Cabernet Sauvignon Flashcards
Cabernet Sauvignon budding & ripening
Cabernet Sauvignon
Late budding - late ripening
This is a late budding variety, giving it some protection from spring frosts.
It ripens late (and hence needs to be grown on warmer soils), making it vulnerable to early autumn rains.
In Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon contributes :
- pronounced violet,
blackcurrant,
black cherry and
menthol or herbaceous flavours, - medium alcohol and
- high acidity and
- high tannins
to the Bordeaux blend.
Soils where Cabernet Sauvignon gives the best fruit in Bordeaux
it produces the highest quality fruit on warm, well-drained soils, such as the gravel beds of the Médoc
Cabernet Sauvignon diseases
It is prone to
- fungal diseases, especially powdery mildew (oidium)
- and the trunk diseases, Eutypa and Esca.
Cabernet Sauvignon berry size, skin thickness (tannins)
It is a small-berried thick-skinned variety
with high tannin content, resulting in wines with high tannins.
Cabernet sauvignon and cooler seasons in Bordeaux
In cooler seasons in Bordeaux, especially in the past with a cooler climate, growers could struggle to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon fully,
resulting in wines with high acidity, unripe tannins and little fruit.
As a result, and due to Cabernet Franc and Merlot’s earlier ripening, it was and still is regularly blended with these two varieties.
The vineyard surface planted with Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux
about 22.000ha (2021)
(20,4% of total 108,000 hectares planted)