Circulus Wine, Cabernet Franc - A Loire Valley conversation from the Bellarine Peninsula
Some wine stories begin at the vine. This one began much earlier, then took a long way round before arriving exactly where it was always meant to. The roots of Circulus lie in a lifelong pull towards wine, a return to the land, and the belief that the best wines do not impose themselves on a site, they listen to it.
Within our vineyard, one variety keeps demanding attention. Cabernet Franc, planted in the late 1990s, has the kind of presence that makes you stop and look twice. Grown on its own roots in loamy clay and sand over limestone marl and calcareous clay, it feels remarkably at home here.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest cultivated wine varieties in the world. Monks in France's Loire Valley were farming it as early as the 12th century and science confirmed in the 1990s that Cabernet Sauvignon is the offspring of a spontaneous crossing between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
It’s the rediscovered forgotten parent of its famous children.
Most Cabernet Franc in Victoria has traditionally been treated as a supporting player, tucked into Bordeaux blends or used to add lift and fragrance. At Circulus, the reference point is somewhere else entirely. The inspiration comes from the Loire Valley, where Cabernet Franc has long stood on its own and where its fragrance, tension and poise have been given centre stage for centuries.
That Loire connection matters because Cabernet Franc is a grape of seasons as much as soils. In cooler years it can be lower in alcohol, herbal, lifted and fragrant, with fine acidity and a more delicate frame. In warmer years it broadens into darker fruits, firmer tannins and a deeper, more structured expression. It is one of the clearest varieties for showing what a season has given, and what it has withheld.
That sense of seasonal truth aligns closely with the Circulus philosophy. The focus in the vineyard is regenerative and biological, with soft pruning, hand harvesting and a deliberately light touch designed to let the fruit and site speak clearly. The winemaking follows the same line, with precision and restraint rather than heavy-handed manipulation.
Our Cabernet Franc is made as a straight, single varietal wine, which is central to the story. Rather than treating Franc as a blending component, the wine gives the grape room to speak in its own voice, drawing on its maritime influence and calcareous soils to build a profile that is fragrant, savoury and quietly structured.
To intensify that profile further, up to 20% of the juice is bled off early into a separately fermented saignée Rosé. That leaves a greater skin-to-juice ratio in the remaining Cabernet Franc ferment, concentrating colour, texture and flavour while also producing a Rosé with brightness and lift of its own. It is a small but deliberate choice, one that reflects a broader Circulus instinct towards purposeful detail rather than overt intervention.
In the winery, the approach remains measured. Cabernet Franc is hand harvested, destemmed as whole berries, cold-soaked in open-top fermenters, then fermented gently before maturing in aged oak. Minimal additions, light filtration and no fining are all part of the same idea, to preserve purity, structure and the shape of the season rather than chasing a pre-determined style.
That same spirit of observation is now feeding back into the vineyard through a dedicated pruning trial. Our current work compares 2-bud spur, 3-bud spur and cane pruning to understand how winter decisions influence canopy aeration, fruit set, berry chemistry and wine style. The hypothesis is that more open pruning approaches may improve airflow, reduce humidity and limit uneven berry set, while also affecting phenolic maturity and sensory outcomes in the finished wine.
That trial matters because it sits exactly at the intersection of farming and flavour. Cabernet Franc is especially sensitive to vine balance, canopy density and seasonal conditions. If pruning can help deliver more even flowering, healthier canopies and better phenolic ripeness, it may also help sharpen the purity, texture and structure that define the finished wine.
This is what makes the Circulus Cabernet Franc story more than a tasting note. It is not just about violets, red berries, herbs and fine tannin, although those notes are certainly there. It is about a grape with deep Loire heritage finding a convincing new conversation on the Bellarine Peninsula.
It is also about intention. Mature vines, single block fruit, single varietal release, concentration, restrained cellar work, and now a pruning trial designed to understand the vine more deeply. Each decision builds on the last, not to force the wine into shape, but to reveal more clearly what is already there.
Cabernet Franc has a quiet authority when it is grown and handled well. This is a wine with a thousand years of heritage behind it. It can be floral or dark-fruited, tender or structured, depending on the year, but it always rewards attention. At Circulus, that attention is becoming the story itself.