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Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the
world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown
in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum
of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.
Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized through its
prominence in Bordeaux wines where it is often blended with Merlot and
Cabernet franc. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the
New World where it found new homes in places like California's Napa
Valley, Australia's Coonawarra region and Chile's Maipo Valley. For
most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted
premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s.
Despite its prominence in the industry, the grape is a relatively new
variety, the product of a chance crossing between Cabernet franc and
Sauvignon blanc during the 17th century in southwestern France.
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