Variety is the spice of bio-diversity in the national vineyard. Twenty years ago, there were over 25 producers of single varietal Ruby Cabernet in South Africa – and this unpretentious retro variety was, like Carignan and Cinsault, the unsung hero of many well-loved entry-level red blends. Ruby Cabernet was always the underdog in the portfolio of cellars and co-operatives in wine regions like the Breedekloof, Worcester, Robertson and the Olifants River. Ruby Cabernet was a crowd-pleaser for big-name brands such as Drostdy, Long Mountain, Longridge, Sonop and Vinfruco. Today there are only six or so producers of single varietal Ruby Cabernet left. Where did it go to?
It is not often that Ruby Cabernet makes the headlines on the grapevine today. Taking the title of Champion SA Young Wine at this year’s SA Young Wine Show – the annual showcase for wines of the current vintage – Badsberg Ruby Cabernet 2020 puts this under-rated variety in the spotlight. It is only the second time this workhorse variety – the ninth most planted grape in the national vineyard – has won the oldest wine show in South Africa in the 188-year history of the competition.
The Badsberg team with their SA Young Wine Show Generaal Smuts Trophy for the Badsberg Ruby Cabernet 2020
Ruby Cabernet is a relative newcomer to the global vine. A cross between Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon created by Dr HP Olmo at the University of California at Davis in 1936, Ruby Cabernet enjoyed its heyday in California in the 1960s and 1970s. Designed to combine the classic profile of Cabernet Sauvignon with the heat tolerance and productivity of Carignan, Ruby Cabernet is often used to add colour, value, volume and vibrancy to young red blends in Australia, the San Joaquin Valley in the US and SA where it can yield up to four times more than straight Cabernet. It is often compared to Pinotage, a cross between two grapes (Pinot Noir and Cinsault) designed to create a more robust grape with the qualities of the former and robust, higher yields of the latter.
Ruby Cabernet went out of fashion over the interceding decades – but renewed consumer and boutique producer interest in alternate varieties as a USP in a winery portfolio adds sex appeal to single-varietal bottlings of this variety. Planted to over two thousand hectares in South Africa (2,2% of the national vineyard), Ruby Cabernet is the fifth most planted red grape variety here. First planted in SA in the 1970s, it is bottled as a varietal wine by six or so cellars today – Badsberg, Bellpost, Langverwacht, Orange River Cellars, Robertson Winery, and Strange Kompanjie – while others blend it away into popular dry red blends because of its deep colour, rich flavour, soft tannins and natural acidity. Wines like Botha Cellar’s popular Dassies’s Rood (a blend of Cinsault, Cabernet and Ruby Cabernet) – and for years, the lead variety in Van Loveren’s popular River Red blend.
The judges on the tasting panel of other red varieties at the SA Young Wine Show 2020 commented that they tasted examples of Ruby Cabernet which took their breath away – along with stand-out “other red varieties” such as Cinsault, Touriga Nacional, Tannat, Petit Sirah and Petit Verdot. They also commented that more and more SAYWS trophy winners have been bottled as single varieties in recent years instead of being blended away – and that 2020 is turning out to be an exceptional vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Pinotage.
The Breedekloof and Robertson Wine Valley's wine region appear the right terroir for Ruby Cabernet. The only other time this alternate red variety has won the national General Smuts Trophy at the SA Young Wine Show was in 2012 – when uniWines (a consortium including Daschbosch) won the national title. It also won the SA champion wine for other red wine in 2011, demonstrating that Ruby Cabernet shows well as an accessible young wine due to its soft tannins, rich cherry fruit and red colour. Willie Burger, the veteran cellarmaster at Badsberg since 1998, is no stranger to winning awards on shows – and is still going strong judging from the cellar’s performance at SAYWS in 2020.
Three decades ago, I remember driving out to the Breedekloof to buy affordable Ruby Cabernet from the cellars of Du Preez, Goudini and Waboomsrivier – and quaffing McGregor Village Red where it played a starring role. I do hope Badsberg releases the winning 2020 vintage in due course as a single varietal bottling – as it does not offer a Ruby Cabernet in its portfolio these days. When the cellar won the General Smuts Trophy for its Pinotage 2016 on the SA National Young Wine Show 2016, it released a limited release of 1700 bottles labeled as such alongside its standard Pinotage.
International experience with Ruby Cabernet, especially in California, suggests it performs best when planted in deep clay loam, with dryland or limited irrigation, an open canopy and thinned out crop. Maximising sun exposure can produce wines of exceptional colour, aroma, flavour and mouthfeel. Ripening in late mid-season, production average from twenty to thirty tons per hectare. A hardy, drought-resistant grape, Ruby Cabernet performs well in a diverse range of warmer climate and windy wine regions – and is ideal for conditions of global warming from Argentina to Chile.
In The Fine Wines of California (1971), authors Hannum and Blumberg comment on Ruby Cabernet, “While nowhere near the greatness of Cabernet Sauvignon, it can be a light, fruity, pleasant, wine that is a good sight better than most Carignan”. Although plantings in the Central Valley of California have declined by over a thousand acres in recent years, this claret-styled red is still much in demand and made by thirty big and small cellars in the region today. In fact, after Cabernet Sauvignon, the red king of California, followed by Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah and Barbera, respectively, the state is still planted with more Ruby Cabernet than Grenache, Malbec, Cabernet Franc or Mourvedre. (See www.cellartracker.com/list.asp? country=USA – also www.nass.usda.gov)
Strange Kompanjie, based in Franschhoek, owned by UK vintner Boutinot, specialises in making cult alternative bottlings of unusual varieties such as Fernao Pires, Grenache Blanc and Strange Bru Ruby Cabernet – as well as innovative blends of Grenache, Durif, Carignan and Mourvedre (Underworld Blend) and Chenin, Palomino and Grenache Blanc (Tea Leaf). Sourced from the Swartland, the Strange Bru Ruby Cabernet is an unoaked version wine with typical generous rich red berry fruit, soft tannins and a big mouthfeel. Bellpost, a family wine farm near Vredendal on the west coast, also produces a good expression of varietal ruby Cabernet with hallmark wild cherry flavours and a savoury twist - while Langverwacht Cellar near Bonnievale makes a lightly oaked Ruby Cab.
Ruby Cabernet is still the ninth most planted grape in South Africa’s national vineyard – well ahead of plantings of Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Mourvedre and Grenache. So there’s still hope of an old-vine Ruby Cabernet revival. In a nostalgic mood, I’ve decided to grow a retro niche in my cellar for Ruby Cabernet, a Cinderella variety next to big brothers Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.