Drinking Imagery's 2006 Cinsault is about as close as I believe I will ever come to actually drinking velvet. It is this very rich, full-bodied lush wine that is bursting with dark fruit and some surprising tannins in there which give it uncharacteristic structure for cinsault. I get bits of lavender, vanilla, plum, blackberry, cinnamon and just the faintest hint of earth.
It glides over the tongue and coats it in this soft, delightful and utterly addicting way and has a finish that I want to last for days.
The cinsault grape is an interesting one- one of the most prolific grapes in France, they grow more of it there than Cabernet Sauvignon. The French love their cinsault so much that it's one of the crops they actually brought to Algeria when they colonized there. It's traditionally used as a Rhone blender, it grows nice and easy and can produce huge crops. The quality of course, is low when the grapes are not carefully controlled since the quantity is so high, quality must be managed carefully. It's known to be a pretty hearty, drought-resistant grape which is why it grows so well. It likes to be on hills. It does well with other hilly-grapes like mouvedre.
It's known as "hermitage" in south africa, in 1925 Professor Perold cross-bred with a petite syrah which produced the first original south-african varietal: pinotage.
By itself, cinsault is not known for its tannins, which is why the blending gives it structure and some measure of longevity.
Go out and enjoy some cinsault. Let its fruit suck you in, delight you and cast a spell on you. Look for it in any Rhone blend and you will notice the fruit it adds to the wine. Try a big, luscious high-end one like Imagery's cinsault, and you will fall in love as I have.
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