Cabernet-Sauvignon
This grape is the primary red wine Varietal of most of the top vineyards in Bordeaux's Medoc and Pessac-Leognan Graves districts for more than 200 years. Medoc and Pessac-Leognan Graves are the best growing sites for producing Cabernet-Sauvignon quality wines.
Cabernet-Sauvignon needs a moderately warm, semi-arid climate, providing a long growing season, on not too fertile and well-drained soils. The 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.
Cabernet-Sauvignon ripens in the mid to late season.
Most often, this grape is blended with one or more of the following varietals: Cabernet-Franc, Merlot, or Petit Verdot.
The Cabernet-Sauvignon grapes, with their high level of acid and tannins, are shaped for longevity. The complexity, the structure and the flavour of wines made from this grape are what makes it so popular by wine lovers.
When young, the fruity flavours of Cabernet-Sauvignon are associated to raspberry, violet, blackcurrants, pepper and cedar aromas. Later, they evolve to leather, animal, cinnamon, mushroom and cigar box flavours as the wine matures.
Cabernet-Sauvignon, with its legendary smoothness and elegance, has conquered the world. It is now widely cultivated in Australia, California, Italy, Latin America and Spain.
[ Other Bordeaux varieties ]
