Cab is King -- and Still Growing

Cabernet Sauvignon is called the king of reds or the noble grape. It's been the #1 red wine in the U.S. forever (or thereabouts) with Chardonnay the #1 white. Chardonnay is on top in the amount sold, but in dollar value Cab has passed Chard per WineBusiness.com. Of course, the average price of Cabernet is higher than Chardonnay. Next, but with much less dollar value, is Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Rosé wines have the highest growth rate.

You'll spend hundreds, or thousands,
for one of these cabs

If you've recently priced a typical Napa Cab you'll know they aren't cheap. Looking at grape prices, in Lodi Cab sells from an average of $700 for a ton of grapes. In Washington State it's $1,600/ton. In Sonoma County it's about $3,000/ton. In Napa? It averages about $7,500/ton with a number of vineyards going for over $10,000!

Wondering what's in the pipeline for the coming years? In California for 2017 72% of  new vines planted were for red grapes. Of all vines planted Cabernet was 37% of the total, followed by Pinot Noir (20%) and Chardonnay (17%). So there's a lot more Cabernet Sauvignon coming. Also, Cab is now the most-planted grape in Washington State.

Hopefully, with all this new Cab coming prices will level off. Keep in mind Cabernet vines planted in 2017 won't be seen on the store shelf until about 2024.