How to Hail a Cab

Cabernet is a cooperative grape. It's not too picky about where it grows, as long as it's not too cool. It can make a well-balanced wine all by itself, but it also plays well with others as a blending grape.

In its home in Bordeaux it is traditionally blended with Cabernet Franc or Merlot, both of which ripen earlier than it does. This way if one of the grapes has a less than stellar vintage because of the weather, the other will be able to compensate.

France's Mediterranean neighbors also developed a liking for Cabernet: the Italians took to blending it with their native Sangiovese to create the new breed of so-called Super-Tuscans, while Spanish winemakers brought it together with their own local favorite, Tempranillo. In Spanish Cab-blends like the Mederaño, the Cab gets to play the heavy; Tempranillo tops it with red fruit flavors and good acidity, making it particularly good combo with food. Our new Mederano Cabernet-Tempranillo is an outstanding example of this blend.

On the other hand, California's winemakers by-and-large didn't feel they needed this insurance: the consistency of the state's weather has become a cliché, and makes for reliably ripe Cabernet. When California started marketing wines by their varietal name - favoring the grape over the place - Cabernet Sauvignon became a household word for winedrinkers.

And winemakers in Australia noticed. Shiraz was the more heavily planted red wine grape Down Under, but the Aussies were eager to tap into the Cabernet market. Thus was born the Cabernet-Shiraz blend, an entirely New World creation not based on any tradition back in Europe. Fortunately, there's some good winemaking sense behind it: the Shiraz provides richness and lots of big, dark fruit flavors, and the Cabernet provides tannins and a firm mouthfeel. Wineries in other Southern Hemisphere countries have taken to the blend as well, such as Chilcas Ranch in San Rafael, Chile.

Cabernet Sauvignon is, for many, the benchmark red grape; whether you call for a straight-ahead "Cab" or opt for a more exotic, hyphenated version, Cabernet is ready to take you where you want to go.

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