talkTV: Cabernet Blends for Cabernet Day!

Lebanon (Bekaa Valley)

Petit Paradis de Qanafar, Chateau Qanafar, 2018

The Bekaa Valley in Eastern Lebanon is the country’s most important farming region and where 90% of all Lebanese wine is made. With dry summers and cool winters, the climate is Mediterranean where any extreme heat is mitigated by the vines planted at altitude on mountain slopes and the rain shadow those mountains bring. The region produces deeply coloured and flavoured wines from predominantly French grapes.

The Bekaa Valley is also one of the oldest wine regions in the world, with Israelite prophets mentioning the wines of Lebanon during the biblical era as well as the Ancient Phoenicians. Production dwindled during the Ottoman empire but flourished again after the world wars.

Chateau Qanafar is a family run winery that use only grapes they own ans farm right next to their winery. The Petit Paradis is what they call a ‘vin de plaisir’, rather than a simple table wine as it aims to be simple yet structured with lots of vibrant, ripe fruit.  Think  juicy blackberry and redcurrant with toast and vanilla. Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon (35%), Merlot (25%), Syrah (20%), Tempranillo (20%).

Find it for £14.99 from Naked Wines

South Africa (Stellenbosch)

Reyneke, Cornerstone Organic, 2018

Reyneke is an organic and biodynamic wine estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa run by visionary winemaker Johan Reyneke. Their ethos is all about reusing, recycling, and re-purposing and they do not use any kind or type of pesticide or anything-cide. This properly holistic approach has produced wines of a whole new level of vibrancy showing that methods that are better for the earth are also  better for the wine.

Culturally too, Reyeke has a similar approach. Their Cornerstone project is founded on the fact that you cannot make good grapes without good people who want to do a good job. They employ local workers, empowering them to become financially independent and educated through this scheme with retirement annuities and funeral policies added to the pay structure of all permanent employees.

This classic Bordeaux-style blend is all about ripe blackcurrant spice and tobacco leaf flavours. Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon (63%), Cabernet Franc (36%) Merlot (1%)

Find it for £16.99 on offer at WaitroseCellar

Chile (Maipo Valley)

Santa Rita, Triple C, 2018

Santa Rita was founded in 1880 in Chile’s Maipo Valley when founder Don Domingo Fernández Concha brought over grape varieties from Bordeaux, installed state-of-the-art equipment and employed a team of fantastic winemakers. With that, Chilean wine making was changed forever! Today, Santa Rita still pioneers, using the most advanced technology and producing world class wines.  The Triple C is a nod to the traditional French blends at the heart of the winery's history, which are aged in French oak. Concentrated but fresh, think black cherries, cedar and tobacco with awesome structure.

Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon (45%), Cabernet Franc (40%) Carménère (15%)

Find it for £19.99 mix 6 price at Majestic

See what else Helena has tasted on talkTV with Mike Graham here!/

One Minute Wine Ace: Cabernet Sauvignon

You can generally presume that all professional, male rugby players have certain elements in common: they are full in body, fairly heavy and well structured. There are forwards who pack a slightly bigger punch and backs who are a tad more refined and lean, but generally speaking, you can always tell a rugby player a mile off, no matter where in the team they play. It’s the obvious build and all those purpley-black bruises that do it! And with all their years of training and experience, you can take a bet that their playing quality is going to be pretty reliable, no matter which country it is that they play for. They also tend to need a few years to chill out and mellow…

Yes, Cabernet Sauvignon is the professional rugby player of the wine world. This heavy-duty grape variety has the thickest skin of all the grapes, giving it lots of tooth-drying tannin and plenty of brawn! ‘Cabernet’, as it’s often known, is a hardy, well-structured grape that makes pretty reliable wine just about anywhere. This is why you can find it all over the world now. When at its very best, it can sometimes take a few years to mature, so bear that in mind when you’re picking one out. Look for a concentrated, dark blue-black and purple colour with distinctive, spicy blackcurrant and cedar flavours. In some cases, you’ll also spot a telltale minty or eucalyptus note, which is often a hint that it’s from a warmer climate.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON TASTING TOUR

Cabernet Sauvignon makes pretty reliable wines from many places globally, but here are four key styles to start your journey with,

Cabernet 1: Be prepared to spend some cash and head to Bordeaux, France: the Old World home of Cabernet, where it’s usually blended with Merlot among other grapes. Look for one from the Left Bank of the river Gironde for a classic earthy, cedary number that’s Cabernet dominant. Heard of Chateau Margaux? That’s a Cabernet-dominant, Left Bank Bordeaux wine.

Try: Château de Lamarque, Haut-Medoc, 2015 for £22.95 from Corneyandbarrow.com.

Cabernet 2: Compare your Bordeaux with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra in Australia for a fuller-bodied, juicier version with tonnes of ripe blackcurrant and a characteristic mint and eucalyptus twang. Coonawarra is one of Cabernet’s classic, New World homes. 

Try: Wakefield Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon for £17.99 or £15.99 mix six price from Majestic.

Cabernet 3: At a similar price and standard to Bordeaux, you could also try some serious Cabernets from Napa Valley, California for a style that is somewhere between the two above: big wines made in a Bordeaux style, but with a pleasing extra dollop of fruit.

Try: Illustrious Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, £36 a bottle or £32.40 mix 6 price from Laithwaites.

Cabernet 4: For something a little more entry-level price wise, check out what they can do with Cabernet over in the warm Colchagua Valley in Chile. Here, Cabernets are about full-on, sweeter, blackcurrant-scented wines with a savory, smoky kick. You can get some great ones for £6 or so but there are also some super-serious wines coming out of Chile too. 

Try: Montes Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile, £9 from Coop.

Like this? Try our other One Minute Wine Ace articles on Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cotes du Rhone and Sauvignon Blanc.