cinsault
Cinsault (also spelt Cinsaut) is a black grape variety with a strange reputation. It's quite widely planted in southern France and South Africa, yet isn't regarded as a high-quality variety. It's planted because it produces big berries with lots of juice and therefore high yields. That makes it popular with growers, but less so with producers.
Its reputation also suffered as it's one of the parents, alongside Pinot Noir, of South Africa's Pinotage. Pinotage is a variety which produces much better wines than its reputation suggests, but Cinsault, with its high yields and basic wines, was seen as part of the problem with Pinotage. (Pinotage's name comes from Pinot Noir and Hermitage, which is how Cinsault used to be called in South Africa.)
But Cinsault is far more interesting than simply producing high yields and high volume wine. It's planted across southern France, usually making up a small part of blends. For instance, Domaine Rimbert's "Les Travers de Marceau" from St-Chinian is 15% Cinsault; La Barroche's "LIberty" is 10% Cinsault. The high yields are useful; after all, both growers and producers need to make money. It also retains naturally high acidity, which is important in a warm climate. The tannins are soft, making Cinsault a useful component for rosé. The red fruit, herbal aromas are attractive, and contribute to blends with Grenache. There are a lot of reasons to plant Cinsault.
It's also capable of producing great wines on its own. In South Africa, where it used to be the most planted black grape variety, producers are making old-vine Cinsault which has lower yields and greater concentration of aromas and structure. blackpoolmatt's wine club has featured South African Cinsault before as these are some of the most exciting wines coming out of the country. Craven makes exceptional Cinsault; so too does Scions of Sinai, whose Cinsault is a new arrival into the club. It's like Beaujolais and the southern Rhône rolled into one: two of my favorite things in one glass.
Because of its high yields and its common use in blends, Cinsault gets overlooked. But there are some very good wines being made from Cinsault in France and South Africa. The light, red fruit, herbal aromas are very attractive and it's a versatile food pairing—ideal for the winter holdiay season but also lightly chilled during the warm summer months. And whenever I see Cinsault in a blend, I know there's going to be a crunchy fruitiness to the wine. Drink Cinsault!