Cabernet Sauvignon Flashcards
Typical Cab Sauvignon profile
Nose - Pronounced black fruit & herbaceous (mint, green pepper) aroma.
Palate - Dry, HIGH tannins & acidity.
Oaked - quite common, as newly fermented far too tannic. Oxygen helps soften tannins & barrel gives sec. flavours.
As a result, outstanding quality can mature well for years. The tannins act as natural long-term preservatives.
Thick skins - lots of colours, tannins & high acidity.
Location & climate
Black grape variety from SW France.
Left bank of Bordeaux.
Mod/warm climates. Can struggle to ripen & reach it’s best in some mod climates.
Blended with what often…
Merlot.
It helps soften HIGH levels of tannins & acidity.
Particularly in cooler vintage years in mod climate, if grape ripening struggled.
Bordeaux climate & soil
Bordeaux -
Can have difficulty ripening in the cooler sites of the mod climate here.
Climate varies one year to the next, so blends with higher/lower levels of Merlot important dependant on the year.
Left bank soil -
Many gravel stones. Quick drainage from heavy rainfall & absorbs daytime heat to emit into evening to aid ripening.
Bordeaux vineyards
Left bank -
Haut-Medoc AOC, includes the smaller -
Margaux AOC, Pauillac.
Graves AOC, includes -
Passaic-Leognan
Great ageing potential
What does ‘Chateau’ actually refer to in winemaking..
Not a fancy building.
Rather the land estate or producer of the wine. Indicates the grapes are grown on that land and not bought in.
Bordeaux sub-region classifications
Purpose - to rank best wines from the best Chateaux.
Grand Cru Classe & Cru Classe -
old terms indicating high quality. Most expensive and sought after wines. Mature well for years/decades.
Cru Bourgeois -
Wines from the Medoc can have this, seen as next in line of quality after the above. Usually less expensive whilst still good to outstanding wines.
Southern France area from Cab Sauv
Languedoc-Rousssillon
Warm climate, varies less than Bordeaux. Single variety and blends grow well here. Labelled Pay’s d’OC IGP
USA Cab Sauvignon areas
California
If labelled ‘California’, grapes from anywhere in the state can be blended. Often from the hot, irrigated Central Valley. For immediate consumption. Some oak flavours from oak chip use.
Sonoma - Warmer, inland. Powerful Cab Sauvignon, sometimes has small quantities of other grapes.
Napa Valley -
warm sunny climate, long growing season, ideal to ripen Cab Sauvignon.
Full bodied, high tannins and pronounced ripe black fruit flavours found in subregions of -
Rutherford & Oakville
Calistoga -
in North of Napa Valley is even warmer - ripest and most full bodied found here
Chile Cab Sauv locations
Cab Sauvignon most widely planted grape.
Lateral spread of vineyards from Andes foothills (east) to Pacific coast regions (west, flatter, more fertile soil)
Maipo & Colchagua Valley key regions
Chile’s local speciality
Carmenere
Chile Cab Sauvignon flavour profile
Wines from the Andes foothills have distinct -
herbal (mint) & herbaceous (green pepper) character, with black fruit and oak.
South Africa Cab Sauv
Stellenbosch - mountainous, mod/warm climate altitude dependent.
Styles from fresh herbal to full bodied, oaky, with high alcohol
SA Cape Blend contains..
Blend of Cab Sauvignon, Merlot and local grape, Pinotage.
Australia Cab Sauvignon locations
Margaret River, Western Australia (south of Perth).
Sometimes blended with Merlot
Moderating effect - Warm region, with cooling ocean breeze from the South.
Flavour - black fruit and subtle oak.
Coonawarra - South Australia. (South east of Adelaide). Very good/outstanding.
Flavour - Distinct herbal mint, black fruit & oak/smoke/cedar.
