Francs, village which gives its name to the small Francs Côtes de Bordeaux appellation on the right bank between st-émilion and bergerac, part of the Côtes de bordeaux group. The original settlement took its name from a detachment of Franks sent there by Clovis after defeating the Visigoths (see france, history). The wines have considerably more personality than regular bordeaux aoc and the area’s revival in the 1980s owed much to the Belgian Thienpont family (also associated with Le pin and Vieux-Château-Certan). In 2013, 361 ha/892 acres of vineyard were producing sturdy Merlot-based reds on high clay-limestone slopes, many of which enjoy a favourable west south west exposure. Tiny amounts of Sémillon-based white, both dry and sweet, were also made in memory of a style once traditional for this area. For more detail, see bordeaux.
