Cabernet Sauvignon
This grape produces intense and fruity blackcurranty styles of red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon is never among the lightest of reds but it can be tremendously elegant and extremely well balanced. The grapes have thick skins which hold a lot of tannin which means that, with careful winemaking and barrel ageing, Cabernet Sauvignon wines age very well. Its power base is Bordeaux where it is the major player in some of the world’s finest wines. But not all Cabernet needs to be aged for years and there are plenty of fruity, instant gratification styles from Australia, Chile and Southwest France.