Jane Anson

‘15 April 1805: Cabernet’s journey on another continent had begun’

Back in 1855, the majority of classified Médoc châteaux would have been dominated by the Malbec grape, with Cabernet Sauvignon (sometimes called Petit Vidure) coming in second, accompanied by blending grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot and a host of now-rare names such as Castets and St-Macaire. There were white varieties too, some making it into the wine because they were found growing alongside the reds in vineyards across the region. The most significant result of this haphazard planting style was not just in flavour, but the fact that a spontaneous vineyard crossing between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc took place sometime in the late 1600s, producing Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now seen as the grape of choice for muscular, long-ageing wines worldwide, this new variety would sputter along for as much as a century before getting noticed, then championed for planting and – eventually – prized. It would take until the late 19th century for it to really find its stride as King of Left Bank Bordeaux.

Today it is the world’s most widely planted red variety. Its parentage was finally revealed in 1997 at the University of California, Davis, thanks to researchers John Bowers and Carole Meredith; in 2016, plant geneticist Dario Cantu sequenced its full genome there, too.

Digging into Cabernet Sauvignon’s past takes you to some of the more colourful figures of 18th- and 19th-century science. The first is Sir Joseph Banks, who had a front seat for Captain Cook’s 1768 expedition on the Endeavour to South America, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia, and who spent much of his career building up the botanical riches of London’s Kew Gardens. He is, in many ways, the grandfather of the modern wine industry right across the so-called New

World. In 1800, an early English settler into Australia, George Sutter, arrived in Sydney with several plants from Europe and South Africa, including vines – he was sponsored by Banks. Sutter contributed to a growing industry also championed by James Busby, the man who imported Cabernet Sauvignon into Australia in 1832.

The grape’s first steps towards the US were happening in parallel. Thomas Jefferson was an enthusiastic collector of Bordeaux wines, and one of his political appointees, William Lee, would play a key role in spreading the fame of Cabernet Sauvignon in America. Lee began his career aged 18 as a commission merchant, trading goods between Europe and the States, and in 1801 was appointed American consul in Bordeaux by the newly sworn-in President Jefferson. This was when Bordeaux was the most important port for transatlantic trade, with 173 American ships registered in the local docks in 1801 alone.

A few years later, records show Lee sent 4,500 vine cuttings of Lafite, Margaux and Haut-Brion to a fledgling vineyard on America’s east coast called the Pennsylvania Vine Company. This was 50 years before the 1855 Bordeaux ranking, but these French estates were already established as the most prestigious properties in Bordeaux, indicating that this American project was considered an enterprise worthy of support.

The recipient of the vines was Peter Legaux. Born in Metz, northeastern France, Legaux emigrated in 1786 to the US, where he focused much of the rest of his life on bringing winemaking to his adopted country. His diary entry from 15 April 1805 records a shipment that almost certainly contained Cabernet Sauvignon vines making landfall: ‘This day at half past 10 o’clock at night, I received a letter... with three boxes of grapevines sended by Mr Lee Consul Americain from Bordeaux, all in very good order and good plants of châteaux Margeaux, Lafitte and Haut Brion... and order to send in town for more...’

Cabernet’s journey on another continent had begun. D