Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon may be the world's most widely recognized red wine grape. Nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates around the world, grows Cabernet Sauvignon. Bordeaux, where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc is where It became internationally recognized. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Napa Valley, Australia and Chile. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s.
 

Cabernet Sauvignon is a relatively new variety, the product of a chance crossing between Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc during the 17th century in southwestern France. Its ease of cultivation - the grapes have thick skins and the vines are hardy and resistant to rot and frost - and to its consistent presentation of structure and flavors have made it prominent.
 

Likely the birthplace of the Cabernet Sauvignon vine, the Bordeaux wine region of France is intimately connected with Cabernet Sauvignon. Producers across the globe have invested heavily in trying to reproduce the structure and complexity of Bordeaux wines. Bordeaux blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Merlot created the earliest examples of acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon wine, though Cabernet Sauvignon was first blended in Bordeaux with Syrah, seen in Australia and some vin de pays wines from the Languedoc. Cabernet Sauvignon has structure, acidity, tannins and aging potential. By itself, it can lack a sense of fleshiness or fruit on the palate.  To compensate, producers add the rounder flavors of Merlot. Cabernet franc adds aromas and fruitiness. In the Margaux region with lighter soils, Cabernet-based wines can lack color. Here, they often blend Petit Verdot or sometimes Malbec to add additional fruit and floral aromas.
 

Early records indicate that the grape was a popular planting in the Médoc region during the 18th century. The loose berry clusters and thick skins of the grape provided a good resistance to rot in the sometimes wet maritime climate of Bordeaux.  As the region's winemakers started to better understand the area's terroir and how the different grape varieties performed in different region, Cabernet Sauvignon increased in plantings all along the Left Bank region of the Gironde river in the Médoc as well as Graves region, where it became the dominant variety in the wine blends. In the Right bank regions of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, Cabernet is a distant third in plantings behind Merlot & Cabernet franc.
 

Today, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the blends in the Haut-Médoc on the Left Bank. In Saint-Estèphe and Pessac-Léognan, the grape develops more mineral flavors. Aromas or violets are a characteristic of Margaux. Pauillac is noted by a strong lead pencil scent and Saint-Julien by cedar and cigar boxes. The Cabernet wines of the Moulis are characterized by their soft tannins and rich fruit flavors while the southern Graves region is characterized by strong black currant flavors, though in less intense wines over all. The percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon used in the blend will depend on terroir and the winemakers styles as well as the vintage. The First Growth estates of Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Latour are noted for regularly producing wines with some of the highest percentage of Cabernet— often around 75%.
 

In California, Cabernet Sauvignon has developed its characteristic style and reputation, recognizable in the world's market. Production and plantings of the grape in California are similar in quantity to those of Bordeaux. The 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event help to catapult Californian Cabernet Sauvignons onto the international stage when Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon beat out classified Bordeaux estates like Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Montrose, Château Haut-Brion and Château Léoville-Las Cases in a blind tasting conducted by French wine experts.
 

In the 1980s, a new epidemic of phylloxera hit California, devastating many vineyards, which needed replanting. There was some speculation that ravaged Cabernet vineyards would be replanted with other varietals (such as those emerging from the Rhone Rangers movement) but in fact California plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon doubled between 1988 and 1998; many wine regions— such as Napa Valley north of Yountville and Sonoma's Alexander Valley— were almost completely dominated by the grape varieties. It also started to gain a foothold in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain and Mendocino County. Cabernet from Sonoma County has shown a tendency to feature anise and black olive notes while Napa County Cabernets are characterized by their strong black fruit flavors.
 

In California, the main stylistic difference in Cabernet Sauvignon is between hillside/mountain vineyards and those on flatter terrain like valley floors or some areas of the Central Valley. In Napa, the hillside vineyards of Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain District have thinner, less fertile soils which produces smaller berries with more intense flavors, reminiscent of Bordeaux wines that require years of aging to mature. The yields are also much lower, typically in the range of 1-2 tons per acre in contrast to the 4-8 tons that can be produced in the more fertile valley floors. Wines produced from mountainside vineyards tend to be characterized by deep inky colors and strong berry aromas. Throughout California there are many wine regions that have the potential to grow Cabernet Sauvignon to full ripeness and produce fruity, full-bodied wines with alcohol levels regularly above the Bordeaux average of 12-13% — often in excess of 14%.

After Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon is the second most widely planted grape variety in Washington State. It is generally found in the warmer sites of the Columbia Valley. The vines are choice plantings for growers due to their hardy vine stalks and resistance to the cold winter frost that is commonplace in Eastern Washington. Washington Cabernet Sauvignon is characterized by its fruitiness and easy drinking styles that are not overly tannic. Recent Washington American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) that have seen some success with their Cabernet Sauvignons include Red Mountain, Walla Walla Valley and parts of the Yakima Valley AVA near the Tri-Cities region.