The origins of Cabernet Sauvignon are not certain, some scholars believe the name derives from the corresponding Gascon Carbonet, according to others the Cabernet-Sauvignon would correspond to vitis caburnica described by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, and would indicate the Greek grape and wine Kapnios. The name Sauvignon comes from an old French word that means wild (sauvage).

However, genetic tests carried out in 1996 at the department of viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis have surprisingly shown that Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross (probably occurred spontaneously in the seventeenth century) between Cabernet Franc, red grape, and Sauvignon Blanc, a white grape variety.

It is capable of producing intense wines in colour, rich in tannins and aromatic substances, capable of long aging. Thanks to the structure of this variety, winemakers can carry out long maceration and aging in barrels, mostly French oak, which allow it to express a complex and fascinating bouquet.

It has medium, toothed leaf, with five lobes; medium to small, oblong, cylindrical-pyramidal bunches, with good compactnes and with a wing often evident; berries are medium- sized, almost round, with very resistant skin, blue-black in colour with purple hues, rich in white bloom. The pulp is astringent, with flavours of violet and rowan. The ripening period in Bertinoro is mid-September.