Cabernet Sauvignon might be king in Napa, but removing that particular cliché from the equation shows just what a global citizen this Bordeaux native has become.

As with our Chardonnay feature last week, we've decided to look behind the obvious choices when it comes to the world's most wanted wines. We're not ignoring Napa, it's just that the list of most-popular Napa wines hasn't substantially changed in three or four years (and you can find it here anyway), so it's nice to see which wines are gaining traction with our users.

Cabernet is the world's most popular wine grape and it's not hard to see why. It has been at least partially responsible for some of the most-lauded wines ever made and has been a mainstay of Bordeaux, the benchmark for red wine for so long. It offers fruit, acidity, tannin and color as well as great longevity. That's why almost everywhere that has a wine industry has at least tried to grow it.

It's not the easiest grape to grow, though. Ripe Cabernet is a thing of rare beauty, but it's not as simple as merely planting vines and waiting – get it underripe and you'll end up with a thin, green, almost vegetal red wine that no amount of Merlot will rescue. That's part of the attraction, though – if it takes effort it's probably worth doing.

In general terms, ripening Cabernet is almost embarrassingly easy in places like Napa, or the wider California region, for that matter. Heat is good, but you don't want too much; it makes our list of the 10 most wanted (non-Napa) Cabernets all the more interesting looking at the far-flung corners of the world that provide our 10 wines.

1. Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia

2. Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon, South Australia Ah, what a difference a single digit makes. This double-whammy from Australia's most famous producer sit at 7th and 8th on the overall list of Cabernets, including Napa. It says a lot that there is nothing separating these wines – apart from the aggregated critic scores (94 and 91, respectively) and price. The 707 will set you back an average of $415 a bottle, while the 407 is a relative bargain at $68.

3. Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon, Puenta Alto, Chile Grown in mountainous soil south of the capital Santiago, this wine is the top of the Concha y Toro tree. First produced in the 1980s, it has an astonishingly consistent performance across vintages (with an aggregated score of 93) and an average price of $100, which might buy you a single glass of many of Napa's wines.

4. Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley A Washington pioneer, Quilceda Creek carries much of the state's prestige – winning medals since the first vintage of its Cabernet. Several vintages have received perfect scores, which accounts for its 95-point aggregate score and, quite possibly, also for its $227 average price.

5. Motto Backbone Cabernet Sauvignon, California Something of a surprise entry, this wine was invented by Chateau Ste Michelle in 2015 and offers pretty impressive wine for a wallet-friendly price. This wine gets a solid 3.5 stars across 28 of our user ratings and weighs in at a smile-inducing average price of $12.

6. Austin Hope Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles The Hope family began as growers in Paso Robles, before moving into winemaking under the eponymous Austin, who is the company's president and winemaker. It's only been around for three vintages so far, but it has accumulated an aggregate critic score of 91 and a welcoming average price of $51.

7. Wynn's Black label Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra Back to Australia for this classic, a wine that is almost as historic as Australia's wine industry. Consistency is the key here, and you have to go back to 2003 to find a sub-90 point vintage. Overall, it has an aggregate score of 92 and a palindromically pleasing average price of $29.

8. Beringer Knight's Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County Beringer is as much part of the wine geography in California as any other brand, and is the state's longest continuously operational winery. While it might be owned by a multinational (Treasury) it's still an iconic California wine, and offers great value at an average price of $29.

9. Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon, Penedes The presence of a Spanish wine on this list highlights a weird anomaly – despite Spain's proximity to Bordeaux, more distant countries were more enthusiastic about Cabernet than Spain used to be. That's changed now, and this well-respected producer's flagship Cabernet combines an aggregate score of 92 with a tidy average price of $63.

10. Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua Valley Back to Chile where we find a real throwback to Chile's Cabernet history – the reliable wine at a bargain price. That's what made Chile's overseas reputation and this is the type of wine that did the heavy lifting – a sturdy aggregate score of 87 at a giveaway average price of $10.