For many years, Cinsault was the stepchild of the South African wine industry. Being one of the parents of Pinotage, the cultivar was neglected and never had the chance to show its potential. I was fortunate to find this beautiful Old Vine Cinsault on a farm just outside Darling. This block was so well looked after and never over-cropped. When we got the opportunity to use these grapes that were previously sold to co-ops, we gave it a chance and the result was astounding! The secret of this block is the picking date, regular visits to vineyard, tasting the grapes and understanding the exact day to pick.
Picked in small crates and left overnight in cold room to bring temperature down toroughly 10 degrees Celsius. The challenge is to interpret the current vintage conditions in order to balance whole bunch, destemming of grapes, and adding stalks. A combination of whole bunch, destemmed grapes, and stalks go into a stainless steel tank and left until natural fermentation starts. One to two soft pump overs per day and left for roughly 2 weeks, pressed and wine transferred into older 225L French oak barrels (minimum oxidation during the process). Barrel ageing for 12-15 months.
