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The house grapes · red

Cinsault: the delicate grape behind rosé and Pinotage

Cinsault is a French red grape with red fruit and a delicate touch, widely used in rosé. In Provence, it forms the trio of the local rosés with Grenache and Syrah; in the southern Rhône and the Languedoc, it rounds out the blends. In South Africa it was once the country's most planted red and, crossed with Pinot Noir, gave rise to Pinotage. And in Chile it lives in Itata, one of the country's oldest wine regions.

Where it comes from

Cinsault is French. In VIVC, the international grape catalog, its main name is Cinsaut, without the L, and the country of origin is France. The spelling with an L, Cinsault, is the most common on labels, and both appear in the list of synonyms. VIVC also records a curious detail: it's used both for making wine and as a table grape.

It also traveled around the Mediterranean. In Puglia, in southern Italy, the official variety register describes Ottavianello, studied in a nursery in Ostuni, and notes Cinsaut as its name in France. The Italian record speaks of a plant with good resistance to drought and intense heat. In South Africa, Abraham Perold, the professor who created Pinotage, wrote in 1927 that it had reached the Cape in the 1880s.

What it's like in the glass

It's the grape of delicacy. The rules of the Côtes de Provence appellation sum up the role of each grape in the blend: Grenache brings alcohol and roundness, Syrah brings fruit, Mourvèdre brings stamina for aging and Cinsault brings finesse and elegance. In rosé, that becomes a pale color, tart red fruit (cherry, raspberry), a touch of spice and a fresh, round palate, as the rules describe it for the Aix sector.

On its own, as a red, Cinsault usually makes wine that's easy to drink young. WOSA, which represents South African wines, describes a generous-yielding and very versatile grape: it goes into blends with Cabernet and becomes an early-drinking red, rosé and even sweet wine in the Port style. It's the kind of red worth serving a little cooler, a few minutes in the fridge before opening.

What it pairs with

Cinsault rosé is a partner for light food and hot weather: garlic shrimp, summer salad, grilled fish, sushi, quiche, pastel de feira (a street-market fried pastry) and that Sunday roast chicken. The red, light and fruity, goes well with pizza margherita, roast pork sandwiches, cold cuts, grilled eggplant and boteco (Brazilian bar) food. Since it isn't heavy, it can even handle a fish moqueca. All suggestions: liked another pairing? Go with that one.

Where it shines today

In Provence, Cinsault is one of the main grapes of Côtes de Provence, where rosé is the vast majority: 89% of production in 2009, the rules say. It's also a main grape in Bandol and is among the 18 of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In the Rhône Valley appellations there were 2,215 hectares in 2023, according to Inter Rhône. In the Corbières, in the Languedoc, it plays a supporting role, with up to 20% of the red vineyard.

In South Africa, where for decades it was called Hermitage, WOSA notes that it was once the country's most planted red, before losing ground to other grapes. In Chile, Wines of Chile counts 831 hectares of Cinsault in Itata, one of the country's oldest wine regions, plus 55 more in Bío Bío and Malleco. Everywhere it goes, it plays the same role: red fruit, freshness and delicacy.

Its other names

VIVC lists 122 synonyms. The ones on labels: Cinsault or Cinsaut in France and around the world, Hermitage in South Africa's history and Ottavianello in Italy. The list also includes Oeillade, Picardan Noir and Black Prince. A word of caution: Samsó, which appears among its synonyms in VIVC, is also one of Carignan's names in Spain. When in doubt, the label from its home region has the final word.

Four little seedlings and a new name

In 1925, Professor Abraham Perold, of Stellenbosch University, crossed Pinot Noir with Cinsault, which at the Cape was called Hermitage. VIVC confirms the pedigree by DNA and records the year. Legend has it, WOSA says, that Perold forgot the four little seedlings in the garden when he changed jobs, and that they were rescued just in time. One of them became the mother of all of today's Pinotage.

The name has a story of its own. Hermitage is an appellation in the northern Rhône, where the red grape is Syrah. At the Cape, Cinsault got that name by mistake, and Perold himself wrote in 1927 that it was Cinsaut. In 1935, the seedlings were grafted at Welgevallen and, according to WOSA, Perold and Professor CJ Theron put Pinot together with the end of Hermitage: Pinotage.

Top rated with Cinsault

Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.

• Porto Ferreira Vintage PortPortugal · dessert/port · Cinsault, Touriga Francarating ★ 4.5
• Château des Tours Côtes du RhôneFrance · red · Cinsault, Grenacherating ★ 4.5
• Château Maucoil Privilège Châteauneuf-du-PapeFrance · red · Cinsault, Syrah/Shirazrating ★ 4.5
• Chateau de Fonsalette Réserve Côtes-du-RhôneFrance · red · Cinsault, Syrah/Shirazrating ★ 4.4
• Minuty 281 RoséFrance · rosé · Cinsault, Syrah/Shirazrating ★ 4.4
• Domaine de l'Abbaye Clos Beylesse Côtes de Provence RoséFrance · rosé · Cinsault, Syrah/Shirazrating ★ 4.4
• Adobe Guadalupe KerubielMexico · red · Cinsault, Syrah/Shirazrating ★ 4.3
• Niepoort Douro Charme TintoPortugal · red · Cinsault, Touriga Francarating ★ 4.3

See all 273 labels with Cinsault in the search →