WHAT a topsy-turvy week it’s been in the world of wine. Less than a week after we were planning to take Richardson’s underground to escape the clutches of Government health advisers saying wine was bad for you, a leading scientist has discovered that red wine is good for your libido.

This is going to make my job of selling wine under the counter even easier. Who needs little blue pills when you can just visit our shop on Lowther Street and fill yer boots!

It’s actually any flavonoid-rich products such as blueberries or rich red wines that help prevent brewers droop and scientifically it’s not new news but every now and then a scientist does another study either to reinforce the proof or to try to debunk it and the national papers love it. Long live science!

So let’s talk red, and guess what? We’re talking Cabernet Sauvignon this week, or wine Viagra if you prefer.

Cabernet ironically is my favourite grape variety but it’s also one where you really do get more bang the more you spend. I’ve probably tasted as many Cabernets as anyone and I’m happy to report that in my view the optimum price range for flavour and depth is between £10 and £20. Below that and they can be ropey in my view and above £20 and the flavour differential is marginal in all bar the rare bottle.

Cabernet is of course the famous mainstay grape of the classic Bordeaux region of France but over the last three decades its influence has spread to virtually every wine growing region on the planet. It’s even infiltrated famously defensive regions such as Rioja and Tuscany where native varieties once held an all-powerful sway. Despite its world dominance, Cabernet Sauvignon is actually an accidental creation resulting from a chance crossing between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in the 17th Century. Cabernet grapes are thick skinned, hence the strong vibrant colours, and they tend to ripen late so in most years they miss the frost but for all the bonuses they offer winemakers, they are also very low yielding which in part helps explain my earlier statement about getting more out of it the more you spend. One unpopular word in many wine-lovers’ vocabularies, however, is tannin, and Cabernet is the grape most associated with high tannins. In Bordeaux the tannins are revered as they help the wine to age but the world market is moving away from buying expensive 30-year-old Clarets and people want younger fresher and much softer Cabernets, so this has proved to be a challenge that the Australians and Californian winemakers have risen to magnificently.

The Australians have, if anything, gone too far the other way with often over-jammy results that seem to delight the younger audience. And one or two winemakers have also gone overboard on the use of oak-creating wines so woody you can carve chess pieces from them. The Chileans and Argentinians seem to be relying on the sun to ripen the fruit more to counter the tannins as they have largely adopted the French way of doing things, but the Californians are to my mind the real masters of this fabulous grape. But before I get onto our surf-loving brethren let’s have a quick word about South Africa.

Since the end of apartheid, South African winemakers have taken to Cabernet like a duck to water and it’s now their most widely- planted grape. They tend to have two classic styles, with the Stellenbosch producing big heavy blockbusters while the classic quality driven region of Constantia produces the closest wines to a top end Bordeaux outside of France. This is the place to go for mint and cigar- wood aromas but they haven’t yet managed to combine the two styles.

They are producing Cabernets so smooth it feels like your tongue has been french polished before Tony Roberts has laid a carpet of velvet all over it; and the fruit is incredible. The traditional flavours attached to Cabernet Sauvignons are cassis, mint and cedar wood or cigar boxes. While I’ve often picked up two or three of these classic flavours in top-end Clarets, I’ve only ever hit all four from Bordeaux. Granted the vineyard was Opus One and the price was over £200 but heavens was it good. We had it with a rack of lamb with plenty of fat because the fat softens any tannins present and helps enhance the cassis fruits.