Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon first made its name in Bordeaux, where it leads the great blends of the Left Bank, and it is the grape behind Napa Valley's cult estates. The Cabernets we carry span France (Bordeaux), the USA (Napa Valley, Washington), Italy (Tuscany), Chile (Aconcagua Valley, Maipo Valley), Argentina (Mendoza) and Australia (Margaret River, South Australia), from family estates to First Growths. The questions buyers ask most are answered below, and our Price List shows the full range. If you are looking for a wine we don't list, ask us.

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Your questions answered

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Is a Bordeaux similar to a Cabernet Sauvignon?

Often, if it comes from the Left Bank. Bordeaux is a region, not a grape, and red Bordeaux is usually a blend. Cabernet Sauvignon was first known there in the 17th century. On the Left Bank, in the Médoc and Graves, it leads the blend on gravel soils, with Merlot and Cabernet Franc in support, and its classified growths are among the most collected wines in the world. In the 1855 Classification, the leading estates of the Médoc, with Haut-Brion from Graves, were ranked in five growths, from First to Fifth.

Left Bank estates we carry:

• Château Pontet-Canet, Pauillac, Fifth Growth: Pioneered biodynamic farming among the classified growths, with much of the vineyard ploughed by horse and part of the wine aged in clay amphorae; Robert Parker gave 100 points to the 2009 and the 2010.
• Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac, Fifth Growth: About three quarters Cabernet Sauvignon, from pebbly gravel rises on the Grand-Puy plateau; in China the Lacoste name has earned it the nickname of the crocodile wine.
• Château Beychevelle, Saint-Julien, Fourth Growth: Its name comes from "baisse voile", as ships on the Gironde lowered their sails in salute to its owners; the ship on its label is admired in Asia as a dragon boat.
• Château Léoville Poyferré, Saint-Julien, Second Growth: One of three estates formed from the great Léoville vineyard, more than 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and lush and ripe in style; Robert Parker gave the 2009 100 points.
• Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Saint-Julien, Second Growth: Its name means beautiful pebbles, and in 1884 its owner, his manager and the scientist Alexis Millardet developed Bordeaux mixture, the copper treatment against downy mildew still used in vineyards worldwide.
• Château Rauzan-Ségla, Margaux, Second Growth: Thomas Jefferson ordered ten cases after visiting Bordeaux in 1787 and placed it at the top of the Second Growths; it is owned by the Wertheimer family, owners of Chanel.
• Château Cos d'Estournel, Saint-Estèphe, Second Growth: Faces Château Lafite across a stream, with Cabernet on deep gravel and Merlot on clay; its founder shipped his wine to India, and the pagodas of its cellars are known the world over.
• Château La Mission Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Classified Growth of Graves: Across the road from Haut-Brion and long its great rival, now under the same owners, with 100 points from Robert Parker seven times; its name recalls the Lazarist priests who developed the vineyard from 1682.

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Is Cabernet Sauvignon sweet or dry?

Dry. Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine, typically fermented until almost no sugar remains, though its ripe fruit can suggest sweetness. The grape is small and thick skinned, which gives firm tannins and flavours of blackcurrant, turning to cedar and cigar box with age. It is a natural cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, as DNA research in California showed in 1997, and by 2015 it was the second most planted grape variety in the world.

A selection we carry from beyond Bordeaux and Napa:

• Cloudburst, Australia (Margaret River): Will Berliner, a New Yorker with an Australian wife, arrived with no plan to make wine; his small biodynamic vineyard near the Indian Ocean is now one of Australia's most sought after names.
• Errázuriz, Chile (Aconcagua Valley): Founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errázuriz, whose name the flagship carries; at the Berlin Tasting of 2004, the family's Chilean reds were ranked ahead of Château Lafite and Château Margaux.
• Bodega Catena Zapata, Argentina (Mendoza): Nicolás Catena Zapata, Decanter's Man of the Year in 2009, pioneered high altitude vineyards, and his flagship blends Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec from the family's finest high sites.
• Quilceda Creek, USA (Washington): Washington's most celebrated Cabernet, with five perfect scores from the Wine Advocate, from family vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills and on Red Mountain.
• Tenuta San Guido and Antinori, Italy (Tuscany): Sassicaia started the Super Tuscan movement. Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet on the Bolgheri coast in the 1940s, his nephew Piero Antinori helped persuade him to sell it from the 1968 vintage, and the 1985 was the first Italian wine given 100 points by Robert Parker. Antinori's Solaia, first made in 1978, became the first Italian wine named Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year.

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Which is better, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon?

Neither: They are different, and in Bordeaux they are usually blended. Cabernet Sauvignon ripens late and gives more tannin and structure; Merlot ripens earlier and gives softer, rounder, fruit rich wine. On Bordeaux's Right Bank, in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, where clay is common, Merlot leads. The estates below show Merlot at its finest, and exceptions on both banks.

A selection we carry:

• Château Palmer, Margaux, Third Growth: The Médoc's Merlot exception: Merlot equal to the Cabernet gives Palmer its signature silk and perfume, and Robert Parker gave the 1961 100 points.
• Château Figeac, Saint-Émilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé A: The Right Bank's Cabernet exception: About two thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc on gravel ridges; in 1832 it sold part of its land to form its neighbour, Château Cheval Blanc.
• Château Cheval Blanc, Saint-Émilion: Led by Cabernet Franc, unusual in Bordeaux, and its 1947 is considered by many the greatest Bordeaux ever made; it withdrew from the Saint-Émilion classification in 2021.
• Pétrus, Pomerol: Planted entirely to Merlot on a rare outcrop of blue clay; Pomerol has never been classified, yet Pétrus stands alongside the First Growths in price and prestige, with 100 points from Robert Parker ten times.
• Château La Fleur-Pétrus, Pomerol: The first estate Jean-Pierre Moueix bought, in the early 1950s, just across a narrow road from Pétrus; 91% Merlot, with a little Petit Verdot, a rarity in Pomerol.

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Is Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz better?

It depends on taste. Cabernet Sauvignon is firmer and more structured, with blackcurrant fruit and more tannin; Shiraz is generous and fruity, with softer tannins, ripe blackberry and plum, and a note of black pepper. Shiraz and Syrah are two names for the same grape: Shiraz in Australia, where it has become an emblem of the country's wine, and Syrah in France's Rhône Valley, where Hermitage is the classic reference.

Shiraz and Syrah we carry:

• Kaesler, Australia (Barossa): Its vineyards were first planted by Silesian pioneers in the 1840s, and its Old Bastard Shiraz, one of the Barossa's cult wines, comes from vines planted in 1893.
• Mollydooker, Australia (McLaren Vale): Australian slang for left handed, a nod to its founders, Sarah and Sparky Marquis; Velvet Glove is one of Australia's most coveted Shirazes, and the winery recommends a vigorous shake of the opened bottle to release the protective nitrogen added at bottling.
• Jim Barry, Australia (Clare Valley): Jim Barry was among the first qualified winemakers in the Clare Valley; The Armagh, from Shiraz planted in 1968, is one of Australia's great Shirazes, and the family planted Australia's first Assyrtiko.
• Clarendon Hills, Australia (McLaren Vale): Founded by Roman Bratasiuk in 1990 on very old vines; its Astralis, from Syrah planted in 1920, is one of Australia's most collected reds.
• Chris Ringland, Australia (Barossa): Long a winemaker at Rockford, he began making his own Shiraz in 1989, and glowing reviews from Robert Parker made it a pillar of the Barossa's cult wine era; his vines grow on their own roots without irrigation.
• Mathilde et Yves Gangloff, France (Côte-Rôtie): Yves Gangloff, an Alsatian who started out as a vineyard worker, released his first Côte-Rôtie with his wife Mathilde in 1989; the reds are made with whole clusters and native yeasts, and their daughter Elsa joined in 2011.
• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, France (Hermitage): Its Hermitage, blended from parcels across the hill, is regarded as one of the greatest wines of France, and the rare Cuvée Cathelin, named after the artist who drew its label, is made only in the finest years.
• M. Chapoutier, France (Hermitage): Since 1996 every label has carried Braille, in tribute to a blind former owner of its vines who created an early form of Braille shorthand; its single vineyard Ermitage wines have earned more than 40 perfect scores from Robert Parker.
• Penfolds, Australia (South Australia): Australia's most famous winery and the home of Grange; St Henri, a Shiraz matured in large old vats rather than new oak, is Grange's elegant counterpart, and Quantum Bin 98 crosses the Pacific, blending Napa Valley and Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon with Barossa Shiraz.

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What is a high end Cabernet Sauvignon?

One from a great site, made to age. In Napa Valley many of the finest come from single vineyards, on the benchlands of Oakville and Rutherford or high in the mountains, and the best can age for decades.

Napa Cabernets we carry:

• Spottswoode, St. Helena: An estate founded in 1882, owned by the Novak family since 1972 and run today by the sisters Beth and Lindy Novak; its Cabernet has a perfect 100 from the Wine Advocate.
• Heitz Cellar, Oakville: Founded in 1961 by Joe Heitz; mature bottles of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet are prized by collectors for their minty character, and the Lawrence family has owned the winery since 2018.
• Dunn Vineyards, Howell Mountain: Randy Dunn made wine at Caymus in its early glory years before founding his own estate in 1979; the family still farms its 42 acres at 1,800 to 2,100 feet, organically since 2016.
• Cakebread Cellars, Rutherford: Jack Cakebread studied photography with Ansel Adams before he and his wife Dolores bought a Rutherford ranch in 1972; Dancing Bear Ranch, high on Howell Mountain, gives their most structured Cabernet.
• Cliff Lede, Stags Leap District: The Canadian founder, a rock music lover, named his vineyard blocks after classic songs, and his hillside Poetry Cabernet scored 99+ from the Wine Advocate.
• Beringer Vineyards and TOR, St. Helena and Oakville: Beringer is California's oldest continually operating winery, with its first harvest in 1876, and its Private Reserve Cabernet is among Napa's great long lived wines. Tor Kenward spent more than two decades there before founding TOR in 2001, for single vineyard Cabernets from Beckstoffer To Kalon and Vine Hill Ranch.
• Realm Cellars, Stags Leap District: A 100 point Cabernet from the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane vineyard, and three estates of its own since 2015: Moonracer in the Stags Leap District, Farella in cool Coombsville and Houyi on Pritchard Hill.

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Is Cabernet Sauvignon an expensive wine?

It need not be: Cabernet is made at every price. But it is also the grape behind many of the world's most expensive red wines, from Bordeaux's First Growths to Napa's cult estates. A bottle of Screaming Eagle sells for thousands of dollars.

A selection we carry:

• Dominus Estate, USA (Napa Valley): From the Napanook vineyard in Yountville, where George Yount planted some of Napa's earliest vines in 1838; Christian Moueix first made it in 1983, bringing the approach of Pomerol, and its winery is clad in local basalt stones held in wire cages.
• Screaming Eagle, USA (Napa Valley): California's most famous cult Cabernet, from a vineyard of more than 50 parcels farmed by David Abreu's team; Jean Phillips made the first vintage from about an acre of vines, and Stan Kroenke has owned it since 2006.
• Château Mouton Rothschild, France (Pauillac), First Growth: The only estate ever promoted in the 1855 Classification, raised to First Growth in 1973; since 1945 each label has been painted by a different artist, among them Chagall, Miró, Picasso, Warhol and Hockney.
• Opus One, USA (Napa Valley), and Viña Almaviva, Chile (Maipo Valley): Mouton's New World partnerships: Opus One, made with Robert Mondavi since the 1979 vintage, comes from Oakville vines including To Kalon, and Almaviva, founded with Concha y Toro in 1997, comes from Puente Alto at the foot of the Andes, under a label inspired by the ceremonial drum of the Mapuche people.
• Château Latour, France (Pauillac), First Growth: Known for power and longevity, with 100 points from Robert Parker six times; the grand vin comes only from the Enclos, a 47 hectare block around the tower.
• Eisele Vineyard and Accendo Cellars, USA (Napa Valley): Bart and Daphne Araujo made Eisele Vineyard, first planted in the 1880s, a cult estate as Araujo Estate from 1990, sold it in 2013 to the Pinault family of Château Latour, and then founded Accendo, which has earned 100 points from Vinous.
• Château Lafite Rothschild, France (Pauillac), First Growth: Heads the list of First Growths of 1855 and is the largest of them, at 112 hectares; its grand vin, typically 80% to 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, comes only from vines over 20 years old.
• Château Margaux, France (Margaux), First Growth: The benchmark of its appellation, known for perfume, silk and longevity, with 100 points from Robert Parker for the 1900, 1990 and 1996; the estate also makes Pavillon Blanc, a rare white wine of the Médoc.

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What is the smoothest Cabernet Sauvignon?

One with a share of Merlot to round it out, or time in bottle: Cabernet's firm tannins soften with age, in Bordeaux often after about ten years. Mature bottles and Bordeaux style blends are the place to start. More on mature Napa Cabernet is on our Rare and Collectible page.

A selection we carry from Napa Valley:

• Silver Oak, Oakville: Ages its Cabernet only in American oak, from its own cooperage in Missouri, and releases it when ready to drink; the water tower on its label is one of the best known images in California wine.
• Pahlmeyer, Vaca Mountains: Founded in 1986 by Jayson Pahlmeyer, a San Francisco lawyer turned vintner, with Helen Turley making its wines in the 1990s; its Proprietary Red is a Bordeaux style blend from its mountain vineyards, and the Gallo family has owned it since 2019.
• PlumpJack, Oakville: Backed by Gordon Getty and Gavin Newsom, later Governor of California, and named after Getty's opera about Shakespeare's Falstaff; in 1997 it became the first to bottle a luxury Napa Cabernet under screw cap.
• Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville: The first major new winery in Napa since Prohibition, founded in 1966; Robert Mondavi coined the name Fumé Blanc, and his Reserve Cabernet comes from the To Kalon vineyard.
• Joseph Phelps, St. Helena: Insignia, first released in 1974, was the first proprietary Bordeaux style blend in California and remains one of Napa's most collected wines; LVMH bought the winery in 2022.