By Robert Giles

Cabernet needs almost no introduction. It is the king of California wine, grown in nearly every wine making country, and the backbone of the red wine industry.

Everyone has an opinion on it and it can be overwhelming if you are just beginning your wine journey. But through our Getting to Know Wine Series we’ve discussed and learned about other grapes. This knowledge allows us to really look at what makes this wine so special.

Cabernet is a fantastic grape for vineyards in warmer climates due to the thick skins that require a longer maturation time. These skins are full of color, tannins, and flavor that give the final wine its trademark qualities. These qualities are deep, rich color, high levels of acidity, high levels of tannins, and strong flavors of black fruits. The combination of fruit, tannins, and acidity allow for high quality cabernets to be very age worthy and are often still fantastic twenty or more years after release.

In warmer climates the fruit flavors can start to taste almost cooked leading to a slight “jammy” quality while cooler climates allow for “ripe” or “just ripe” fruit flavors. These stronger flavors and tannins are often softened with oak aging for months or even years before being bottled and released to market. This allows for the wines to show softer tannins and a more cohesive flavor profile. Oak aging for long periods is so common that it is not unusual to see high quality wines releasing with vintages two years or more behind.

France is the birthplace of cabernet and used extensively in the Bordeaux region as well as southern France. The Bordeaux wines blend cabernet with merlot as the base of the wine and then will add other grapes to accentuate particular qualities. Merlot helps to maintain a consistent body and richness to the wine while letting the tannins and black fruit flavors of cabernet to shine through.

Chateau Blaignan Medoc is a great example of this. Blending with the merlot brings the tannins down just a bit but still lets the black currant and fresh tobacco flavors shine through.

Chateau Cantemerle Haut-Medoc is another example of this French style. Using a higher percentage of cabernet while also adding in a small amount of petit verdot that allows for slightly more lively tannins while still having rich blackberry and blueberry flavors with hints of licorice and cedar. Strong and rich, these French wines are perfect to pair with strong, fatty meat dishes such as prime rib or stews.

South African Cabernets show interesting characteristics. While the dark fruit flavors are predominant in other regions, in the wines of the Stellenbosch region they are accompanied by a light vegetal flavor in the finish.

Stellekaya produces a full-bodied cabernet that gives a strong black currant flavor with notes of cedar and cranberry. The finish has a light eucalyptic note that refreshes your palate on each sip. Oak aging tames the tannins but leaves them vibrant and enticing.

Anthonij Rupert Cabernet, on the other hand, gives strong notes of black cherry, tea leaves, tomato leaf, and spicy cedar. The strong fruit and tannins are equally balanced by the oak and vegetal flavors for a well-rounded wine.

California has perhaps the widest range of style in cabernet. In the Alexander Valley region you have a warm climate that gets strong cooling breezes in the evening. This leads to wines like Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet that has reserved, ripe black cherry and cassis notes balanced with a slight oak flavor that allows the tannins to be present but not overpowering.

In contrast, you have a wine like The Vice House Cabernet from Napa Valley. True to the overall style of Napa, this wine leads with strong, very ripe fruit flavors like black cherry and blackberry combined with notes of mocha and tobacco leaves. Robust tannins balance the wines fruit flavors with its full bodied structure to provide a familiar big Napa experience. This is the type of wine to pair with a rich cut of beef or a strong stew.

These wines showcase the wide range of possibilities with cabernet. It may be one of the most well-known wines in the world, but, that does not mean that it doesn’t still hold some surprises for us.

The best part is that there is such a wide range of styles based on the climate in which it is grown. If you have maybe passed over this wine in the past thinking that you had seen all that it has to offer, perhaps give it a second look.

And if you want to dial in your particular favorite style, be sure to ask our wine experts to help guide you along. Cheers!