Cabernet
Sauvignon
Cabernet
Sauvignon makes the most dependable candidate for aging, more
often improving into a truly great wine than any other single
varietal. With age, its distinctive black currant aroma can
develop bouquet nuances of cedar, violets, leather, or cigar
box and its typically tannic edge may soften and smooth considerably.
It is the most widely planted
and significant among the five dominant varieties in the Medoc
district of France's Bordeaux region, as well as the
most successful red wine produced in California.
Long thought to be an ancient
variety, recent genetic studies at U.C. Davis have determined
that Cabernet Sauvignon is actually the hybrid offspring of
Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.
Cabernet sauvignon berries
are small, spherical with black, thick and very tough skin.
This toughness makes the grapes fairly resistant to disease
and spoilage and able to withstand some autumn rains with
little damage. It is a mid to late season ripener. These growth
characteristics, along with its flavor appeal have made Cabernet
Sauvignon one of the most popular red wine varieties worldwide.
The
best growing sites for producing quality wines from Cabernet
Sauvignon are in moderately warm, semi-arid regions providing
a long growing season, on well-drained, not-too-fertile soils.
Vineyards in Sonoma County's Alexander Valley, much of the
Napa Valley, and around the Paso Robles area of the Central
Coast have consistently produced the highest-rated California
examples.
Typically, Cabernet Sauvignon
wines smell like black currants with a degree of bell pepper
or weediness, varying in intensity with climatic conditions,
viticulture practices, and vinification techniques. Climates
and vintages that are either too cool or too warm, rich soils,
too little sun exposure, premature harvesting, and extended
maceration are factors that may lead to more vegetative, less
fruity character in the resulting wine.
In the mouth, Cabernet can
have liveliness and even a degree of richness, yet usually
finishes with firm astringency. Some of the aroma and flavor
descriptors most typically found in Cabernet Sauvignon are:
|
Typical
Cabernet Sauvignon Smell and/or Flavor
Descriptors
|
|
Varietal
Aromas/Flavors:
|
Processing
Bouquets/Flavors:
|
|
Fruit:
black currant, blackberry, black
cherry
|
Oak
(light): vanilla, coconut, sweet
wood
|
|
Herbal:
bell pepper, asparagus
(methoxy-pyrazine), green
olive
|
Oak
(heavy): oak, smoke, toast,
tar
|
|
Spice:
ginger, green peppercorn,
pimento
|
Bottle
Age: cedar, cigar box, musk,
mushroom, earth, leather
|
(see Tasting
Notes)
Cabernet
Sauvignon began to emerge as America's most popular varietal
red wine in the mid-60s. By the late 1980s, it had replaced
"burgundy" as a consumer's generic term for red wine
(as had Chardonnay, replacing "chablis" as the equivalent
for generic white wine). This popularity was based
partly on the flavor
appeal of the grape and partly on its status or snob-appeal
as a "collector's" wine. Indeed Cabernet Sauvignon is the
wine most subject to inflationary climb, as fans, collectors,
and the Nouveau Riche bid the supply ever upward.
by
Jim
LaMar
