Cabernet Sauvignon Everything You Need To Know Grapes 101

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most planted grape varieties in the world, for good reason. It makes some pretty exceptional wines. I'm Master of Wine Christine Marsilio, and I'm here to tell you everything that you're going to need to know about Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon produces age-worthy, deeply colored, tannic red wines. How is it able to do this? Well, Cabernet Sauvignon has really thick skins with lots of tannin and lots of color. The other thing that this grape has is lots of acidity, making these wines perfect for celery. It's also originating from France, and in fact, it's actually the offspring of two very popular grape varieties, Sauvignon Blanc, which is a white grape variety, and Cabernet Franc. We get that herbaceous freshness in Cabernet Sauvignon coming from Sauvignon Blanc, and we get that black fruit flavor and tannin, which is coming from the Cabernet Franc. The homeland of Cabernet Sauvignon is in Bordeaux, France. It's thought to have originated here. We can find some of the world's most exceptional, age-worthy, and most expensive wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon coming from Bordeaux, particularly in the left bank. However, there is another place in California called Napa Valley that's a little bit warmer than Bordeaux, but it's also an amazing place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon. Here we still find that really high quality coming through, ageability, still very tannic, structured wines, but they tend to be a little bit riper, a little bit more alcohol, and that's because we have a little bit warmer weather in Napa Valley. Let's taste these side by side to see what the similarities and differences are. So I have two wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon coming from Napa Valley and Bordeaux. Now, if we start looking at these wines, I've got one wine from 2011 and one wine from 2016, and the older wine is starting to get a slightly kind of garnet color around the edge, and that's because it's a little bit older, whereas the younger one doesn't have that color just yet. But that happens even with these deeply colored wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon. Let's see what we find when we go and smell it. The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon definitely has that black fruit flavor of cassis and blackberry, and so does the Bordeaux wine. The big difference between these two is that the Napa Cabernet has this real intensity and ripeness of fruit, almost like blackberry jam or blackcurrant jam, whereas the Bordeaux wine tends to be more about fresh blackberries and fresh blackcurrant. One thing's for sure, they both smell absolutely delicious. I'm going to give these a taste now to see what the similarities and differences are between these two wines. That Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon has tons of acidity. It's making my mouth water. There's loads of tannins, so they're quite grippy. This would work really well with some food, and we have that freshness of acidity coming through still. Let's see how that's similar and or different to the Napa. Still have so much acidity and tannin there. It's just a really robust wine, lots of structure. And the biggest difference I can see here, or feel here, is that those tannins, while they're still really high, are very, very ripe and smooth. Again, because of that warmer climate that we find in Napa Valley. When it comes to pairing these with food, things like steak or lamb chops or stew or anything with mushrooms, something that can handle a ton of flavor, is what you want to find to go with your Cabernet Sauvignon. Pretty much no matter where it's from. And the freshness of acidity that we have in these wines will cut through fat and oil as well. So it really, really is a great grape to pair with food. One of my favorite things to do is to pair it with a really amazingly cooked steak. So enjoy, go out and find your next favorite Cabernet Sauvignon, whether it's to drink tomorrow, or if you're looking for something to keep in your cellar for a little bit longer. Cheers!