Wine Club Insider back again!

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while, it’s nice to have one of those “not-leave-the-house” kind of days, and today was one of ‘em! I actually spent 20 straight hours working on a new web site I’ve been developing, while my wife worked on her projects right beside me. On Sunday, besides the football, you also get a great run of 80s and 90s movies, as well as episodes of one of my favorites; the Thirsty Traveler! If you haven’t seen it, it’s a great show! www.thirstytraveler.tv

Canadian Kevin Brauch has one of the greatest jobs in the world: he travels from country to country investigating, learning about and – quite liberally – sampling the various types of alcoholic beverages they produce! Man, I wish I’d thought of that gig!

Anyway, yesterday, we started talking about the various wine making grape varietals, and what better place to start then the “Big 6″ Bordeaux blend varietals.

As I mentioned, virtually all Bordeaux wines are blends, and to bear the Bordeaux label, they must be made from one of the 6 grapes so blessed: Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere.

Let’s start with the two Big Boys of the bunch, Cab Sauv and Merlot… first the Cab Sauv, and tomorrow, Merlot.

Cabernet Sauvignon, while often thought of as the grandaddy of red wines, is actually relatively new on the block. It is a hybrid of the Cab Franc (hence the “Cabernet” part) and Sauvignon Blanc – yes, the white grape (thus the Sauvignon!), and was developed in France in the 17th century.

Until the 90s, when it was surpassed by merlot, it was the largest cultivated wine grape in the world, and has found a home everywhere from Canada’s Okanogan Valley to Lebanon’s Beqqa Valley, and from California to Australia, and parts in between. The berries are thick skinned, fairly resistant to frost, and easily grown, especially when compared to something like Pinot Noir. It’s also a fairly consistent grape in terms of character, making it easy to develop year after year.

Many of the top Bordeaux wines are Cab or Cab-Merlot based, and its popularity in the New World (California, mostly) has led to the development of the “Cult” wine phenomenon of certain California Cab houses, for good and bad.

Hey, we’re just getting started! I’ll be back tomorrow with Merlot!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

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