Die Plêk Cinsault 2015

By , 19 May 2016

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Die Plêk Cinsault 2015

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Things are hotting up in the re-emerging category that Is Cinsaut/Cinsault with the launch of Die Plêk 2015 from Jasper Raats of Longridge in Stellenbosch. Selling for R360 a bottle, grapes are sourced from a 1974 Helderberg vineyard, juice fermented spontaneously and the wine matured for 12 months in old 300-litre barrels.

There’s a slight reductive note on the nose before red cherry, strawberry and a little spice. The palate is rich and broad with moderate acidity and quite soft tannins. Alcohol is 14.5% and Raats says he picked quite late to avoid any green character but the wine could do with a little more freshness for me. Only 900 litres made.

#WinemagRating: 87/100.

Part of Raats’s motivation for making the wine is to draw attention to the assest that South Africa has in older vines and in this regard the Pinotage 2014 should not be overlooked either. Also from vineyards some 40 years of age, and made in much the same way as the Cinsault, it shows floral perfume, cherries and spice on the nose. The palate is medium bodied with fresh acidity and fine tannins. A great example of new-wave Pinotage and a bargain at R130 a bottle.

#WinemagRating: 90/100.

See a photo album of  the launch here.

Find our South African wine ratings database here.

 

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4 comment(s)

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    Smirrie | 19 May 2016

    I would like to purchase some of that Pinotage. Is it sold ex cellar or some retail website ?

    Kwispedoor | 19 May 2016

    Is excessive greenness a thing with Cinsault? Have you (or others reading this) ever picked up excessive greenness on old-vine Cinsaut made at 13 to 14% ABV? Of course I haven’t tasted this wine so I can’t possibly be critical about it, but I can’t help feeling in general that high-alcohol Cinsaut makes me think of high-alcohol Riesling – almost like going against nature…

      Christian | 19 May 2016

      Hi Kwispedoor, The vineyard is heavily virused and I imagine that the concern is that picking earlier might not provide very much to work with at all. That said, Raats says he did pick earlier in 2016.

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