Cabernet King of Reds

Cabernet is the underlying grape theme at this year Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, and I'm betting many attendees have been get-ting some firsthand experience with the structure and the power of this red.

The physical nature of cabernet tends to be big, angular and tannic in youth and, while it mellows with age, even the finest Cabernet Sauvignon seldom melts in your mouth the way Merlot or Pinot Noir eventually will.

Cabernet grape bunches grow best in well-drained loam or gravelly loam soils on hillsides. The tough skin variety grows in mostly loose clusters with large pips and has a relatively high skin to juice ratio. This results in wines high in tannin and colour.

On the minus side, it is a late ripener that requires added warmth and growing time to develop fully-ripe tannins and fruit flavours. Yet, if subjected to too much heat, Cabernet can become overripe, displaying less agreeable jammy, stewed fruit and prune characters. But when it perfectly ripens, Caber-net reaches a level of harmony and balance that makes it a leg-end among red wine grapes.

The best Cabernet has abundant but soft tannins with concentration and flavour complexity. Winemakers strive to achieve blackberry, cassis, black cherry and jam fruit flavours with black pepper and spice characters. Often, there is a light overlay of subdued herbal qualities like ripe olives and mint; not the undesirable green bell pepper, asparagus, green bean components often found in a less ripe Cabernet. Oak barrels add extra spice, clove, vanillin and toasted flavours. When fully aged, Cabernet develops sublime bottle bouquets of cedar, tobacco, violets, spices, soya, blackberry, mint and licorice.

Despite its backward youth, it almost always gains a measure of complexity and elegance most other wines simply cannot match with age. To wit, there are examples still drinking well from the last century.

Cabernet Sauvignon established its fame in the Bordeaux region of France, primarily in and about the Médoc and more specifically on the left bank in the communes of St. Estephe, St. Julien and Pauillac. Think Latour, Mouton, Lafite, Las Cases, Montrose and many more. The grape has been cultivated for centuries in Bordeaux, although its origins have only recently been discovered to have arisen spontaneously between a field cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc sometime before the 17th century.

But as Bordeaux prices have become insane, the Bordelais have allowed the rest of the world into the Cabernet game and places like California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Chile's Maipo, Maule and Col-chagua Valleys, Washington's Columbia Valley and Western Australia have all joined the race.

You will love the price/value ratio of the $20 Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2009, not to mention its black olive, peppery, cassis jam and spicy, vanilla aromas. The palate is dry and smooth with more cassis, herbal, peppery, black olive, meaty, tobacco flavours with some gritty tannin on the finish. A solid fruit style that will improve in the bottle over the next year or two.

Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is all about Apalta Valley with its fine fruit concentration. Look for a rich savoury, peppery, spicy, bay leaf and menthol nose with bits of black olive, cassis and smoky, coffee aromas and rich cassis jam, blackberry, savoury flavours flecked with smoky black olives and dried bay leaf. Grilled meats, anyone?

Washington's Columbia valley is home to the Château Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells Vine-yard 2009. Look for menthol, cassis, black berry, tobacco, black olive, cedar and vanilla aromas with a touch of saddle leather. The attack is dry and supple. The palate is juicy with light tannins and more black berry, mocha, cedar, savoury, meaty licorice flavours. Good fruit and suppleness with a warm finish. Solid value from just south of the border.

The latest Signorello Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, from Napa Valley contains 12 per cent Merlot and eight per cent Cabernet Franc. Made to exacting French standards, it still offers a Napa signature dark colour and a warm inviting nose of blueberries and mocha notes. The '07 is slightly more open and evolved than the normal Signorello style with black fruit flavours, more mocha vanilla and pencil lead, but not to worry, it still practises enough restraint to allow one to finish the bottle.

The Kendall-Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve 2008 is a blend of Napa and Sonoma fruit with a spicy, earthy, peppery, blackberry nose laced with licorice, coffee, curry and nut-meg aromas. The attack is typically KJ, ripe and supple but with full tannins and plenty of smoky, peppery, meaty, black-berry barnyard, black olive flavours with bits of vanilla and cedar. Good concentration and intensity but the finish is warm. Cellar this for three to five years and then serve with your favourite steak.

Bright cassis and spicy liquorice, black olive, vanilla, barn-yard, blackberry and tobacco aromas mark the nose of the Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Dry, full, juicy, round palate with some youthful, grainy tannin. Tobacco, peppery, cassis, black cherry, vanilla, light coffee, tapenade and leather flavours. Good concentration and intensity with lots of fruit and some aging ability. Drink now or over the next two to four years.

Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2009, Maipú, Mendoza, Argentina

Price: $20

UPC: 718742000225

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Dry, smooth palate with cassis, herbal, peppery, black olive, tobacco notes.

Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Apalta Valley, Valle del Colchagua, Chile

Price: $25

UPC: 715126000116

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Fine fruit concentration in what is a big Cabernet. Best with grilled meats.

Château Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon Indian Wells Vineyard 2009, Columbia Valley, Washington, United States

Price: $30

UPC: 088586001864

Score: 89/100

Remarks: Solid value in Cabernet from just south of the border.

Signorello Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley, California, United States

Price: $70

UPC: 00752183057769

Score: 91/100

Remarks: Black fruit flavours mixed with mocha, vanilla and pencil.

Kendall-Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve 2008, Napa/ Sonoma County, California, United States

Price: $55

UPC: 081584013211

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Typically KJ, ripe and supple but with blackberry barnyard, black olive flavours.

Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Napa Valley, California, United States

Price: $40

UPC: 81761109126

Score: 90/100

Remarks: Fine concentration and intensity with lots of fruit and some aging ability

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Cabernet+king+hillside/6246372/story.html#ixzz1p43bAzRk