California
The Best California Cabernet Sauvignon Wine To Add To Your Cellar, From International Wine Competitions
Cabernet Sauvignon wine being poured into glasses in a vineyard right before harvest.
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The steady decline in fine wine prices over the last several years makes it a perfect time to stock up on top-tier California Cabernet Sauvignon. Below are 15 top-rated wines that have been consistent medalists in international wine competitions. All of them are excellent cellar selections and worth accumulating.
California Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world’s most widely recognized red wine grape varieties, renowned for its depth and longevity. It’s considered the “king of red wine grapes” for its ability to produce wines with exceptional depth and complexity.
The grape varietal is believed to have originated in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France, where it is still a significant component of “Bordeaux blends.” These blends typically include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and sometimes Petit Verdot and Malbec. They’re known for their complex flavors and aging potential. The grape is a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, which occurred in the 17th century.
It thrives in various climates but excels in warmer climates where it can fully ripen. The grape is known for its thick skin and hardy vine, making it relatively resistant to disease and frost. Its robust nature allows it to flourish in diverse vineyard soils, though it shows a particular affinity for gravelly and sandy soils, which provide good drainage and heat retention.
Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced to California in the late 19th century. However, its significant impact began post-Prohibition and escalated in the 1970s following the historic 1976 Judgment of Paris. In this blind-tasting event, a selection of California wines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, triumphed over several First Growth French Bordeaux wines, shocking the wine world and established California as a world-class wine-producing region.
California Cabernet Sauvignon Wine: Aroma and Flavor Profile
Cabernet Sauvignon wines are best known for their intense color, full body, and alcoholic strength; they are also naturally high in acidity and tannins. Ripe and jammy black cherry, blackberry, and blackcurrant notes are common, along with hints of blueberry, boysenberry, and prune.
A high-end California Cabernet often exhibits complex spice notes of black pepper, clove, cinnamon, and earthy undertones of graphite, cedar, and dried tobacco leaf. These wines are typically aged in oak barrels, contributing additional layers of complexity and imparting vanilla, toast, coconut, and caramel flavors.
Ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in a Napa Vineyard ready for harvest getty
The finest examples of California Cabernet Sauvignon, especially those from Napa Valley, are prized for their structural tannins, deep fruit flavors, and ability to age gracefully. These wines are often lush and powerful, with a deep color and a rich mouthfeel. They can also display an excellent balance between concentrated fruit notes and a well-defined tannic backbone, making them capable of long-term aging, developing a softer mouthfeel and more complex flavors. These wines can easily age 10-20 years.
Below are 15 highly rated Cabernet Sauvignon wines. All have been top medalists in international wine competitions and consistently receive excellent reviews. The indicated ABV is an average of recent vintages. The price is the average retail listed on Wine Searcher.
Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.8% ABV. $2,474
Screaming Eagle is one of Napa Valley’s most prestigious and expensive wines, known for its exclusivity and exceptional quality.
The wine exhibits a complex nose of blackcurrant, dark cherries, and graphite. The palate is full-bodied with velvety tannins and a layered complexity of dark fruits, cedar, and spices. The finish is long and elegant.
Harlan Estate, 14% ABV. $1,497
Harlan Estate aims to produce a “California First Growth” from its hillside vineyards in Oakville. Although expensive, you can often find it for under $1,000.
The wine offers intense blackberry, mocha, and cassis aromas with subtle earthy undertones. The palate is robust, with concentrated dark fruit flavors and a touch of vanilla. Tannins are ripe and well-integrated, and the finish is long and layered, with lingering dark fruit notes.
Opus One, 13.5% ABV. $462
A joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi, Opus One is a flagship wine that helped define premium California wine on the world stage.
The wine features a rich bouquet of dark fruit, cedar, and hints of rose petals. The palate is seamlessly integrated with black currant, spice, and seasoned oak flavors, leading to a balanced and lengthy finish.
Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.4% ABV. $235
Caymus Vineyards is known for its high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly the Special Selection, hand-selected from the vintage’s finest barrels.
The rich, opulent wine exhibits ripe blackberry, chocolate, and leather flavors. It has a lush texture on the palate, with velvety tannins and a long, decadent finish.
Joseph Phelps Insignia, 14.5% ABV. $342
A Bordeaux-style blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, and 2% Malbec. It has consistently been a top performer, showcasing the best of Napa Valley.
The wine features a robust blend of dark fruit, smoke, and anise. The palate is well-structured, with layers of black cherry, tobacco, and earthy notes supported by firm tannins. The finish is long, with lingering black fruit notes.
Shafer Hillside Select, 15.5% ABV. $379
Sourced from the rugged terrain of Stags Leap District, this wine is a testament to the quality that Napa Valley’s specific microclimates can produce.
The wine displays deep notes of black fruit, graphite, and violets. The texture is dense and muscular, with a precise balance of acidity and tannin, culminating in a long, powerful finish.
Cabernet Sauvignon wine pairs exceptionally well with cheese. getty
Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard, 14.5% ABV. $327
This distinctive character wine is shaped by the unique terroir of Martha’s Vineyard in Oakville.
The nose features a classic eucalyptus note, blackcurrant, cedar, and spices. The palate is elegant yet intense, with a refined structure that leads to a memorable finish.
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23, 14.8% ABV. $315
This wine combines fruit from two of Stag’s Leap’s best vineyards, creating a superb expression of the region’s terroir.
The wine features layered aromas of dark cherry, cassis, and vanilla. It is silky and complex on the palate, with a superb balance of fruit and tannins extending into a long, polished finish.
Silver Oak Alexander Valley, 14.35% ABV, $101
Silver Oak’s Cabernet is both distinctive and highly celebrated due to its exclusive use of American oak. The wine blends Cabernet Sauvignon with small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc.
It’s very aromatic on the nose, featuring dark berries, plum, and smoky oak. The palate is lush, expressing vanilla, black cherry, and light toast, with a smooth, enduring finish.
Ridge Monte Bello, Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% ABV. $281
Produced in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Ridge Monte Bello is a long-lived wine prized for its ability to age gracefully.
The wine presents complex aromas of blackberry, licorice, and chalky minerality. The palate is finely structured, with an extraordinary balance of fruit, tannins, and acidity.
Chateau Montelena, The Montelena Estate, 13.8% ABV. $206
Famous for its victory at the 1976 Judgment of Paris, Chateau Montelena produces structured, long-lived wines.
This wine offers a mix of earthy and fruity notes, with flavors of dark berries, forest floor, herbs, dried tobacco leaf, vanilla, and black cherries. Full-bodied and rich, it’s dense on the palate with ripe, well-integrated tannins. The finish is long, with lingering dark fruit notes.
Robert Mondavi To Kalon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% ABV. $189
A Napa Valley wine industry pioneer, Mondavi’s Reserve Cabernet is a testament to high-quality winemaking.
The wine delivers rich flavors of dark fruit, spices, and sweet pipe tobacco, complemented by a firm structure and a lengthy finish rich with cedar and espresso.
Continuum Estate Proprietary Red, 14.9% ABV. $305
Crafted by the Mondavi family, Continuum is a single-estate wine from Pritchard Hill, representing the pinnacle of their winemaking philosophy. It’s a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot, and 6% Merlot.
A complex, sophisticated wine, it features intense notes of blueberry, black plum, cacao, violet, graphite, and tobacco alongside layers of rich blackcurrant. The palate is full-bodied with powerful tannins and a complex finish.
Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% ABV. $73
Duckhorn has consistently produced high-quality Bordeaux-style wines in Napa Valley. This wine is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon with small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
The wine offers layers of black cherry, plum, and violets, with integrated hints of oak and spice, balanced acidity, and tannins. The finish is smooth with lingering black fruit notes.
Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.1% ABV. $167
One of the oldest continuously operating wineries in Napa Valley, Beringer’s Private Reserve is known for its depth and complexity.
This robust wine features dense flavors of dark chocolate, black plum, dried black fruit, sweet spices, and anise. The texture is plush, with a complex interplay of tannins and acidity leading to a long, refined finish.
The 15 California Cabernet Sauvignon represent the pinnacle of California wine-making. They are richly flavored, robust wines with layered and nuanced complexity capable of extended cellar aging. These wines can easily be enjoyed over the next decade and likely over the next two. The current wine market softness offers an excellent opportunity to restock these classic California Cabernet icons at exceptional prices.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday highlighted what he called historic progress in the state’s fight against gun violence.
“California has achieved something historic with the lowest rates of firearm deaths, suicides and homicides on record,” he said during a press conference.
According to Bonta, in 2024, California saw the lowest numbers of firearm-related deaths since 1968. That also drove the state’s overall homicide rate to its lowest level on record in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, Bonta’s office said.
However, Bonta warned lawmakers that those gains could be at risk without continued investment.
“This progress is fragile,” he said. “It was driven in part by significant investments that are now declining or disappearing, and without continued and increased investment, we risk losing it.”
Bonta urged policymakers to continue advancing gun violence prevention efforts and education initiatives.
To learn more, click here.
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California
California lawmaker introduces bill to protect wildlife from euthanasia, create coexistence program
A Southern California state senator has proposed a new law that would prevent euthanasia in the state’s wildlife just a month after a mother bear was put down for swiping at a woman in Monrovia, feet away from where her two cubs were located.
The legislation, SB 1135, which was introduced by Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), calls for the establishment of a state program that promotes the coexistence with wildlife and codifies a wolf-livestock coexistence and compensation program. The move comes two years after funding for a similar wildlife coexistence program expired.
“We can and must responsibly support people and wild animals to exist in a California where we are all under growing pressures and cumulative threats like extreme heat, frequent drought and intense wildfires that animals respond to by moving in search of resources to survive,” Sen. Blakespear said in a statement. “That means investing in science-based, situation-specific, proactive strategies to minimize negative interactions and prevent escalation to conflicts that pose risks for people and animals. SB 1135 proposes a program to better protect people, wildlife and communities.”
The proposed coexistence program, which would be allocated nearly $50 million through the state’s 2026-27 budget, would build on the previous version, which deployed trained regional human-wildlife conflict staff around the state. The absence was noted by CDFW leaders during a state Assembly meeting in January, according to Blakespear.
“Over the last five years, wildlife incident reports logged by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) increased by 31 percent and calls, emails and field contacts rose by 58 percent,” Blakespear’s proposal says.
She noted the recent headline across the state, including “Blondie,” the Monrovia mother bear who was captured and put down by wildlife officials in March after it swiped at a woman near the home it was living under with its two cubs.
The home in question belongs to Richard Franco. He, along with many other Monrovia residents, has documented his encounters with bears over the years, even setting up a system of trail cameras to track the bears’ movements.
“Getting to know her, you could see what a devoted mother she was,” Franco said. “She was always building a nest.”
Read more: Orphaned bear cubs taken to San Diego for care after mom is euthanized for attacking people
Franco and many of his neighbors were angered upon learning that CDFW officials had euthanized Blondie after her capture, which they credited to the fact that she had swiped at the woman days earlier and another person in 2025.
“Forcing them out, and then euthanizing the mom was just traumatic for us,” said one Monrovia couple. “It was just tragic, and there was no need for it; it was completely unnecessary.”
Situations like this are what caught Blakespear’s attention, leading to her proposal last week.
“It is really my desire to make sure that wild places stay wild, and not be having to resort to lethal measures like killing bears or killing wolves,” Blakespear said, while speaking with CBS LA. “We need to have a program that is up and going so we can be educating people.”
The program calls for focus on public education, maintaining a statewide incident reporting system and deploying devices like barriers, noise and light machines and other technology that would deter predators from places where they shouldn’t be.
SB 1135 passed on a 5-1 vote and will now be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Only a week after animal services officials in Riverside County discovered 480 ducks living in crowded, outdoor cages, all of the ducks have been adopted, the result of a what authorities are describing as a massive “teamwork and coordination” effort.
The Riverside County Department of Animal Services found the ducks Tuesday after investigating overcrowding conditions at a property in unincorporated Riverside County, according to the agency. The birds were taken to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, where officials urgently called on the public and rescue organizations to help place them beginning Wednesday.
According to a social media update from the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, all 480 ducks have been rescued or adopted, marking one of the largest single intake-and-placement efforts for the department in over a decade.
“This large-scale operation required extensive teamwork and coordination across our department,” Riverside County officials said in the social media update.
Animal service officials were not available to explain who had adopted the animals and whether they were adopted as pets or food. But Daniel Markichevich told KABC that he and his fiancée Savannah Burgardt visited the San Jacinto shelter on Wednesday and planned on adopting 20 ducks for their San Jacinto property.
“We have a 3.5-acre farm, so they will just go right into the area and enjoy, and we’ll get out there and look at them, eat their eggs and have a whole full life for them,” said Markichevich, who recently completed construction on a pond in their backyard.
An animal sanctuary in Vacaville, dubbed the Funky Chicken Rescue, took in eight of the ducks, according to a social media post.
Officials said the original owner of the ducks had intended to create a sanctuary for the animals but animal control officers ultimately determined that conditions required intervention, citing improper husbandry and concerns about the number of birds being housed.
Before taking in the ducks, the animal services agency coordinated with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to test a sample of the ducks for zoonotic diseases, according to the county. All results came back negative but early assessments indicated the birds had not received adequate care, according to authorities.
“Overcrowding can contribute to stress and decreased immune function,” Itzel Vizcarra, chief veterinarian for the county animal services agency, said in a statement. “Inadequate nutrition, particularly vitamin A deficiency, can impair the lining of the digestive tract, predisposing birds to inflammation and secondary illness.”
The swift placement effort was supported in part by community donations, including more than 70 bags of waterfowl feed provided by a local business, according to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus.
While the ducks now have new homes, officials said the investigation into overcrowding conditions at the original property is ongoing.
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