CabernetSauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is arguably the most famous of all red grape varieties and one of the most widely grown.
It first established its reputation on the 'Left Bank' in the Bordeaux region where it has long formed the backbone to the great reds of Pauillac, Margaux, and Château Lafite. Today, it grows in almost every wine region of the world, bottled solo or blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot or Sangiovese.
Small and thick-skinned, Cabernet grapes produce deeply-colored wine, rich in black currant, mint and occasionally green bell pepper flavors along with firm tannins that enable the best wines to age for decades.
Signature Style
Rich cassis and black currant with subtle, savory aromas of cedar, mint and chocolate
Wines to Try
Château Lafite, Redwood Road, The Holdings, Mayacamas Ridge, Veedercrest, Ramsden Estate
Principal Regions
Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Coonawarra, Maipo Valley, Columbia Valley
Synonyms
Petite Vidure, Bidure
- Modern-day Super-Tuscan Sassicaia was Italy's first 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and subsequently gave rise to a fleet of similarly impressive Italian Cabernets.
- Cabernet loves spending time in oak, French or American.
- The very best Cabernet Sauvignons exhibit a complexity and persistence of flavor rarely, if ever, equalled elsewhere.
- If you like Cabernet Sauvignon, you might also like Malbec - once also from Bordeaux and now Argentina's flagship red.
