🍇 Cinsaut
A red grape from France and one parent of Pinotage; 20,800 ha in France (2009), known in South Africa as Hermitage.
Cinsaut (also Cinsault) is a red grape variety from France. The VIVC catalogue classes it as both a wine and a table grape and lists 122 other names, among them the Italian Ottavianello and the South African Hermitage.
In France it once covered huge areas: VIVC records 51,643 ha in 1979 and 20,800 ha in 2009. It also grows in other warm lands: Morocco (6,196 ha, 1988), South Africa (2,241 ha, 2008) and Turkey (444 ha, 2010).
Cinsaut often goes into rosé. The Tavel appellation in the southern Rhône, for example, allows only still rosé wines, and Cinsaut is on its list of grapes together with Grenache. The file explains that the local soils and climate give a deep, structured rosé, and the appellation has specialised entirely in it from the start.
The variety's most famous offspring is Pinotage. Abraham Perold crossed it in South Africa in 1925, and DNA markers confirmed that the parents are Cinsaut and Pinot Noir (VIVC). In South Africa Cinsaut is known as Hermitage; this is a synonym of the grape, not the French wine Hermitage, so the two should not be confused.
Why it matters to you. "Cinsault", "Cinsaut", "Ottavianello" and South African "Hermitage" are the same grape. If the grape is named on a bottle of EU wine, it makes up at least 85 % of it. Red wines are served at 15–18 °C.
Facts
| Country | France |
|---|---|
| Region | southern France (Tavel); South Africa; Morocco |
| Main use | wine and table grape |
How it connects to Wine
🍇 Cinsaut → kind of → 🍇 Grape varieties → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Traditions
- 🌍 Southern Africa
- Part of
- 🍇 Grape varieties
- Origin
- 🗺️ French wine
- Where it grows
- 📍 Languedoc, 📍 Provence, 📍 Southern Rhône, 📍 Languedoc-Roussillon
- Main grape in
- 📜 Bandol, 📜 Coteaux Varois en Provence, 📜 Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, 📜 Tavel, 📜 Ventoux, 📜 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 📜 Palette, 📜 Côtes de Provence, 📜 Côtes du Rhône, 📍 Languedoc, 📜 Lirac
- Related to
- 🍷 Guigal Tavel, 🍷 Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rosé
- Wines made from it
- 🍷 Rosé
- Offspring
- 🍇 Pinotage, 🍇 Castel 19637, 🍇 Clarin, 🍇 Verdelet
- Similar and different
- 🍇 Grenache
Frequently asked questions
Where does Cinsaut come from?
From France, which has 20,800 ha (2009, VIVC).
Is it true that Pinotage is Pinot Noir crossed with French Hermitage?
No. Pinotage's second parent is Cinsaut, which South Africans called Hermitage (VIVC).
Who bred Pinotage, and when?
Abraham Perold in South Africa, in 1925.
What is Cinsaut called in Italy?
Ottavianello, one of 122 synonyms.
Which wines are made from Cinsaut?
Reds and rosés; for example, it is permitted in rosé Tavel.
What to read next
- 📜 Châteauneuf-du-Pape — French PDO for still white and red wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and four other communes of the Vaucluse.
- 🍷 Guigal Tavel — Guigal Tavel: rosé wine by Guigal from the southern Rhône; Tavel.
- 📍 Provence — A wine region in south-east France where over 90% of the wine is rosé; the main appellations are Côtes de Provence, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence and Coteaux Varois.
- 🌍 Southern Africa — The region where amasi is eaten, a thick soured milk: home-made ferments 1–5 days, industrial 16–24 hours; it is served with maize porridge.
- 🍇 Verdelet — A French hybrid by Albert Seibel with white berries, used for eating and wine.
Similar
🍇 Mourvèdre · 🍇 Caladoc · 🍇 Tibouren · 🍇 Clairette · 🍇 Grenache · 🍇 Counoise
Sources
- VIVC (Vitis International Variety Catalogue): passport Cinsaut
- VIVC (Vitis International Variety Catalogue): passport Pinotage
- VIVC: area statistics CINSAUT
- eAmbrosia — technical file: PDO «Tavel» (Ares(2011)1332355)
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (grape varieties on labels)
- Simons C.T. Left out in the cold: Serving wines chilled. Temperature, 2019