Cabernet Sauvignon | |
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Grape (Vitis) | |
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes
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Color of berry skin | Black |
Also called | Bouchet, Bouche, Petit-Bouchet, Petit-Cabernet, Petit-Vidure, Vidure, Sauvignon Rouge |
Notable regions | Bordeaux, Tuscany, Santa Cruz Mountains, Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Australia |
Notable wines | Classified Bordeaux estates, Californian cult wines |
Ideal soil | Gravel |
Hazards | Underripeness, powdery mildew, eutypella scoparia, excoriose |
Wine characteristics | |
General | Dense, dark, tannic |
Cool climate | Vegetal, bell pepper, asparagus |
Medium climate | Mint, black pepper, eucalyptus |
Hot climate | Jam |
Cabernet Sauvignon (French: [kabɛʁnɛ soviˈɲɔ̃]) is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized through its prominence in Bordeaux wines where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Santa Cruz Mountains, Napa Valley, New Zealand's Hawkes Bay, Australia's Margaret River and Coonawarra regions, and Chile's Maipo Valley and Colchagua. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s.