10 Best California Cabernet Sauvignon Wines, Taste Profile, Prices (2024)

The Cabernet Sauvignon grape loves the dry climate of Napa Valley and Paso Robles. It is California’s most widely planted red wine grape today. 

California Cabernet Sauvignon wines have an ardent following among collectors and wine drinkers, thanks to their aging potential, complexity, and rich dark fruit notes.

Why are these wines (especially from Napa Valley) highly sought after by collectors?

Let’s discover California Cabernet Sauvignon in detail - its taste, characteristics, and food pairings, 10 best bottles to buy in 2024, and the wines’ investment potential.

California Cabernet Sauvignon Taste, Characteristics, And Food Pairings

In general, California Cabernet Sauvignon is a dry, full-bodied wine with characteristic green flavors like mint, bell pepper, and eucalyptus, rich dark fruit notes of blackberry and blueberry, and hints of earth, mocha, and cedar notes.

While Napa Cab wines are bold and concentrated, Paso Robles wines are complex with dark fruit flavor.

Undoubtedly, the Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the Napa Valley and Paso Robles wine regions are some of the world’s finest!

If you’d like to explore food pairings with these California Cabs, try them with grilled burgers, steak, pork, lamb, and mushrooms.

10 Best California Cabernet Sauvignon Wines To Buy In 2024

Here are the finest California Cabernet Sauvignon wine bottles:

1. 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
2. 1971 Ridge Vineyards Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
3. 2013 Ghost Horse Vineyard ‘Spectre’ Cabernet Sauvignon
4. 1966 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
5. 1974 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
6. 2015 Daou Vineyards Patrimony Cabernet Sauvignon
7. 2014 Cass Reserve
8. 2008 Ramey Annum Cabernet Sauvignon
9. 2012 O’Shaughnessy Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
10. 2017 Austin Hope Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

1. 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon ($22,488)

This cult Cabernet Sauvignon wine has soft tannin, a full-bodied palate with a ripe fruit flavor, and notes of black currant, toasted oak, and cherry.

2. 1971 Ridge Vineyards Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($5,500)

This Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has fine tannins and spice, anise, black currant, coconut, and black cherry notes. 

3. 2013 Ghost Horse Vineyard ‘Spectre’ Cabernet Sauvignon ($5,295)

This red wine has brilliant depth, creme de cassis flavors, and notes of toasted oak, spice, black pepper, and dark red fruit like cherry. 

4. 1966 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($4,949)

This California wine has fine tannin, sharp acidity, and black currant, cherry, apple, black pepper, and anise notes.

5. 1974 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon ($1,199)

This Napa Valley wine has cassis, plum, toasted oak, and dark cherry flavor on the palate.

6. 2015 Daou Vineyards Patrimony Cabernet Sauvignon ($594)

This Paso Robles wine from the Daou winery has silky tannins, plum and cherry notes, a blackberry aroma, and a palate with a cassis fruit flavor. 

7. 2014 Cass Reserve ($275)

This California wine has fine tannin, creme de cassis, and blueberry flavors, and notes of black cherry, plum, spearmint, dark chocolate, oak, ripe red fruit, and boysenberry.

8. 2008 Ramey Annum Cabernet Sauvignon ($180)

This full-bodied wine has silky tannins, creme de cassis flavors, and a licorice aroma with notes of black currant, clove, and dried cherry.

9. 2012 O’Shaughnessy Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($180)

This Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has dried fruit flavors and notes of black currant, dark chocolate, spice, toasted oak, and red cherry.

10. 2017 Austin Hope Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($125)

This wine has soft tannin, boysenberry, and candied fruit flavors, and notes of blueberry, dark fruit, vanilla, clove, dried cherry, and creme de cassis. 

Investing in California Cabernet Sauvignon Wines 

An exceptional California Cabernet Sauvignon wine can age up to 10-20 years.

Fine Cabernet Sauvignon wines from top California wineries consistently receive high scores from critics. 

Some of the best California Cabernet Sauvignon producers include:

• Dominus Winery
• Schrader Cellars
• Shafer Vineyards
• Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
• Scarecrow
• Opus One Winery
• Screaming Eagle Winery 
• Ghost Horse Winery
• Ridge Estate
• Abreu Vineyards
• Caymus Vineyards
• Cliff Lede
• Colgin Cellars
• Duckhorn Vineyards
• Hundred Acre
• Joseph Phelps
• Robert Mondavi Winery

These wines also do well at auctions - the 1974 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon was sold for $6,200 at a Sotheby September 2019 auction. An imperial bottle (6L) of Screaming Eagle Cab Sauv 1992 sold at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction for a price of $500,000!

Invest In A Fine California Cabernet Sauvignon Wine

If you want to indulge in a dry, refreshing, and age-worthy wine, a California Cabernet Sauvignon is a great option!

You need to consider the best vintages from top producers like Opus One, Dominus, and Screaming Eagle.

Check out the Vinovest website to discover an easy way to buy, store, and sell authentic Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Merlot wine bottles from across the globe.