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.
