Fun Facts about Cabernet Sauvignon

Every year on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, the world celebrates International #CabernetDay. Finally, a holiday for the most popular red grape in the world! In honor of this special day, besides opening a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to celebrate, we wanted to share some fun facts about this grape variety:

• Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted wine grape in the world, about 840,000 acres. It is also the most planted grape in Napa Valley.

• The world’s most popular red wine grape, Cabernet Sauvignon is a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux, France. Cabernet Sauvignon was created and made famous in the Bordeaux wine region.

• The word “Sauvignon” is believed to derive from the French sauvage which means “wild”.

• Napa Valley became known for Cabernet when in 1976, an English wine merchant held a blind-tasting featuring French and Californian wines with France’s top wine critics. Later dubbed “The Judgement of Paris,” the Californian wines won, proving that great wine could be made outside of France! The tasting results showed that American Cabernet wines could stand toe-to-toe with the most important Bordeaux wines of the time.

Did you know? In 2016, Mira Winery marked the 40th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris at their Napa Valley Education Center and Tasting Room in Charleston, SC with a blind tasting of eight highly rated top wines from Napa Valley and Bordeaux. The wines included two previously 100 point rated wines, according to Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate, from both Napa Valley and Bordeaux. Eleven judges from across the country gathered to compare these top wines and consider the stylistic evolution of the two regions since the Paris tasting. Read more here. 

• Today, you can find cabernet sauvignon growing on every continent except Antarctica.

• Cabernet Sauvignon is loved for its significant levels of concentration and age worthiness.

• It is possible to cellar Cabernet Sauvignon wines for decades and in fact they can improve significantly in taste after extended aging. Learn what our winemaker Gustavo A. Gonzalez believes to be the most important attributes of aging here.

• Cabernet Sauvignon can reflect the desires and personality of the winemaker while still presenting familiar flavors that express the typical character of the variety.

• The rich flavor and high tannin content in Cabernet Sauvignon make it a perfect partner to rich grilled meats, peppery sauces, and dishes with savory notes.

• So why does Cabernet taste so great with steak? Researchers studying the effects of certain foods on the tongue found that the tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon act as “scrapers” to fats and proteins that collect on your tongue from the food you eat. Steak has higher levels of proteins and fats and thus need a wine with higher tannin.