*Northwest Red - Cabernet Sauvignon

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Among the best red wines produced in the Northwest is Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the most dependable candidate for aging, more often improving into a truly great wine than any other single varietal. It is the most widely planted and significant among the five dominant varieties in the Medoc district of France's Bordeaux region. Recent genetic studies at U.C. Davis have determined that Cabernet Sauvignon is actually the hybrid offspring of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet sauvignon berries are small, spherical with black, thick and very tough skin. This toughness makes the grapes fairly resistant to disease and spoilage and able to withstand some autumn rains with little damage. It is a mid to late season ripener. These growth characteristics, along with its flavor appeal have made Cabernet Sauvignon one of the most popular red wine varieties worldwide.

Typically, Cabernet Sauvignon wines smell like currants with a degree of bell pepper or weediness, depending somewhat upon climate, viticulture and vinification techniques. Climates and vintages that are either too cool or too warm, richer soils, too little sun exposure, earlier harvesting and extended maceration are factors that may lead to more vegetative, less fruity character in the resulting wine. In the mouth, Cabernet can have a richness and liveliness, yet usually finishes with firm astringency. With age, it can take on nuances of cedar, violets, leather, or cigar box and may soften its tannic edge considerably.

Some of the aroma and flavor descriptors most typically found in Cabernet Sauvignon are:

Cabernet Sauvignon began to emerge as America's most popular varietal red wine in the mid-60s. By the late 1980s, it had replaced "burgundy" as a consumer's generic term for red wine (as had Chardonnay replacing "chablis" as the equivalent for generic white wine). This popularity was based partly on the flavor appeal of the grape and partly on its status or snob-appeal as a "collector's" wine. Indeed Cabernet Sauvignon is the wine most subject to inflationary climb, as fans, collectors, and the Nouveau Riche bid the supply ever upward.

Washington Cabernet Sauvignon is grown on 6,300 acres of Washington Statevineyard lands (2,550 hectares). The king of the red grapes grows magnificently in Washington. The heady, fruity character of this complex grape develops slowly. In its youth, the wine appears more subtle and restrained than Washington Merlots. Its character can emerge as black currants, cherry, berry, chocolate, leather, mint, herbs, bell pepper or any combination of these. This wine ages beautifully. Frequently, several years of bottle aging are needed for the wine to show its best. Many of the state's vintners employ traditional blending practices, adding Merlot or Cabernet Franc to the wine.

Washington Cabernet Sauvignon -- worthy of Bordeaux

Do you know who your ancestors are? The king of red wines does, thanks to a geneticist at the University of California at Davis.

Dr. Carol Meredith reported last year that DNA analysis has shown that cabernet sauvignon came from a cross of two other noble European varietals, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc.

Despite the similarity of the grapes' names, cabernet sauvignon's genetic link to the sauvignon blanc grape, the source of a light white wine, is a surprise. The analysis rules out any other possible ancestors except sauvignon blanc and the red cabernet franc, which has long been considered a close relation and from which cabernet sauvignon's name originates.

Researchers speculate the two vines grew near each other in France's Bordeaux region in the 17th century and a chance cross-pollination led to the new character. Cabernet sauvignon is the world's second-most-widely planted wine grape.

Bordeaux is the Benchmark

The example held up of great cabernets are the clarets of the Medoc region of Bordeaux, and producers worldwide attempt to reach the quality of this benchmark. California and Washington winemakers believe they not only have reached the French benchmark, but also have surpassed it with consistency. In Washington especially, growers regularly get a full, ripe crop, something Bordeaux and California growers can't.

Vinyardists and winemakers equally are impressed with cabernet's ability to adapt to different soils and climates. The vine's hardiness makes it more resistant to harsh winter conditions than merlot, as Washington's Columbia Valley discovered in 1996, when a devastating freeze nearly wiped out many merlot vineyards.

Cabernet responds well to oak barrel aging. The vanilla flavors in new wood soothe some of the natural harshness of the young wine from tannin, the substance in young red wine that overwhelms the drinker's mouth and can obscure natural fruit flavors. Tannin comes from the pips and skins of the grapes, and cabernet sauvignon has a particular abundance of that.

What many cabernet producers have learned from Bordeaux is it's much better off blended with at least a small proportion of one or two other grapes. Left to its own devices, it too often comes out hard and brutal on the palate. But carefully mixed with merlot and/or cabernet franc, it softens a bit and is more pleasing without lessening its characteristic greatness.

In warm climates, one finds not only the classic aroma and taste of black currants, but also black plums. There often are notes of fresh mint or even eucalyptus, especially in parts of Australia and Chile. Cooler climates can create an aroma of bitterness, often resembling chopped green pepper. Oak can emphasize a mineral quality in the wine, likened in Bordeaux to the smell of cigar boxes, cedar wood or - most recognizably - pencil shavings.

With several years in the bottle, cabernet can take on aromas such as game, plum tomatoes, warm leather, dark chocolate, even soft Indian spices like cardamom, and the primary fruit begins to taste more like preserved fruit.

New World Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet was introduced to California in the 19th century from Bordeaux. It took readily to the fertile soils and had a good reputation among American wine drinkers before the end of the century. The best came from Napa, where the late, hot summers resulted in heavily textured wines capable of providing high alcoholic content to the unsuspecting drinker.

In many American consumers' minds, California cabernets are the benchmark. The predominant style of California's cabernet, even as recently as the 1970s, has been highly tannic, mostly black wines that often took a decade or two to become drinkable.

Most consumers did not wish to drink wine that tastes like that, and producers realized they needed to change the style to suit the demand. Some of the resulting wines, notably those from the cooler areas, have more than a touch of the familiar bell pepper/asparagus/bean vegetal quality the grape is prone to when its juice has not had sufficient ripening time. The tendency is to compensate for less-than-generous fruit flavors by applying fairly heavy oak maturation.

But California also has turned out some wonderfully sleek, opulently fruit-filled cabernets of world-class status, many of them blended with other Bordeaux varieties.

Washington State Cabernet

In the Pacific Northwest, winemakers are learning how to produce great cabernets, and Washington has come up with some fine examples, including those from Tefft Cellars, Quilceda Creek Vintners, Gordon Brothers Cellars, Hedges Cellars, Andrew Will and Leonetti Cellar. Oregon has had far better success producing the cool-ripening pinot noir than the sun-seeking cabernet.

Winemaker Joel Tefft believes that each year, Yakima Valley growers and winemakers learn more about the cabernet grape and improve their abilities to grow, care for and produce better wines from it. "Cabernet is a very popular wine, as is its white counterpart chardonnay. It's probably more popular with consumers and winemakers alike, so winemakers are taking great pains to improve methods and, therefore, their wines."

Tom Hedges has a theory on wines: "If they're not 'big' in the Old Country, they won't be 'big' in the New." He goes on to explain that the most revered red wine in France is the so-called king of red wines, cabernet sauvignon. It has that reputation because of the hardiness of the vine and its ability to provide age-worthy wines. "Most of the highly renowned wines of the Medoc region of France are cab-based."

He believes that in the Yakima Valley, cab will not replace merlot in the near future but will be used to blend with merlot and syrah.

Washington has far more merlot planted than cab. Hedges believes that, as consumers discover Washington can grow and produce excellent cabs, the state wineries will not have to take merlot as the default position to California and Washington cabs will be propelled to prominence.

Hedges concludes that cab never goes out of vogue. Cabernets are revered as long-lasting collectibles. The French have a history of hundreds of years of winemaking, which demonstrates that cab-based wines are age-worthy, some lasting to 100 years. He believes that as winemakers prove the durability and age-worthiness of Washington cabernets and as consumers discover Washington cabernets are as good as if not better than those of the rest of the world, cabernet will come to prominence in Washington.

Jeff Gordon of Gordon Brothers Cellars in Pasco, however, believes the Washington merlot era is not over.

"Our merlot wines still remain popular with consumers. Neither cabernet sauvignon nor syrah is a threat to merlot's popularity in Washington. So far, Washington producers have done a good job of producing great cabernets, on a par with the best in the world. For example, Alex Golitzin at Quilceda Creek and Gary Figgins at Leonetti.

"We can compete with the best," Gordon continued. "Grape growing and winemaking is a never-ending learning process because of all the variables from year to year. Our history proves we can compete."

Cabernet consumers typically are not novice wine drinkers. By the time consumers get to the knowledgeable cabernet level, they're pretty sophisticated, not intimidated, not easily fooled. They know what they like, and they like Washington cabernets. But they also are looking for the new and different, so nice wines like syrah and sangiovese will draw some attention. Gordon said Washington's climate is similar to the Rhone's, so syrah is a logical choice for growers and winemakers to deal with. But cabernet is the king of red wines.

"For any region to become world renowned, it has to do cabernets well," Gordon said. "Cabs can be, and are, successful here."

Golitzen, of venerable Quilceda Creek Vintners, says Eastern Washington provides the best cabernet grapes in the world. "They are able to ripen every year, where other major producers like California and Bordeaux cannot. Washington growers are able to wait for this late-ripening variety and are almost always assured of a good crop.

As the years pass, the vines get older, the growers and winemakers get smarter and the wines continue to improve. Growers and winemakers continue to experiment to improve the product."

Golitzin believes Washington cabernet and cabernet-based wines are better than merlot-based wines because the fruit aroma and taste are more intense and the quality is better. None of the people in his tasting group drinks merlot on a regular basis, but all of them drink cabernet "because it offers more excitement to the palate. It's the best wine around," he said.

Quilceda Creek makes wines that are about 85 percent cab, blended with merlot and cab franc. He believes Washington cabernet and cab-based wines are better than California's because California's cabernets are too heavy in tannin and alcohol and too light on fruit. Golitzen also believes Washington's future needs to include a strong move to cabernet and cabernet-based wines.

"New cabernet vineyards are being planted, and we have some that are less than 10 years old. These need more maturity; they don't yet produce the best wines but have the potential for excellence."