Cabernet Sauvignon

As the world’s most prolific red wine grape that grows on quite a few continents, including far flung regions like Israel, the Balkins, and Chile’s Maipo Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon is also the most deeply complex. Cabernet Sauvignon was accidentally discovered in France as a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc during the 17th century.

Its "terroir" — a French word translating to "of the earth," plays a huge role in the diverse expressions. Whether it’s a five-year-old Napa Valley winery expressing “Rutherford dust” or a centuries-old example from a first-growth house’s gravel soil in Bordeaux, or a jam-like South Australian Cab, a direct result of that region’s hot temperatures, the art is in the hands of the winemaker.

Cabernet Sauvignon is often a blending grape in prized red wine blends, representing the majority of the composite. Its profile of refined tannins, full body and complex layers easily balances out the intense fruit-forward aspects of other red wine grapes.

Quick Facts

• In the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" tasting, a California Cabernet Sauvignon was chosen over a French Cabernet Sauvignon in a blind tasting, paving the way for the grape’s eventual acclaim in California, particularly Napa Valley
• It wasn’t until the mid-'90s at the University of California-Davis’s Department of Viticulture and Enology that Cabernet Sauvignon’s history was mapped, using DNA typing, erasing all myths about its origins. It confirmed the belief of many that this grape traces back to France
• In 2014, the University of Adelaide found that Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted wine-grape variety in the world