The progeny of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, it is the most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted. But because it is relatively late ripening, it needs a relatively warm and dry climate to stand a commercially interesting chance of ripening fully.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins.
It produces a more assertive wine than Merlot, with more tannin and greater ageing potential. It can have flavours of blackberries, plums and blackcurrants. Aged in oak, Cabernet Sauvignon can take on flavours of vanilla, cedar, chocolate and coffee. But because it is fairly tannic (and because of the blending precedent in Bordeaux), winemakers often blend it with other grapes - usually Merlot or (in Australia) Syrah (Shiraz).
It excels in the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils, producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature, but always blended with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and sometimes with Petit Verdot, in the world-famous classed growths such as St-Estèphe, Pauillacs, Margaux and St-Julien.
Beyond Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon does well in the Napa Valley in California, where it produces smooth, ripe wines distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra in the far south east of South Australia where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. Margaret River in Western Australia also makes great, refined, complex Cabernet and there are fine examples of Australian Cabernet all over Victoria as well as in the Hunter Valley and elsewhere, although Shiraz is much more fashionable. Cabernet /Shiraz blends are an Australian staple and can work well. In Italy, barrique-aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in excellent Tuscan wines such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese. Washington State and Chile are also making excellent Cabernets.
It goes very well with meat dishes such as beef or lamb.