When Cab was King

Wine has a way of entrancing the casual drinker and the professional alike into a false sense of security. Most people find a region they are enamored with, and this becomes the cornerstone of their wine knowledge and enjoyment. Many find themselves never deviating from that one region or grape for the rest of their days, which sounds dreadfully boring (there are THOUSANDS of types of vitis vinifera, why limit yourself?!). But even the most exhilarating of relationships will fade if unfostered, and I certainly felt this way about Cabernet Sauvignon for a long time. As the Sommelier at a Steakhouse, I was fully immersed in the Cabernet Sauvignon heavyweights of Napa Valley. Cab was King, and I it’s humble vassal. 

Is it true that familiarity breeds contempt?

Perhaps, but I'm more inclined to think that familiarity breeds boredom. 

Once it was no longer requisite to surround myself with Napa Valley Cabernet goliaths, I rejected the notion of opening a bottle of the stuff for several years, actively avoiding them with fervor. It wasn't until this past winter that I began to truly enjoy what Cabernets could be, not just what I was led to believe they should be. One snowy eve, we decided to pop open a bottle of 2007 Tentua Della’ Ornellaia “L’Armonia” Bolgheri Superiore, a Tuscan Cabernet-driven Bordeaux Blend treasure that I had fallen in love with at the start of my wine journey. Even after all this time, it showed fully ripened black plum, black goji berry, a twinge of balsamic, all enveloped with milk cocoa tannins and a supple, sensual finish. If you’d like to emulate this symphony, treat yourself to a bottle of the 2018 Tenuta Della’Ornellaia “La Grazia” Bolgheri Superiore and cellar it for 10+ years. You’ll thank me in a decade. This wine absolutely sung and reminded me why Cabernet Sauvignon is ubiquitous around the globe: it is unique in that it absorbs the terroir and charms of where it is grown without losing its individual identity.

At its core, Cabernet Sauvignon is deeply-coloured, highly tannic, and relatively high in acidity, with aromas ranging from blackcurrant to blackberry, but always leaning towards darker fruit notes. It has the unique ability to absorb the characteristics of whatever vessel it is aged in and put them front and center. While this can make it difficult to separate Cabernet Sauvignon from the sort of oaky toasty notes of the barrels they are often aged in, it also makes it a brilliant grape for exploring neutral ageing, as it allows the fruit notes to shine. 

It’s long-aging, with acid and tannic structure that can be enjoyed early on or develop into an unctuous delight if allowed to age. All this combined has catapulted Cabernet Sauvignon to be the most planted grape in the world, despite a recent push towards planting of indigeonous varietals worldwide. 

Cabernet Sauvignon’s birth home is France, where it is featured heavily in Bordeaux, the Languedoc, the Loire (here’s looking at you, Cabernet d’Anjou rose) .... Really, anywhere you look if it’s legally allowed, though it is certainly ubiquitous in Bordeaux. If you’d like to take a master class in Cabernet Sauvignon, look no further than the 2018 Chateau Talbot Saint Julien. Hand-harvested from a 50-hectare plot in the heart of Saint Julien, this Cabernet-dominant blend showcases black currant, mulberry, fresh tobacco, and fresh fallen leaves, with a subtle herbaceous underscoring. Chateau Talbot is Level 3 certified with Le Haute Valeur Environnementale, which means they respect biodiversity in their vineyards, and utilise environmentally friendly practices in their vineyards, and while it is notoriously difficult to farm organically in Bordeaux, but Chateau Talbot is taking every measure possible to farm as naturally as possible.

And while Cabernet can be found in almost every major wine growing region around the world from Ribera del Duero to Australia (it can even be found in the furthest reaches of Mosel, Germany, where even Riesling struggles to ripen fully, which is wild behavior). California Cabernet reigns supreme to most people and wears the heaviest crown, as it will always have Paris haunting it. The Judgment of Paris, the 1976 blind wine tasting that successfully pitted California wines against well-established and renowned Bordeaux and Burgundies, effectively smashed the notion that Californian wines simply weren't as good as their European counterparts. Thanks to the Judgment of Paris, California Cabernets are American wines, there is no separating the two. For a time though, American Cabernet became pigeonholed into the notion that they HAD to be powerhouses. If they weren't 15% abv with enough tannins to mimic a mouthful of ground cinnamon and a sugar content that would send your insulin spiking, it wasn't a successful iteration.

I for one am delighted to see a dramatic move away from that style. 

One winery leading the charge away from “steakhouse style” cabernets are Matthiasson. The two-person team of Steve and Jill Klein Matthiasson view winemaking as an extension of agriculture, and their wines reflect this approach. Their 2017 Matthiasson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is aged primarily in neutral oak, allowing the wine to lean more towards juicy cherry and cranberry notes, along with fresh garden herbs, graphite, and sawdust. Their deft hands have created a wine that is distinctly, unequivocally Napa Valley Cabernet, but is manifested with medium tannic structure and bright, plucky acidity, rendering it perfect both before and with dinner.

When you shift your focus away from your preconceived notions about a specific grape or region, you free yourself from those perceptions. But what makes Cabernet Sauvignon such a ubiquitous Noble grape is that it is simultaneously immediately recognizable and tremendously adaptable. Few other grapes can maintain their sense of identity so purely while also being a podium for whatever practices the winemaker throws at it. Cabernet Sauvignon is the Humphrey Bogart of red wine grapes: classic, world-renowned, versatile, but unmistakable as soon as you catch a glimpse. No matter how well trained they are in pantomime, neither could fool anyone into thinking they're something they are not. And I think there’s something charming about that that allows a deft winemaker to create something concurrently familiar and unique in one fell swoop. 

— Jules