Cabernet Sauvignon: A Prestigious Grape to Grow

Hi, I'm Letty Teague and welcome to Wine Dictionary. Today we're going to be talking about Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon is a very important grape in the region of Bordeaux, especially on the left bank. It's where some of the greatest Cabernet and Cabernet Blanc wines in the world are made. So I'm talking about Mouton Rothschild, Lafite, Latour, names that are household words, if not necessarily household wines. Because Cabernet is considered such a prestigious grape to grow, it's been a grape that has spread throughout the world. Of course in the Napa Valley, quite famously and expensively, but also in Australia, in Argentina, in Chile, and the list goes on and on. It's a grape that can do well under a wide variety of circumstances and terroirs. The characteristics of Bordeaux, it's usually a red and dark fruit, it's spice, it's black currant, it's a firmness and structure. It's a very structured grape. Some of the greatest wines in the world are made from Cabernet at some of the absolute highest prices. We're talking several hundred dollars and up for Cabernets in the Napa Valley. Schrader is considered one of the cult names in Napa Valley Cabernet. Their Double Diamond Bomber X is their more accessibly priced, which means it's about $75, $80 a bottle, but it's a really beautiful expression of the bright, rich, ripe, sweet fruit that Napa Valley is so famous for. It's a gorgeous wine. Cabernet isn't just grown in the Napa Valley, of course, it's also grown in Sonoma. The Louis Martini 2009 Cabernet I think is just a really good example. It's soft, it's lush, but it has a lot of the same red and black fruit. It's about $20 a bottle, and it's a really nice example of affordable Cabernet made in California. Well, the general rule of thumb when pairing wine with food is the more exalted the wine, the simpler the food. I think when you have a wine that has the power that a great Cabernet does is you want something simple, a grilled piece of meat. I think a porterhouse steak is an absolutely brilliant companion to a Cabernet. So when someone tells me that they need to give someone a present, they don't know them very well, and they want to give them something that will connote generosity and prestige, I almost invariably tell them to get a Cabernet. Whether the person likes it or not is immaterial, because it suggests that they actually spent money, whether or not they did. But I think that we're pretty well acclimated to think of Cabernet as a serious and prestigious wine. So I think when in doubt, giving a gift bottle, give Cabernet.