Most Cape red shelves still shout Cabernet and Shiraz. Platinum just whispered Cabernet Franc.
Decanter’s DWWA 2026 Cape coverage lists Backsberg Patriarch Cabernet Franc among the Platinum winners, with scores in the high 90s — commonly cited around 97 points. That is not a novelty sticker. Cabernet Franc is the fragrant, slightly herbal sibling in the Cabernet family. On the right Stellenbosch site it can show red fruit, pencil-lead spice and fresher lines than a heavy Cabernet Sauvignon built only for power.
Mini-lesson: “alternative red” does not mean weird. It means a grape that solves a drinker problem. If you want structure without a furniture-polish oak bomb, Franc often sits in that pocket. Medals help shops justify stocking it beside the safe brands.
Why Gen Z should notice: choosing wine against RTDs is easier when the bottle has a clear personality. Franc is a personality grape — aromatic, food-friendly, less “bro red.”
Pattern: one Patriarch Platinum. Cape Cab Franc earns a seat at the curious-red table.
Stellenbosch already sells plenty of Cabernet Sauvignon. A Platinum Franc does different work: it tells buyers the ward can do perfume and lift, not only power. Merchants who once skipped the grape now have a medal excuse to list it. That is how shelf diversity actually happens — one scored bottle at a time, not a manifesto.