Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the best-known red grape. Its small berries and thick skins produce dense black fruit flavour and colour as well as high tannins, making it a classic red for cellaring. Traditionally grown in its homeland of France’s Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon got its hybrid name from local parent grapes Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. A late-ripener, it struggles to make rich wines in cooler climates, where it may get a minty or leafy edge. However the vine’s vigour and adaptability, fuelled by consumer demand, have spread Cabernet across most world regions with ‘modern classics’ emerging especially from hot climates in Australia and California.