Something very untoward is happening to cabernet sauvignon in Australia. With an industry, a local market and an export market equally obsessed by Australian shiraz, it has not only slipped down the totem pole of fashion, but is in dire danger of becoming yesterday’s look. There will still be a cabernet sauvignon hanging on the vines after this year’s harvest in the Yarra Valley has finished. It’s also feasible that some Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon might be destined for the same fate, something quite unthinkable just a couple of years ago. Something wrong with the fruit? No way. I’ve spoken to a couple of winemakers who reckon they could make some pretty serious stuff out of it. So what’s going on? There’s little doubt that the Australian market for cabernet sauvignon has diminished rather significantly. This is dramatically reflected in the asking price for cool climate cabernet sauvignon, which you could obtain today for around $200 per tonne or just the mere cost of picking it. Two years ago its price was $1500-$1800 per tonne. The truth, however, is that amidst the recent large-scale plantings of wine grapes in Australia has been a considerable area of cabernet vineyards that either should have been developed more thoughtfully or never planted at all. Much of the reason why Australians have forsaken cabernet for shiraz has to do with the deluge of skinny, weedy greenish cabernets that have been produced by the truckload from cooler regions in the south-eastern corner of the country comprising Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, the cooler regions of Western Australia and the inland areas of New South Wales like Cowra and Orange. Too many of these vineyards were established with little to no regard to generally accepted requirements of site, trellising and anticipated cropping levels. Regrettably, the Australian market is to some extent awash with over-cropped skinny green cabernet that reflect neither site nor variety that nobody wants to drink. Cabernet’s profile has undoubtedly suffered as a result. At the opposite end of the spectrum, too many people are now making cabernet to taste rich, soft and sweet, just like much of the shiraz that is so popular today. But back in the late 1970s and mid 1980s, before Australia rediscovered the virtues of what has since become recognised – for better or for worse – as our premier red grape, shiraz was always treated as a second-class citizen behind cabernet sauvignon. It was given older and inferior oak, and would never be harvested in preference to cabernet that had reached (what was back then considered to be) optimal maturity. Instead, cabernet is now the second-class red citizen in this country. Funnily, given the recent growth of Australian wine, it’s quite probable there is more top and medium-level cabernet being made here than ever before. But the bulk of the product is making life tough for the worthy makers here whose cabernet and blends consistently offer excellent value across the entire spectrum of price-points, from budget to top-shelf. Twenty years ago I could have said the same thing about shiraz!
