Cabernet Sauvignon – King of the Red Grapes

Who would debate that cabernet sauvignon is not the King of red grapes/wines? There are other contenders, but they fall into lower categories. This red grape is grown from France, Spain, Italy, the United States, and Australia to New Zealand and even Lebanon.  It grows in many soil types – loamy to gravel to alluvial.  Discovered to be the love child of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc by Dr. Carole Meredith of UC Davis, it had the grassiness from the white and the black currant and pencil box of the red grape.

A naturally hardy grape stock, cabernet sauvignon grapes have thick skin, tend to be low yielding and bud later, avoiding early frosts in many regions.  This means it is harvested later, causing problems in only cooler regions. The grape doses not tend to suffer from rot, mildew or any number of other vine maladies.  There are some problems with the grape – there are a couple of vine diseases that strike it, and some rootstocks make the vine overproduce, needing to have clusters dropped before they reach maturity.

Typical Cabernet wine has a typicity of high tannins and notable acidity, making these wines suitable for aging.  Flavors tend to run to black currant, black cherry, pencil shavings, and black olive, with wines from cooler regions having a green bell pepper “twangy” flavor.  This generally occurs because the grapes did not see enough heat during daytime growing hours and cool evenings.  Some wines even have a menthol or eucalyptus note to them, though this seems to vary depending on the growing region. Another nod to the French, the concept of” terroir” or a sense of place exhibited in the wine. Cabernet does well in oak barrels, adding tannins and rich flavors to the wine. American oak can add a hint of dill, where the European (mostly French) adds a buttery vanilla touch to the wine.  

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that saying “cabernet sauvignon” comes off sounding cooler then “shiraz” or “merlot”.  The wine drinking public took to this and it is still the gold standard for red wines.  From the thousand dollar first growths in Bordeaux to the Cult classics of California, Cabernet fetches high prices for the most important wines in the world. Not saying other wines aren’t expensive (Burgundy’s Pinot Noirs, Australia’s Grange), but many of the highest priced are cabernet sauvignon based wines.

Just some random thoughts about red grapes.  Until next time, keep popping those corks and I’ll meet you behind the grape vines.