The cinsault grape is unusually well adapted to cope with heat waves and dry weather. So, it is a grape that some wine regions should perhaps pay more attention to. It produces a light and bright wine with intense red fruit aromas and often has slightly lower alcohol levels. An excellent grape in many ways.
This uplifting sunshine story from Northern California’s Lake County demonstrates the grape’s ability to survive in difficult circumstances. On the abandoned land of their newly purchased property, the Shannons discovered a thick and gnarled trunk half hidden among barbed wire and bushes.
It turned out to be a 150-year-old cinsault that a Croatian family brought with them from Europe when they settled here in 1870. In collaboration with a nursery, they took cuttings from the vine and now, in 2024, they have made their first cinsault wine.
Read more about this exciting story: wineenthusiast
