According to winemaker Raats, who is also cellar master of Longridge Wine Estate, he has always had a soft spot for Cinsault. “Hermitage is a heritage cultivar and was once considered the backbone of the South African wine industry. At some stage, it was the most prominent red varietal in the country and we had the largest plantings of Cinsault in the world. Unfortunately, this awesome variety became the Cinderella of the industry and loads of Hermitage vineyards were uprooted and replaced by other varietals. Making this wine was a gamble, but I thought it had great potential and I could do something to preserve an old block of wine and a piece of our winemaking heritage at the same time,” explains Raats.
Raats and his friend Rupert McNaught-Davis have been discussing making a Cinsault from the small 4-hectare block for a couple of years and during the 2015 vintage Raats eventually decided to take in some grapes to make the Cinsault. “I had a hunch that this could be a great wine and the recent accolades have obviously proven me right. We named the wine “Die Plêk” as I think that the slopes of the Helderberg mountains are just the perfect place to plant Cinsault,” says Raats.
The single vineyard bush vines date back to 1974 and were meticulously cared for by hand. The lightly tinted, medium-bodied wine shows aromatic floral notes on the nose and follows through with ripe strawberries, cherries, sweet spices and soft tannins on the palate.
The wine was made following Raats’ natural and bio-dynamic approach with no commercial yeasts, enzymes or fining agents. It was matured in mature French oak for nine months and is expected to improve with correct cellaring over the next 6-8 years.
Visit the Longridge tasting room to sample this exquisite wine or visit www.longridge.co.za for more information.