Craven - Cinsault - Stellenbosch, ZA - 2022
Regular price $35.00
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Notes from the Winery/Importer
From 2017 we were lucky enough to be shown some fruit from a farm we have always wanted to make wine from, named Rustenhof. This great farm in the Faure area has an abundance of lovely Cinsaut, amongst many other varieties. This dryland, bush-vine block, planted in granite and sand, suits our style very well and is a pleasure to work with. Uniquely to our usual red winemaking style, we destem our Cinsaut before fermentation. We find that Cinsaut has a lower acidity than Pinot noir and Syrah, so we like to capture the little acidity that it has (whole bunch ferments tend to reduce acidity). Much like our Pinot Gris, the 2023 rendition of the Cinsaut has moved to 100% concrete for fermentation and ageing. We like to capture the fresher, brighter characters of Cinsaut and we find the use of concrete helps us preserve the bright fruit and energy of the wine. After the fermentation on skins is complete we drain and press to the concrete tanks for 6 months of elevage before bottling. Ingredients: Grapes, SO2.
Vitals
100% Cinsaut
W.O Stellenbosch
Vineyard: Rustenhof
Planting Year: 1988 and 1975
Grown by: Pieter Bredell
Soil: Granite, sand.
Alcohol: 11.95 %
pH: 3.63
Total Acidity: 4.9 g/L
Notes on the Producer
Craven Wines is a winemaking collaboration between husband-and-wife team Mick and Jeanine Craven. Mick is an Aussie and Jeanine is South African; they met in California dragging hoses in Sonoma for harvest in 2007. After both having taken to the textbooks at their respective universities, they decided to hit the road, see lots of things, work in lots of places and try and learn as much as possible from this massive wine world. After traveling across the world together for four years and learning about wines in Australia, Europe, the States and South America, the couple returned to South Africa in late 2011. They feel Stellenbosch has such an amazing array of sites and terroir, and that it is perfect for what they want to do, which is making site-specific, honest wines.