Ruby Cabernet

Ruby Cabernet is a red Olmo grape variety that is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan, it can produce wines with good colour and a pleasant cherry flavour, but is mostly blended into bulk wines.

The purpose for the creation of the crossing of the grape varieties utilized to produce Ruby Cabernet was to obtain the superior quality of a Cabernet wine, and the resistance to heat of the Carignan combined in an inexpensive table wine. Even though the wine made from these grapes does not possess the distinctive flavor and the overall structure of other types of Cabernet wines, it does carry their fruitful essence.

The grape for this type of red wine was developed for California's hot climate, specially for regions such as the San Joaquin and the Napa Valleys. Ruby Cabernet has improved the quality of the bulk wines produced in these areas thanks to its natural, special acidity.

History

Ruby Cabernet is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan created in 1936 by Dr Harold Olmo at UC Davis in California. The intention was to combine Carignan's heat tolerance with Cabernet Sauvignon's quality, like the Cinsaut x Pinot noir cross that led to Pinotage a few years previously.