cabernet sauvignon

Also known as: Petit-Cabernet (historically Bordeaux), Bouchet (Saint-Émilion)

Cabernet Sauvignon is the backbone. The variety provides structure, tannin, ageing potential – and in Bordeaux is almost never vinified as a single varietal, but rather as a framework in the blend. On its own, Cabernet can seem austere, almost closed. But it’s precisely this restraint that makes it interesting when someone has patience.

In the Right Bank Bordeaux, Château Falfas shows biodynamic Cabernet without pomp. Manincor in South Tyrol proves that the variety also works in the Alps. And Habla in Extremadura makes something entirely distinctive from it – warm, but never arbitrary.