Cinsault

About Cinsault

Cinsault (sometimes spelled Cinsaut) is the pale, perfumed red of the Mediterranean south — a drought-hardy variety that thrives on baked stony soils yet somehow keeps its freshness. For most of the twentieth century it was treated as a workhorse blending grape, softening firmer partners in Provençal rosés and southern Rhône reds. In the last two decades it has been rediscovered by a new generation of natural-wine growers, who see in its old bush vines the raw material for some of the most joyful, gulpable reds and rosés in France.

Where it grows

Cinsault’s stronghold is southern France. In the Languedoc-Roussillon, ancient gobelet-trained bush vines dot the schist, limestone and clay-limestone hills of the Hérault, Aude and Gard, some of them well over a hundred years old. In Provence, it is one of the classic partners for Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Tibouren in the region’s famous pale rosés, prized for the lift, aromatics and lightness it brings.

In the southern Rhône Valley it is one of the thirteen permitted grapes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a common seasoning in the reds and rosés of Costières de Nîmes and the wider Côtes du Rhône. It is also grown in Corsica, where it plays a supporting role alongside Nielluccio and Sciaccarello, and in small pockets of southern Italy and coastal Spain. The common thread is a Mediterranean climate: Cinsault loves heat and stony soils, but the coastal breezes and cool nights of the south are what keep it from tipping into heaviness.

Character

Expect a pale ruby or garnet colour, low tannin, high acidity and a naturally moderate alcohol level for such a warm climate. The aromatics lean red and floral: strawberry, raspberry, red cherry, pomegranate, rose petal, sometimes a savoury note of dried herbs or garrigue. On the palate it is silky, transparent and quenching rather than powerful, closer in spirit to a good Beaujolais than to a Grenache. This lightness is exactly why it makes such lovely rosé — a direct press yields wines of a delicate salmon hue, saline and elegant, without any need for heavy extraction.

In natural wine

Cinsault has become one of the emblematic grapes of the low-intervention movement in the south of France. Old-vine gobelet parcels, once uprooted in favour of “improving” varieties, are now being carefully farmed, dry-farmed and hand-harvested by natural-wine growers who prize their low yields and concentrated fruit.

In the cellar the grape practically vinifies itself. Whole-cluster and semi-carbonic fermentations bring out its perfume and keep the tannins soft; direct pressing gives pale, saline rosés; ageing in old wood, concrete or stainless preserves its aromatic lift. Its natural acidity and low pH allow growers to work with little or no added sulphur, and its modest alcohol keeps the wines eminently drinkable. The result is the archetype of the southern French glou-glou wine: bright, floral, gently savoury and impossible not to finish.

At the table

Cinsault is the ultimate hot-weather red. Slightly chilled (12–14 °C), it partners beautifully with grilled fish, salade niçoise, tapenade and other Mediterranean starters, mezze, roast vegetables, chicken tagine, charcuterie and soft cheeses. The pale rosés are made for aperitif hour and for anything from the sea, served properly cool at 8–10 °C.