and 1 more
and 53 more in the roster.
65 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 48 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.