Cinsault

By Jamie Goode | 29th February 2016

If there's ever a grape variety that has experienced a change in fortunes, it's Cinsualt. Also known as Cinsaut, it has been in decline in South Africa for almost 30 years. But it is one of the country's most important red varieties from a historical perspective. Back in the 1920s, it was claimed by Itzak Perold (the first professor of viticulture at Stellenbosch University) that Cinsault made three-quarters of the country's red wines. In the 1970s it began to make way for more famous varieties such as Cabernet and Merlot, but it was still the most widely planted red grape variety. It was only overtaken by Cabernet for this title in the early 1990s.

Until fairly recently, things were looking pretty bleak for Cinsault. There are still 1900 hectares of it planted, though, and this is a good thing, because in a very short space of time it has become super-trendy. With its large berries and resistance to heat, Cinsault can make very attractive lighter-coloured red wines at moderate alcohol levels, and also works very well in blends. Because it yields generously, these wines need not be expensive. There is a reason it was so popular in the Cape: because it is well suited to the climate and soils, and it makes economic sense. While the fashion was for bigger, darker red wines, it was out of favour, but now lighter-style red wines are back in fashion, and it is time for Cinsault to shine.

‘Cinsaut has been overlooked,’ says Robin Naylor of Boutinot, a UK-based wine agency business with a strong South African focus. ‘It has been the elephant in the room in the Cape. There’s huge interest in Pinot Noir, but in terms of a pale and interesting wine they have it here already in Cinsault. It’s a style unique to the Cape: they should be shouting about it!’ Boutinot produce two affordable and interesting Cinsauts. The Sun and Air is inexpensive (under £8 in the UK), with most of the fruit taken from unirrigated Paarl Mountain bush vines. And the Kindred Cinsault is made by Werner Engelbrecht from 40 year old bush vines just 500 m from the sea in Stellenbosch.

Eben Sadie’s Ou Wingerdreeks Pofadder is a varietal Cinsault from 50 year old bush vines growing on the western side of the Kasteelberg in the Swartland. This is the wine that started to change the fortune of Cinsault, and there are now quite a few ambitious varietal Cinsaults emerging in its wake. Rall, Alheit, Ian Naudé, Waterkloof, Silverwis and Blank Bottle are all making impressive examples. The attraction of these wines is chiefly that they are just so drinkable and refreshing, as well as having some subtle, beguiling complexity.

Cinsualt is a good blending component, as well. Back in the 1960s and 1970s when international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon were becoming more popular, these grapes were in short supply. So there was an official dispensation that allowed winemakers to label a wine varietally, but still include a large dollop of Cinsault in the blend. Many of the wines from this era have aged beautifully, in large part because of the contribution of the Cinsault to the blend. A wine labelled Cabernet Sauvignon from this era could have as much as 40% Cinsault present as an undisclosed component.

It's for this reason that some of the winegrowers in South Africa are beginning to use Cinsault as a blender. So is Cinsualt best for making lighter varietal reds, or is it best in a blend? ‘We aren’t necessarily keen on it as a single variety,’ says Chris Mullineux of Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines. ‘It is a fantastic blending component. 5% or 10% in a very serious wine adds an extra element.’ He thinks that varietal Cinsaults are good drinking wines, but not fine wines. ‘If you are making a £15 bottle of wine it can be fantastic, but I don’t think it will ever be capable of absolute greatness on its own.’

Mullineux’s views are shared by others. ‘It needs to be what it is,’ says Peter-Allan Finlayson of Crystallum. ‘It’s not an expensive grape, and there’s a lot of it.’ But he thinks that it can be fantastic in blends. ‘When it is blended with Cabernet it becomes ageworthy and takes on a new dimension. It does really well when it adds an aromatic element of a spicy element to a blend.’

Chris Alheit and his wife Suzaan have made their reputation working with heritage white wine vineyards (the Cartology, Radio Lazarus and Magnetic North Chenin Blancs are highly sought after), but then ended up making a Cinsault for a friend. As a result, the Alheits have started to make red wines under the Flotsam and Jetsam label. They are exploring the two sides of Cinsault: varietally, as a drinkable, elegant lighter red wine, and also as a component in more serious blend. ‘It is a café wine,’ he says. ‘It’s a table wine. That’s the role it should play.’ He cites the famous old wines of Chateau Libertas, which was a blend of Cabernet and Cinsault that aged beautifully. ‘It was a daily wine,’ says Alheit. ‘It wasn’t any kind of a vainglorious attempt at getting 100 points.’ He adds, ‘Cinsault can make profound wines: [Eben Sadie’s] Pofadder is pretty extraordinary, but that is not what we are aiming for.’ His Flotsam and Jetsam Days of Yore is an equal parts blend of Cinsault and Cabernet, aged in an old 3000 litre foudre (an old brandy barrel from KWV), and is based on the old-style blends of the Cape.

So things are looking very bright for this important but under-appreciated variety.