This week we want to take some
time to talk about the grape that’s featured in many of the wines sold here at
the Ideal Wine Company. What does a Cabernet Sauvignon taste like?
Popular grape
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the
most widely produced grapes in the wine making world. You may be interested to
learn, however, that it’s actually a crossbreed. It’s a natural crossing of the
Cabernet France and Sauvignon Blanc grape, which took place way back in the
1600s.
Since then the Cabernet Sauvignon
has gained a stellar reputation for its exceptional quality, and the grape is
now grown in vineyards across the old and new world. According
to Winefolly, the Cabernet Sauvignon is produced in France (the most
prolific producer of the grape), Chile, the US, Australia, Italy, South Africa
and Argentina.
Grape flavours
The grape has become so popular
because it has the ability to provide first-rate wines that are full of
flavour. The fruit characteristics of the Cabernet Sauvignon are blackberry,
blackcurrant and black cherry. Other characteristics of the grape include
violets, vanilla, liquorice, tobacco and black pepper.
This provides a final product
that suits the palette of even the most discerning of wine critics. A Cabernet
Sauvignon grape often produces a full-bodied red wine with dark fruity flavours
and hints of black pepper. Some of these wines also tend to boast a high tannin
count, making them wonderful vintages to pair with sumptuous foods that are
high in fat.
Old vs. new
The truth is that the taste of a
Cabernet Sauvignon largely depends on where it was made. There are major differences
between old and new world wines, and this certainly applies to Cabernet
Sauvignon. A vintage produced in California, for example, will be a tad fruiter
than one produced in Bordeaux.
This is because whilst 100%
Cabernet Sauvignon vintages are often produced in new world wine regions, old
world areas tend to blend Cabernet Sauvignon with other grapes. Vintages
produced in Bordeaux, for example, often boast more herbal flavours such as
violets and graphite.
Different experiences
In other words there’s no way to
know what a Cabernet Sauvignon wine will taste like; you’ll encounter a
different experience with every new bottle. If you buy one of the Bordeauxs sold by the
Ideal Wine Company, it’ll taste different to one or our Californian wines.
