Cabernet Sauvignon, the world’s most popular red wine grape, was born from accidental breeding between a red Cabernet Franc grape plant and a white Sauvignon Blanc grape plant in the seventeenth century. It is known for its thick, durable skin, as well as the vine’s resistance to the elements.

Fundamentally, Cabernet is a full-bodied red wine with dark fruit flavors and savory tastes from black pepper to bell pepper. Since Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in a wide range of climates and regions around the world, the flavors can be varied. Wines from the Old World (Bordeaux) taste more like the herbal/floral flavors of graphite, violets, and tobacco, but wines from New World countries are often a touch fruitier. You can expect flavors of black cherry, licorice, and black pepper wrapped up with a dash of vanilla.

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the more complex and layered wines out there with higher tannins and a savory character often described as black pepper and tobacco.

The Napa Valley has become very Cabernet Sauvignon “centric”.