|
Surprisingly enough Cabernet Sauvignon is not one
of the oldest wine grape varieties in the world.
Professor Carole Meredith from the University of
California at Davis was searching for the origins on
Zinfandel. She found another unexpected relationship
showing Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc
to be Cabernet Sauvignon's parents. Professor Meredith
also established Cabernet Sauvignon to be less
than 600 years old, a relative newcomer in the wine
grape world. The oldest recorded reference to Cabernet
Sauvignon comes from the 18th Century and
Chateau Mouton. Baron de Brane ripped up the
white varieties and planted a red variety called
Vidure. Vidure comes from the French words Vigne
Dure or hardy vine in reference to the tough nature
of Cabernet Sauvignon. The name's still used today
in some parts of the Bordeaux where over 50% of
the Merdoc and Graves districts are planted to Cabernet
Sauvignon. The massive spread of Cabernet
Sauvignon came in the 1800's when it was used to
replant the phylloxera ravaged vineyards of Europe.
Other names that Cabernet Sauvignon has been or is
known by include: Petit Cabernet, Petit Vidure and
Vidure, and in Italy, Uva Francese.
Cabernet Sauvignon berries are small, spherical with
black, thick and very tough skin. This toughness
makes the grapes resistant to disease and able to
withstand autumn rains. It's a late season ripener.
We'll often be picking the Cabernet Sauvignon as
late as May that is well and truly into autumn. This
is a gamble for us in Gippsland as the winter rains
can ruin a spectacular crop, but thankfully this doesn't
happen often.
Bunches are large with average bunch weights up
around 130g. Many of the colder Australian wine regions
are pulling out their Cabernet Sauvignon vines
or grafting them over to earlier ripening varieties as
they can't consistently ripen Cabernet Sauvignon.
Unripe Cabernet Sauvignon will produce wine having
green, grassy, capsicum flavours, not the rich
ripe berry flavours we love a good Cabernet Sauvignon
for. The vines themselves are vigorous and do
best in well-drained soils. All vines do their best in
well drained soils, but Cabernet Sauvignon will not
survive in poorly drained soils. The small berries
have a high pip and skin to pulp ratio and if not
treated gently during the early winemaking process
can give very harsh and tannic wines.
Cabernet Sauvignon is often blended with other
varieties to soften it. Adding Merlot or Cabernet
Franc fills in the middle palate and gives a soft
fruit finish. Adding Shiraz gives a wonderful fullbodied
wine with lots of fruit berry flavours and
spicy pepper at the back of the palate. Sangiovese
is often added in Tuscany to produce a unique
blend and some Malbec and Petite Verdot seem to
regularly crop up as blends. The trend is turning
back towards more straight Cabernet Sauvignons.
The blends are easier to drink and quicker to mature
than straight Cabernet Sauvignon, but they
lack the complexity that a good Cabernet Sauvignon
has on its own.
And Cabernet Sauvignon loves oak. Lots of tannins
and often high alcohol contents react well to
slow wood maturation. Cabernet Sauvignon can be
aged in new oak for anywhere up to a year to produce
spectacular results. Try this with a Chardonnay
and you'll end up with lots of oak and very little
grape flavour.
The earliest recorded appearance of Cabernet Sauvignon
in Australia is in 1820. The Macarthur's at
'Camden Park' vineyard, enlarged their Camden
estate with the first commercial plantings in the
area. Varieties grown include Pineau Gris, Frontignac,
Gouais, Verdelho, Cabernet Sauvignon,
Riesling, Grenache and Mataro.
In 2001 there were 28,609 hectares of Cabernet
Sauvignon planted in Australia. By contrast the
most widely planted red grape variety in Australia
was Shiraz accounting for 33,676 hectares. If you
consider that the total area planted to red wine
grapes in Australia at that time was 90,933 hectares,
there's a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon out
there.
* Reproduced with permission from Peter Svans
|