Ruby Cabernet is a California original, bred at UC Davis by crossing Carignan with Cabernet Sauvignon to combine Cabernet's flavor with Carignan's heat tolerance for the Central Valley. The atlas's own ledger shows the arc of that experiment: bearing acreage stood at 7,385 acres early in the record, fell to 3,723 acres by the five-year-prior mark, and sits at just 2,996 acres in 2025, a steady, long retreat, though it still appears in 14 counties and 266 county-years of reporting. It remains a bulk-wine blending grape, valued for adding structure and color to inexpensive reds rather than for varietal bottlings.
What kind of grape this is
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- NOIR
- Country of origin
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- Synonyms
- 5
- Approved on a US label
- Ruby Cabernet
- FPS selections
- 1
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Ruby Cabernet, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 266
county-years of acreage
14 counties, 2,996 bearing acres in 2025
- 173
district-years of crush
12 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 173
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 0
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
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Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 12 districts on one axis →
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Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
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