Cabernet Sauvignon – the noblest of red varieties?
What makes Cabernet noble is the fact that it produces distinctive Cabernet wine wherever it is grown. Isn’t that what a grape variety should do, I hear you ask. It should but few do. Riesling is another, and it’s also called noble. Pinot Noir certainly does not, nor does Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. Some of the most expensive wines in the world are made from Cabernet, but down under is still the lucky country.
Nobility is a fluky thing: in 1997, researchers at the Uni of California at Davis did some DNA fingerprinting and discovered that the biological parents of Cabernet Sauvignon were Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, a strange union indeed. The variety is also a latecomer on the wine scene, making its first serious appearance around Bordeaux when the big estates were planted in the late 18th century.
Bordeaux, the Cradle
Bordeaux is famous for making more wines at higher prices than any other region on earth. In the Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon is king but is always blended with Merlot and usually Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot as well. On its own, Cabernet was said to make rather stern reds that were about as approachable as a disciplinarian father. In St Emilion, Cabernet Franc begins to dominate, and in Pomerol it’s Merlot that comes to the fore.
In Australia, we had barely any Cabernet Sauvignon wines until the early sixties when new plantings came into production. When made from Cabernet Sauvignon alone, the wines were often closed and austere when young, with subdued fruit and not so subdued tannin profiles. Cabernet grapes are small, have a thick skin and plenty of pulp, which gives the wines a strong deep purple colour and plenty of tannin.
Global Warming or Man-Made Folly?
Merlot is an earlier ripening variety with softer fruit and easier charm than the firm, cool Cabernet, so it made sense to blend the two especially in cool years. There haven’t been a lot of those in the new millennium, and later picking has seen much riper and more alcoholic Bordeaux reds produced in recent times. We’re talking 14.5 – 15%.
Down under, the experience has been similar. In the old days, our reds were around 12.5 – 13% alcohol, while most of today’s reds have struck a new medium around 14.5%. The only places where Cabernet Sauvignon has trouble ripening fully are really cool places in a cool year – Orange, Tasmania, Canberra. Therefore most Cabernets are no longer stern and unapproachable, yet still recognisable by their black current fruit, cool mouth feel and fine tannin finish.
Blending Down Under
We didn’t have any Merlot when Aussie wine lovers took to Cabernet in the sixties and seventies, so we used the ubiquitous Shiraz. We’re the only country in the world blending Cabernet and Shiraz, which is surprising given the success of the blend. Some winemakers blended their Cabernet with Malbec for great effect, Leasingham and Wendourie for example, but there wasn’t much of that variety.
We planted lots of Merlot in the late eighties and nineties, and Cabernet Merlot has become the more popular blend from West Australia to NSW. So why are we putting together a list of Top 10 Cabernets? Because Cabernet Sauvignon on its own can make great reds in the right hands, often with small additions of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. We’re talking less than 15% of the total blend, which doesn’t have to be declared on the label but makes a difference.
These days, Australia makes more wine than it can sell, and that includes Cabernet Sauvignon. That is true from the Riverland to Coonawarra and Margaret River. As a result, we can buy perfectly good Cabernets for $10 to $15, and great Cabernets for $15 to $25. It’s tough for wineries but great for consumers.
The Top 10
Hidden Label Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $10 at Kemenys. I know I’ve been banging on about this red for a year or more, but this is our kind of bargain: 93 points and ten dollars. We’re not talking about a cancelled export order for some obscure wine here, but about Wynns Coonawarra The Sidings Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. Check the raves from JH, Winefront and M Jukes at the link but take my word for it: this is as good as it gets for silly money. Wynns simply cannot shift all the wine they make in Coonawarra, and we’re the winners. The 2013 is not in the same class.
Hidden Label Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $13 at Kemenys. This is Franklin Tate’s Alexander’s Vineyard Cabernet under a hidden label (which saves $8) A rich, soft, seductive Cabernet with all the classic notes of cassis and blackberry wrapped in velvet. Just got better and better over the 3 days I had it open.
Hidden Label Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $14 at Kemenys. This is Moppity Lock & Key Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon under a Hidden Label. It reminds me of early Wolf Blass reds: seductive fruit, polished oak and seamless integration for early drinking yet the balance to improve for some years. Bargain Price.
Blue Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $15 at Kemenys. This winery has come along in leaps and bounds since Andrew Koerner took over the winemaking. Medium bodied, driven by dark berry fruit, the wine shows good concentration, line and length and perfect balance. A real winner at this price.
Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $17 at Jim’s Cellars or there’s the 2013 – $16 at Nicks / Vintage Direct. Very similar wines from these twin vintages. I have the feeling that 2013 may just pip 2012 in the long run. This is underrated Cabernet, a wine with more length, polish and finesse than the good but solid Shiraz from the same stable. Classic Clare Cabernet with generous blackcurrant fruit, a twist of dried herbs and a hint of pencil shavings. Great length, fine tannins on the strong finish, offers the kind of quality / price ratio we look for.
Hardys Tintara Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $18 at Kemenys. I keep telling everyone who wants to listen that good Macca Cabernet beats Shiraz every time, and so it is here: you get the flavour and the elegance (14%). A lot of ready appeal here. Trophy and 4 golds.
Juniper Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $19 at MyCellars. The wines in this range can be so slick and polished that you wish for more character. So it was here at first, but this red showed more of its charms over the next couple of days. Yes it’s smooth but the fruit is dark and dense and ripe, and it adds nice touches of Margaret River olives and dust. All restrained and perfectly balanced, of course. Gorgeous now (but let it breathe), and will improve over the next 5 -7 years. Remember, MyCellars will ship any quantity to our subscribers for free with discount code BWU20.
Lake Breeze Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $20 at MyCellars. Huon Hooke has come out in support of my contention that this is one of our great Cabernets with a rave review and a 95 point score. A touch more elegant than the robust Shiraz Cabernet form the same maker , more finesse but the same generosity of fruit. Really shows what Langhorne Creek can do.
Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 – $20 at OurCellar or $21 at Dan M’s or 1st Choice. The big guys’ websites say 2012 but the shops carry the 2013 to my knowledge. In any case, there’s not much between the two. Classy Coonawarra, more leafy and elegant, and a little less concentrated and more accessible than the Cigar below. Deceptive but stylish Cabernet. Peter Gambetta has really hit his stride of late. Read more in Yalumba – Light on the Hill and on Nick Stock’s blog.
Yalumba The Cigar Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $22 at Jim’s Cellars or $24 at Nicks / Vintage Direct. The fruit is sourced from Yalumba’s Menzies vineyard in Coonawarra. The cigar is the long, slim shape of central Coonawarra’s Terra Rossa. I liked the 2010 a lot for its combination of depth and elegance. The fruit in the 2012 is bigger, and so is the oak to keep it company. Blue fruits, dark chocolate and pencil shavings. Great concentration, depth and length here, and polished tannins finish it off neatly. Tastes like a much more expensive red. Will get even better given a few years in the cellar.
2012 Amato Vino Mantra Cabernet Sauvignon – $25 at Different Drop. Just 207 cases made by Brad Wehr from a single vineyard in the Walcliffe sub-region of Margaret River. Brad seems to live in a caravan and makes great wines in small batches with distinctive labels when he’s not out catching waves. We haven’t tried this wine but Gary Walsh at the Winefront says ‘… A smooth ride from sniff to swallow. An absolute delight to drink. Incredible value. 94 points.’
