California Cabernet Sauvignon

Where it All Started | Old World Taste the Terroir

Old World Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Bordeaux are known for sharp tannins and high acidity. They offer an herbal, light floral taste, frequently breathing earthy aromas of tobacco, graphite, licorice, and green pepper.

Raised in a cool European climate with limited sun and sparse limestone and clay soils, the exceptional grapes in the Bordeaux region struggle every day they are on the vine, earning their brix numbers through a slow process that leads to about 12.5 percent alcohol by volume from even the ripest fruit.

Unlike California Cabernet, these pretty, plum-colored wines from the Old World can prove harsh early on due to aggressive tannins, but tame themselves beautifully after several years in the cellar. It is common to store these wines for at least five years, with top-shelf bottles often improving with 10 to 20-year rest or longer.

From the 200 elite Cru Bourgeois Chateaux and Estate vineyards to the 40 Artisan Cru growers, joined by dozens of small cooperatives and many private vineyards, labels bearing the Bordeaux location reward each pour with subtle depth. Note that French labels present the location as opposed to the grape variety, so knowing the Bordeaux vineyards is key to good selection.

Old World wines usually appear as a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc, Merlot, or Petit Verdot, filling in each vintage's weakness with lovely combinations that contribute to a full-bodied wine with a long, pleasant finish.

California Cabernet Sauvignon: Smooth and Round

As the Cabernet Sauvignon grape migrated to warmer growing regions sprinkled across Australia, Italy, Chile, the US, South Africa, and Argentina, the vines expanded their resume, smoothing tannins and lowering acidity.

Enjoying well-nourished, alluvial, loamy soils, grapes that are grown in New World vineyards ripen earlier. They are typically ready for an August harvest. The California Cabernet Sauvignon is known for showing deep, opaque red in the glass, often flashed with strikes of blue-violet. Richly textured with an alcohol level around 13.5 to 15 percent. These warmer weather versions deliver mature, dark fruit flavors like blackberry, cassis, and plum, with additional cocoa, black pepper, and tobacco notes.

Robust growth encouraged by the warmer climate owns a rounder, friendlier tannin profile on a much shorter timeline than that of Old World counterparts. The California Cabernet Sauvignon becomes highly drinkable just a few years from bottling.

Like most New World Cabernet Sauvignon the wines from California have a jammier kiss with a full-bodied, fruit-forward pour that has become a global favorite.

Tradition and History

Developing from a natural cross, Cabernet Sauvignon picked up on the best traits of both parents. The grape's thick skins are both protective and full of tannins that transfer to the wine as it spends time on the lees, in contact with skins, seeds, and sometimes stems. A small grape with a 1 to 12 ratio of seeds to fruit, also known as pip to pulp, the grape's high phenolic and tannic properties are legendary.

In early days, Bordeaux winemakers turned hunters for a three-week period while the grapes macerated, allowing time to grab all the gusto from the process. Farmers discovered that less time on the lees lightened the tannic load, resulting in wines that required less aging, but also reduced flavor and aroma. The practice of barrel aging in oak served to soften tannins while adding flavor. Playing with the size of the barrels, adjusting the wood-to-wine ratio as well as the tautness of the wood grain, allowed winemakers additional tools to fine tune the final product. Blending continues to fill in the gaps from lean years, resulting in reliably high-quality wines.