Cabernet Sauvignon is so ubiquitous that it’s usually the primary selection individuals consider once they image a glass of wine. From legendary Bordeaux to fashionable Napa Valley labels, Cabernet is all over the place. Additionally it is one of many dominant varieties on the wonderful wine market. Most collectors declare to be very conversant in this wine. Nonetheless, there are a number of info about Cabernet Sauvignon you might be shocked to be taught, even should you’re an skilled collector. Whether or not you’re beginning a set from scratch otherwise you need to enhance your wonderful wine data, listed here are ten of an important Cabernet Sauvignon info each collector ought to know.
Ten Important Cabernet Sauvignon Details
Crucial Cabernet Sauvignon info are those who make it easier to make higher selections about which wines so as to add to your assortment. Discover your subsequent top-rated bottle with these in thoughts:
1. Cabernet Sauvignon is probably the most broadly planted crimson grape selection on this planet
There are greater than 340,000 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon vines spanning each continent on Earth besides Antarctica. Not solely is that this grape a crowd-pleaser, but it surely is also a core part of a number of the most well-known collectible wines on this planet, together with:
These kinds of Cabernet Sauvignon are typically extra age-worthy and complicated in taste than mass-produced Cabernet.
2. 4 areas are particularly suited to the Cabernet Sauvignon grape
Though Cabernet Sauvignon can develop practically wherever, sure situations make this selection shine. Cabernet is a thick-skinned grape, so it does properly with publicity to daylight and the fruit can endure excessive winds. Nonetheless, if situations are too heat, the outcome could be overly ripe and alcoholic wines. Likewise, a local weather that’s too chilly received’t permit the grapes to ripen totally, resulting in austere, “vegetal,” and overly acidic wines.
One of the best areas for Cabernet Sauvignon have a stability of heat days and funky nights. These 4 areas specifically produce worthwhile Cabernet price accumulating:
- Bordeaux, France: A barely cool local weather and mineral-rich soils give the wine balanced acidity, minerality, and earthiness, with vivid crimson fruit flavors. The lightest and most elegant Cabernet is made right here.
- Napa Valley, California: A hotter local weather makes Napa Cabernet daring, fruit-forward, and deeply concentrated in taste. Nonetheless, these wines are sometimes fairly balanced, with wonderful acidity.
- Tuscany, Italy: Heat climate produces a robust wine with darkish fruit flavors.
- Maipo Valley, Chile: Very heat summers produce a number of the boldest and most fruit-forward Cabernets on the wonderful wine market.
Whereas the Cabernet produced in every of those areas is sort of totally different, all of those areas are residence to top-rated wine producers that each collector ought to have on their radars.
3. You possibly can inform Bordeaux’s Left Financial institution and Proper Financial institution other than the Cabernet Sauvignon within the mix
Most crimson Bordeaux is comprised of a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and different varieties. Nonetheless, Bordeaux producers use Cabernet Sauvignon in another way of their blends, or under no circumstances, and this considerably adjustments the persona of the wines.
On the Left Financial institution, Cabernet Sauvignon is its most valuable grape, accounting for the best proportion of the mix. A typical mix consists of:
- Cabernet Sauvignon (60 p.c or extra)
- Merlot (30 to 40 p.c)
- Cabernet Franc (10 p.c or much less)
- Malbec (10 p.c or much less)
- Petit Verdot (hardly ever used, and when it’s, it’s lower than 2 p.c)
In different phrases, a Left Financial institution wine is basically Cabernet Sauvignon, with only a contact of different grape varieties to spherical out the flavors.
In the meantime, on the Proper Financial institution, Cabernet Sauvignon might not be used in any respect. The most typical Proper Financial institution blends are:
- 100-percent Merlot
- Primarily Merlot, with a small quantity of Cabernet Franc
- 50-percent Merlot and 50-percent Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon provides Left Financial institution wines their distinctive tannins, which assist them age for many years in a cellar. With out this grape selection, the Merlot-rich wines of the Proper Financial institution are typically softer and rounder, as their tannins aren’t as agency. Each varieties of Bordeaux are extremely worthwhile, sought-after, and age-worthy, however collectors want to acknowledge the variations. Cabernet Sauvignon is the important thing.
4. Single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon labels are gaining popularity because of the cult wine increase
The rise of cult wines has had a significant affect on how fashionable winemakers strategy Cabernet Sauvignon. A cult wine is a wine that’s made in extraordinarily restricted portions and that has a excessive demand in the marketplace. The preferred cult wines are made in California’s Napa Valley, and the overwhelming majority of those are comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon or a mix of Cabernet.
As a result of reputation of cult Cabernet Sauvignon, California’s whole share of the wonderful wine market has risen from 0.1 to 7.1 p.c in simply ten years. Presently, California is the second most costly wine area on this planet, in accordance with Liv-ex, and that is largely on account of its concentrate on wonderful cult Cabernet.
The rise in market share and recognition of Cabernet Sauvignon isn’t restricted to California. In Australia (one other area recognized for producing wonderful cult wines), exports of Cabernet Sauvignon have skilled an annual development fee of 12 p.c up to now 5 years. Exports of single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon (which means the wine will not be blended with another grapes) have proven a fair better improve — 13 p.c in only one yr.
What this tells collectors is that single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon is in increased demand than it was up to now, so you might even see extra wonderful cult Cabernet in the marketplace within the coming years.
5. A bottle of cult Cabernet Sauvignon was the second most costly wine ever bought at public sale
In 2000, six magnum bottles of 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon bought at a charity public sale for $500,000. Just one wine has bought for a better value: a bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (for $558,000). Whereas it’s not typical to promote even the best cult wines for a value this excessive, this truth remains to be notable. It exhibits that there’s a substantial amount of buzz round cult Cabernet Sauvignon from California — sufficient that somebody would pay half 1,000,000 {dollars} for one of the sought-after vintages in California’s historical past.
6. Cult Cabernet Sauvignon from California could be simply as worthwhile as wonderful Bordeaux
Talking of cult wines, some wine collectors are shocked to be taught that the highest labels usually promote for a similar value because the storied wines of Bordeaux’s Left Financial institution. Take a number of the hottest labels from Bordeaux and Napa Valley, as an illustration:
| Common Worth of High-Rated Napa Cult Cabernet (per 750 ml bottle) | Common Worth of High-Rated Purple Bordeaux (per 750 ml bottle) |
| Screaming Eagle: $3,000 to $7,000 | Château Lafite Rothschild: $1,000 to $8,000 |
| Harlan Property: $1,000 to $7,000 | Château Latour: $1,000 to $8,000 |
| Scarecrow: $1,000 to $5,000 | Château Margaux: $800 to $8,000 |
| Opus One: $500 to $2,000 | Château Mouton Rothschild: $800 to $7,000 |
| Schrader: $500 to $1,000 | Château Palmer: $500 to $5,000 |
Whereas Bordeaux is barely extra worthwhile than cult Cabernet Sauvignon as an entire, the cult wines aren’t far behind. The common bottle of Screaming Eagle is commonly simply as if no more worthwhile than a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild, relying on the classic.
So, should you’re searching for a worthwhile bottle of Cabernet so as to add to your assortment otherwise you need to broaden your horizons past Bordeaux, cult wines are actually an possibility.
7. The 1976 Judgement of Paris redefined what wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon might be
Whereas cult Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine market chief at this time, up to now, California Cabernet was fairly underrated, usually overshadowed by Cabernet-based Bordeaux blends. A turning level got here in 1976, when wine critics held the Judgement of Paris, a contest rating the best wines on this planet on the time. To the shock of some Bordeaux fans, a Napa Valley Cabernet received over the judges in a blind style check. A bottle of flagship Cabernet from Stag’s Leap Cellars outperformed each Bordeaux bottle. This second proved that the New World was able to making wonderful Cabernet, and it paved the way in which for contemporary New-World producers.
8. Tuscany is having a Cabernet Sauvignon renaissance
Like California within the Seventies, Tuscany is having its personal Cabernet Sauvignon awakening. The area is famend for its “Tremendous Tuscans,” blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia label (a highly regarded Tremendous Tuscan) was the fourth most traded wine on this planet in 2021. So, should you’re searching for your subsequent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, contemplate a mix from this iconic Italian wine area.
9. The best Cabernet Sauvignon has wonderful getting old potential
In case you spend money on a bottle of high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s necessary to know when it can attain peak maturity. Cabernet usually wants a decade within the bottle earlier than it approaches its ultimate ingesting window, and a few top-quality vintages received’t attain their peak till no less than 20 years after launch. That is what makes Cabernet a wonderful possibility for collectors who get pleasure from laying bottles down or who’re searching for a start yr wine as a present.
10. Cabernet Sauvignon remains to be evolving
One of the shocking Cabernet Sauvignon info is that this grape selection solely dates again to the 1600s. It got here into being when winemakers bred Sauvignon Blanc with Cabernet Franc. In simply 400 years, the grape has come to dominate the wine market, and to today, winemakers proceed to refine it. Fashionable producers are discovering strategies for producing the most effective Cabernet doable, together with finding up-and-coming terroirs that are perfect for cultivating this selection, akin to Purple Mountain in Washington. We’ll seemingly proceed to see enhancements to Cabernet high quality yr after yr, particularly as tendencies transfer away from the fruit-forward kinds that after outlined New-World Cabernet. Fashionable winemakers are embracing the extra nuanced qualities of this grape, displaying simply how elegant Cabernet wines could be.
Why These Details Are Useful for Collectors
Understanding these Cabernet Sauvignon info helps you perceive one of the worthwhile, age-worthy, and collectible wine varieties on this planet. With these info in thoughts, you can also make extra knowledgeable selections about which wines so as to add to your assortment. For instance, realizing that crimson Bordeaux and single-variety cult California Cabernet Sauvignon promote at the same value level may persuade collectors to broaden their collections past French wine. There’s a substantial amount of range in Cabernet and it’s a range price exploring in additional depth.
In case you’re trying to begin a set of Cabernet Sauvignon otherwise you’re all in favour of studying extra about fashionable Cabernet kinds, it may additionally be useful to contact a wine funding professional. Vinfolio presents portfolio administration providers to those that need to spend money on wonderful wine however preferring to rent an professional to deal with the small print. Or, you may contemplate reaching out to a personal consumer specialist to realize entry to unique wine allocations, together with a number of the most in-demand California cult wines. Whether or not you propose on constructing a set your self or with assist from specialists, it’s worthwhile to take a more in-depth have a look at Cabernet Sauvignon and the numerous top-quality labels which can be in the marketplace at this time.
Whether or not you might be beginning your high-end wine assortment or including to a longtime portfolio, Vinfolio is your companion in shopping for, promoting, and skilled storage. Contact us at this time to get entry to the world’s most interesting wine.
