Celebrating BC Cabernet Sauvignon
The most planted wine grape in the world is a household name even for those who don’t drink wine (often). All historically warmer-climate wine producing nations have invested heavily in this grape, but even the cooler ones are beginning to take an interest as temperatures increase at higher latitudes.
Apparently the world still just can’t get enough. France, Chile, and California produce the highest volumes. But although it is made and consumed in colossal quantities, it’s not easy to get right. We’ll get into that shortly. Commonly referred to by an abbreviated name, we celebrate this grape on August 30 - International Cabernet Sauvignon Day!
Cab Sav is every bar and restaurant’s workhorse. For anyone who just wants a big full red without staring glassy eyed at an intimidating wine list or trying to decipher labels behind the bar, Cab Sav it is - the rest is irrelevant. It’s a popular one in BC too, with 973 acres planted, putting it in 3rd place for red wine grapes in the province. The vast majority of these acres are in Oliver and Osoyoos.
Why is Cab Sav mostly grown in the south Okanagan, why do some wines fall short, and how is this all connected? It comes down to the matter of ripeness. Chile and California have no problem achieving unmatched fruit development, while Bordeaux can struggle (hence the tradition of blending). Cabernet requires tremendous amounts of heat energy over its growing season in order to fully ripen. That’s different from saying it likes very hot weather. It actually does not perform well in very hot sites, where grapes like Grenache and Mourvèdre do. This is what is meant when we say Cab Sav is a late ripening variety. It does well in warmer regions and moderate climates with warming influences such as vineyard aspect, slope, lake effect, or stony/gravely soils. If vineyard temperatures get too hot for extended periods, the fruit flavours can become overly jammy and stewed so producers - here in BC too - manage the canopy carefully to hit the ripening bullseye. Sunburn is a potential threat in areas with intense and prolonged sun exposure but without cooling influences such as altitude or ocean breezes. Grapes affected by sunburn can be unsuitable for wine production.
Having two herbaceous parents like Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc (a natural crossing that occurred only a few hundred years ago) means that this celebrated variety has a bit of a green streak - but from its lofted throne at the peak of Mount Wine, it couldn’t care less. It’s true if not fully ripened, vegetal notes are more prominent in Cab Sav, reminiscent of kitchen scraps. It’s the grapes’ thick skins that require complete ripening in order to avoid overly herbaceous and capsicum notes. When warmth is adequate throughout a lengthy season, the wines have more sophisticated ‘green’ aromas of mint, peppercorn, eucalyptus, lavender, sage, or bay leaf. On the fruit spectrum, Cabernet is known for having intense black fruit character like black currant, blackberry, and dark plum. A whiff of graphite or pencil lead is another tell that you’ve got Cab Sav in the glass. One thing I love about this wine is how the combination of aromas - black cherry, dark chocolate, whipped cream - can reproduce a delicious (and low calorie!) Black Forest cake.
Light- to medium-bodied wines are the norm, although as I mentioned, some are produced in a fuller, more robust style. Pinot Noir’s delicate nature generally precludes maturation in a large proportion of new oak barrels. Rather, producers will often use old oak, perhaps a small proportion of new barrels, or a combination of oak and stainless steel vessels. This approach preserves the fruit flavours and aromas. If given a few years of bottle age, wines can develop savoury complexity with flavours of earth, wet leaves, and mushroom, while the primary fruit notes progress towards dried or stewed berries.
So as I was saying, we need to nail the ripening sweet spot with Cabernet Sauvignon. This is most reliably achieved in our warmer viticultural areas such as Oliver, Osoyoos, and the Similkameen. After the fruit is grown and harvested to the winemaker’s standards, the next important considerations are the extraction and the oak program. Will pump overs or punch downs be used to enrich the wine with colour and tannins? How long should the wine be matured in oak? What kind of oak, and what percentage should be new? All these decisions have an impact on the final product (the taste, texture, freshness, longevity, and the price). Barrel aging not only adds complex flavours of vanilla, cocoa, baking spices, and smoke, but also provides the trace level of oxidation necessary to soften the aggressive tannins Cabernet often brings.
Speaking of tannins, I suppose that’s one aspect that can turn people off of this variety, and send them running into the tender embrace of Pinot Noir. Like I was saying with the herbaceous character like green pepper that can be too forward in the wine when the grapes are under ripe, the same applies to tannin. When under ripe they are astringent and harsh, but fully ripe they are softer, finer, and smoother. Young Cabernet can benefit from decanting, using an aerator, or even just lots of swirling in the glass. You’ll notice the tannins relax in real time.
Classic food pairings with Cabernet Sauvignon almost always include meat. The bold structure can support fatty, earthy dishes and the tannins need some protein to bind to other than the inside of your mouth. Grilled steaks, tenderloin, spiced lamb, roast beef, pot roast, or stew/goulash pair well, as long as there is ample salt in the dish and concentrated fruit flavours in the wine. Without the latter, the astringency of the tannins will be exaggerated and likely unpleasant. Unless you’re a wine sadist, in which case, you do you.
Wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon in BC can either be single-varietal or blended. Blending can bring more complexity to a wine by adding other flavours and textures from, for example, plush Merlot (as in Bordeaux) or, as is sometimes the case in BC, meaty, peppery Syrah. It also allows winemakers to adjust proportions of the blend components depending on how well the weather during that vintage allowed the grapes to fare. The wines featured in this article are single-varietal but may still include a small percentage of other grapes.
Free Form 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
Fruit from Osoyoos (Sekhon Family Vineyard) is destemmed and goes into open-top fermenters, where native yeasts begin their work spontaneously. Twice daily punch downs increase extraction, and after pressing, the wine is aged 11 months in concrete tank and foudre, bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is completely unlike your typical Cab Sav. On the nose lots of bright red cherries, plums, and currants, dried cranberries, and some vegetal notes. Very fresh at just 12% abv. Acid, tannin, and body are all on the lighter side for this variety - a lean but juicy and approachable expression. Treat like a Pinot Noir - duck, sockeye, dumplings, charcuterie.
Kismet 2020 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Gold, All Canadian Wine Championships; Gold, National Wine Awards of Canada)
Unfortunately these 15-year old vines on the Osoyoos East Bench did not survive the cold snap. Fermented in stainless, followed by 36 months in French and American oak. A deep, dense purple in the glass, with stained tears telling of the ripeness of 2020. This is consistent with intense, varietal fruit concentration on the nose, with ripe black currant, dark cherry, stewed plum, currant leaf, and brawny cocoa, earth, buttered toast, vanilla, and nutmeg. The oak influence is strong but justified. Acidity and tannins are characteristically high, and despite elevated alcohol threatening to overshadow, the fruit intensity and structure scream south Okanagan Cab Sav. Showy and built for longevity.
Da Silva 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon
A single-vineyard Cab Sav from Oliver’s Outwash Vineyard, a gravelly loam site. After fermentation in open-top vessels, the wine was aged 20 months in 50% French and 50% American oak - a standard barrel program for Richard Da Silva. The medium ruby colour and sprightly 13.7% abv mimic Bordeaux. There’s no detectable smoke taint, so don’t discount all 2021s. Aromas of lavender, earth, caramel, and buttery baking spices melt into a core of plums, blackberry, black currant, and dark cherry. Tannins are firm and friendly; acidity transects a long, sultry finish. Welcome to the dark side.
Blasted Church 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon
94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot, the Cab Sav comes off west Osoyoos, Oliver East Bench, and Skaha Bench. The Petit Verdot comes from the west side of Osoyoos. After destemming without crushing, grapes were cold soaked for 5 days and fermented in stainless tanks. Free run wine was sent to barrel (French oak, 30% new) where it matured for 12 months before racking to blending tanks. The final blend was barrel aged a further 6 months before bottling. Despite a challenging vintage with the heat dome and smoke galore, this is well executed. Deep ruby in colour, it’s also deeply terrestrial and the fruit is hidden initially behind dark chocolate, earth, ash, and bramble. The blackberry, black currant, and fig come through meekly now, while structure hits the mark, humming with acidity and grippy but velvety tannins. Balanced, brooding, balmy.
Gneiss 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
The wines from this small producer housed in the District Village are serious and worthy of attention. 95% Cab Sav with 5% Merlot - grapes are sourced from Nk’mip vineyard in the south Okanagan, fermented whole berry and aged 18 months in barrel (6 French, 1 American). Colour is deep ruby, tears pigmented as well. 2022 is looking to go down as a sensational vintage, and that shows up in the glass here - varietally pure black currant and prune brightened with red cherries and dried cranberry - a welcome balance of black and red, fresh and dried. This freshening lift is enhanced by herbaceous currant leaf and mint notes. Oak influence is moderate and well integrated, contributing warm aromas and flavours of cocoa powder, toast, vanilla, and baking spices. Flavour intensity, acid, tannin, body, and length are all dialled up. This is pretty superb.
Final thoughts
As Master of Wine Geoffrey Moss is accurate to point out in his category overview at this year’s National Wine Awards, BC Cabernet Sauvignon is quite vintage-dependent. We can see that here, with 5 wines spanning 4 years. Although 2020 and 2022 achieved balanced ripeness and intensity, surprisingly good wines can still come out of challenging years. This, I expect, will only improve, as BC winemakers just keep getting better and better. If you find a Cab Sav with fruit concentration, mouthwatering acidity, and muscular tannins, introduce some aeration if drinking now, or cellar for a few years and let time do its thing. Because of all these characteristics, it’s not a good gateway wine, but will be appreciated by seekers of boldness. As always, I encourage a spirit of discovery and will do my part to help you explore BC wine one glass at a time.
This Blog Post was written by our contributor: Matt Tinney with MT Wine Consulting (@mtwineconsulting).