The Secret Life of Cabernet
Directions
Cabernet Sauvignon sprang up in provincial France sometime during the 17th century - the surprise result of an unplanned encounter between Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Well… we’ve all got our skeletons.
A lesser variety might have faltered, but Cabernet shrugged off the ignoble circumstances of its birth, to become the world’s most widely planted grape: an exalted varietal, known in both the New and Old Worlds as King of the ‘Noble Wines’.
Skin Deep
OK. It may well be the world’s favourite grape, but here in Australia - with our predilection for felling tall poppies, Cabernet has to settle for 3rd place – behind Shiraz and Chardonnay. Not that it cares. Cabernet’s famously thick skin makes it as impervious to antipodean insouciance as it is to rot and insect attack. Come to think of it, Cabernet owes much of its enormous success to its remarkably tough exterior. In the vineyard, Cabernet’s skin provides the first line of defence from pests and disease; but it’s in the winery where those small, thick-skinned berries really come into their own. The high ratio of solids to juice gives Cabernet its trademark deep, vibrant colour and flavour – and those noticeable tannins.
Blackcurrant Plus
Like all varietals, Cabernet can cloak itself in an array of aromas and flavours, but its standout characteristic, and chief flavour differentiator is blackcurrant – or cassis. (Blackcurrant + plum + anise in Bordeaux; Blackcurrant + mint in Napa; Blackcurrant + eucalyptus in Coonawarra; Blackcurrant + violets + bay leaf in Margs.) Some Cabernets can also show a vegetative note of green capsicum - courtesy of a compound called methoxypyrazine - inherited from its parent Sauv Blanc. But while it can provide a herbaceous lift, too much ‘greenness’ is considered a fault in Cab Sauv.
A Hole in the Middle?
None of us are perfect. Turns out that some Cab Savs have an idiosyncratic flaw that tasters refer to as the doughnut effect. It happens when the wine explodes with full fruit flavour on the front palate, then leaps to the back palate imparting lingering flavours and tannins – but bypassing the middle of the tongue. The result is a hollow sensation in the mid palate. Blending with Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc or Shiraz helps to fill out the mid palate and adds complexity to the wine.
Aging Gracefully
Young Cabernet Sauvignon is all vibrant flavour and purple precocity, and its big fruit flavours, high acidity and exuberant tannins can be a bit in your face. But time is Cabernet’s friend. Purple drops away to a brick red colour, acids soften, tannins relax - while maintaining structure - and primary fruit flavours give way to complex, earthy notes of leather or tobacco. Most Cabernets will benefit from 3-4 years in bottle: the best of them will age magnificently for decades.
The Cabernet Lifestyle
Cabernet enjoys a rather theatrical late-to-bud, late-to-ripen lifestyle, that sees it thrive in warm to hot climates. Its ancestral home is Bordeaux, but there are significant plantings in Spain, California, Chile and Argentina. Cabernet adores the Aussie lifestyle (natch). Our hero regions are Coonawarra and Margaret River, but keep an eye out too for great Cabs from Langhorne Creek, Yarra Valley, Barossa and McLaren Vale.
Welcome to Oz, Your Majesty. Long live the King!