Revolutionising Cinsaut Yvonne le Riche Dissertation submitted to the Cape Wine Academy in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Diploma of Cape Wine Master March 2015 DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL WORK I, Yvonne le Riche, declare that this dissertation is my own, unaided work. It is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the diploma of Cape Wine Master to the Cape Wine Academy. It has not been submitted before for qualification of examination in this or any other educational organisation. Yvonne le Riche Date: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my dear friend and Cape Wine Master mentor, Junel Vermeulen, for her encouragement, generous sharing of knowledge and true passion for great wine. To my husband Ewald Jooste, thank you for your endless patience with my academic pursuits. May we share many great wines together in future! Thank you to my family for infinite support and inspiration. Great appreciation goes to my fellow Cape Wine Master students and graduates who assisted and supported me during my studies. Lastly I would like to thank the viticulturists, winemakers and industry professionals who patiently and enthusiastically answered my questions and truly assisted in providing this assignment with substance. ABSTRACT Cinsaut has recently re-emerged within the South African wine industry as both a blending component and single grape varietal. This assignment summarises the historical use of Cinsaut within the South African context as well as the merits of this variety in the modern winemaking environment. Focus will fall on the characteristics of Cinsaut, for example what the variety adds to a blend, popular regions of growth as well as possible downsides. Industry statistics are discussed in order to provide a snapshot of current and past occurrences and trends. Interviews have been conducted with experienced winemakers to ascertain why they decided against using Cinsaut. Opinions of the younger winemaking generation have also been garnered to ascertain the reasons why they are considering re- introducing this variety. A section on the application of Cinsaut within the international arena, as well as a short marketing perspective, is included. Although Cinsaut has played an important role in the production of bulk wines, both historically as well as in the current market, this assignment will focus on the quality aspects of Cinsaut. LIMITATIONS To date only limited research or written work has been completed with specific regard to Cinsaut. Although the variety is mentioned in various works on wine (viticulture, viniculture and marketing) it is hardly ever the focus point of the study. Due to this limitation, personal and telephonic interviews were conducted along with detailed email correspondence. TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Scope of the assignment ...................................................................................... 2 1.2 Contribution of the assignment ............................................................................. 2 1.3 Outline of the assignment ..................................................................................... 3 SECTION 2: SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY ......................................................................... 4 Chapter 1: Arrival of Cinsaut in South Africa .................................................................. 5 Chapter 2: Winemaking and wine styles during 1900s................................................... 6 2.1 Wine styles .......................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1 Dry table wines .................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1. A White wine .............................................................................................. 8 2.1.1. B Rosé wine ……………………………………………………………………..9 2.1.1. C Red wine .............................................................................................. 10 2.1.2 Sweet red wines ................................................................................................. 13 2.1.3 Port .................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.4 Brandy ............................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 3: Icon wines of the time .................................................................................. 15 3.1 Alto Rouge ......................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Chateau Libertas ................................................................................................ 17 3.3 Tassenberg ........................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 4: The link to Pinotage ...................................................................................... 19 Chapter 5: The decline of Cinsaut ................................................................................. 20 SECTION 3: VITICULTURE ............................................................................................. 21 Chapter 1: Origins of Cinsaut ........................................................................................ 22 1.1 Synonyms .......................................................................................................... 22 1.2 Cinsaut Blanc ..................................................................................................... 23 1.3 Historical Hermitage ........................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: Rootstocks and clonal material ................................................................... 24 2.1 Cinsaut rootstocks.............................................................................................. 24 2.2 Cinsaut clones ................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3: Ampelography of Cinsaut ............................................................................. 29 3.1 Identifying the variety ......................................................................................... 29 3.1.1 Shoots .................................................................................................. 29 3.1.2 Leaves.................................................................................................. 29 3.1.3 Bunches ............................................................................................... 29 3.1.4 Berries .................................................................................................. 30 3.1.5 Ripening ............................................................................................... 30 3.1.6 Yield ..................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 4: Cultivation and viticultural management ..................................................... 31 4.1 Ideal Cinsaut terroir ............................................................................................ 31 4.2 Vineyard practices.............................................................................................. 32 4.2.1 Trellis systems and yields ..................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Canopy management, diseases/viruses and harvesting ....................... 34 Chapter 5: South African growing regions .................................................................... 36 Chapter 6: South African Statistics ............................................................................... 36 6.1 Age of Cinsaut vines .......................................................................................... 36 6.2 Price of Cinsaut grapes ...................................................................................... 41 6.3 Hectares of Cinsaut ............................................................................................ 41 6.4 Cinsaut as a percentage of red grapes ............................................................... 42 SECTION 4: WINEMAKING ............................................................................................. 44 Chapter 1: Cinsaut trends .............................................................................................. 45 Chapter 2: Approach to vinification ............................................................................... 46 2.1 Mount Abora: Saffronne Cinsaut 2014 ............................................................... 46 2.2 Mullineux Family Wines: Kloof Street Swartland Rouge 2011 ........................... 47 2.3 Blank Bottle: My Koffer 2011 .............................................................................. 48 2.4 Sadie Family Wines: Old Vine Series Pofadder 2012 ........................................ 49 2.5 Landskroon Wines: Cinsaut 2012 ...................................................................... 49 2.6 Neil Ellis Wines: Cinsaut 2012........................................................................... 50 Chapter 3: Varietal vs Blends ......................................................................................... 51 SECTION 5: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ........................................................ 60 Chapter 1: Global