Ruby Cabernet, red vinifera Carignan x Cabernet Sauvignon cross bred in and for california in 1936 and released in 1948. Dr H. P. Olmo of the University of California at davis (see also emerald riesling, carnelian) was attempting to combine Cabernet characteristics with Carignan productivity and heat tolerance. The slightly rustic Ruby Cabernet enjoyed a heyday in California in the 1960s and even in 2012 was still grown on more than 6,000 acres/1,482 ha, mainly in the southern san joaquin valley (though is only half as popular as the red-fleshed hybrid rubired). It is even more popular in South Africa where it was grown in 2012 on a total of 2,250 ha, mainly in hotter inland wine regions, and has also been grown quite extensively in Australia’s inland regions; indeed Ruby Cabernet appeared increasingly on Australian wine labels during the country’s red wine shortage of the late 1990s.
