A Guide to Cabernet Sauvignon

It's hardly surprising that Cabernet Sauvignon is popular in Sonoma County, as it's the most popular red varietal wine in the world, which is why we put together a guide to Cabernet Sauvignon. Intensely tannic and long-lived, Cabernet Sauvignon initially gained fame as a principal contribution to the great wines of Bordeaux, while today, comparisons to the wines of Sonoma County's neighbor to the east are just as inevitable.

Cabernet Sauvignon Key Facts

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Jordan Vineyard & Winery have just been picked and sit in a bin in a vineyard — Cabernet Sauvignon from Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Planted on some 12,000 acres of Sonoma County vineyard land, Cabernet Sauvignon is now just about tied with once rapidly ascendant Pinot Noir. Representing 20 percent of the county's total red wine grape acreage, Cabernet Sauvignon is only second to Chardonnay among all grapes, red and white. Cabernet Sauvignon, or 'Cab,' as it's nicknamed, is mainly grown in the warmest of Sonoma County's diverse growing regions.

Compared to other wine grapes, even those it is closely related to, like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon has smaller berries, and thicker skins. These properties contribute to its famously tannic structure and concentration of flavor, as well as the relative ease of growing it - at least, in a favorable Mediterranean climate like that of Sonoma County. The grape's unique parentage accounts for some of its aromatic complexity.

From Left Bank to Left Coast

A person tilts a glass of red wine at a table — Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Both the figurative and literal home of Cabernet Sauvignon is in southwestern France. DNA analysis in the 1990s determined that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from the likely random union of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc, the latter of which now plays second or third fiddle to Cabernet Sauvignon in most regions.

For centuries, Cab shared the limelight with grapes like Malbec in wines that were better known by their chateau or village name than for any specific grape variety.

Overall, Cab still isn't really the dominant grape in the Bordeaux region - that's Merlot - but it's the main player in key Left Bank wines, which is why big-dreaming nineteenth-century California winemakers often called their Cabernet-based wines 'Médoc,' just as their best sweet white wines might be fancifully termed 'Sauternes.'

Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma County

The exterior of the winery as the sun sets behind it — Rodney Strong Vineyards

Sonoma County may be famous for its old vine Zinfandel vineyards, some of them planted in the nineteenth century, but Cabernet Sauvignon followed not far behind. Budding vintners imported the grape in the 1850s, and it was certainly planted in the 1880s. The ambitious John H. Drummond won acclaim for Cabernet from his Dunfillan vineyard near Glen Ellen, which today is part of the Kunde Family Winery property.

In the 1970s, legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff consulted on Cabernet for estates such as Alexander Valley's Jordan Vineyard & Winery, and wineries like Rodney Strong Vineyards and Chateau St. Jean gained attention for their Cabernet Sauvignon. While the Paris Tasting of 1976 and the success of Robert Mondavi in Oakville shifted the spotlight on Napa Valley, icons of the industry like Beringer and Louis Martini were sourcing some of their best Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Sonoma County vineyards.

Cabernet Sauvignon Style

Bottles of wine on display in a room full of wine barrels — Alexander Valley Vineyards

From Margaux to Mount Veeder to Moon Mountain, Cabernet Sauvignon displays an ever-changing but usually recognizable suite of aromas and flavors. Some of these do not have not particularly 'fruity' analogs-cigar box, cigar wrapper, pencil lead and gravel being among the most popular. Top notes of raspberry, blackberry and blueberry are often noted; most often of all, cassis or black currant - more familiar to wine tasters from England or the Continent.

Unlike Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon is but rarely seen in rosé form, and winemakers seldom opt to skip oak barrel aging for their Cabernet.