It was back in 1982 and I was just of legal drinking age. Those reds were typically a 2/3 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1/3 Cinsaut blend. When my father and I decided to plant a small experimental vineyard in 1983, we approached Etienne le Riche, who was the winemaker at Rustenberg at the time, for advice. Our idea was to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsaut, however we were advised to rather plant Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir as we are in a cooler area.
Merlot quickly overtook Cinsaut as Cabernet's blending partner of choice in the 1980's and certainly still makes for many formidable wines, especially in Stellenbosch. However, I've always had an inkling to re-look at Cinsaut as a foil for Cabernet, as it seems to loosen Cabernet up in a way that Merlot doesn't. So I approached respected viticulturist, Rosa Kruger, to recommend a Cinsaut vineyard and ended up 'following the line' to a vineyard in Darling that Duncan Savage and many other hip winemakers are using.
So a bit of a long story, but an interesting part of my wine journey. The Old School Trafford 2014 blend consists of Cabernet Sauvignon 67% and Cinsaut 33% and was produced with the idea of putting it on the CWG Auction. I got cold feet at the last minute and I didn't bottle it in time to put it forward for selection. Judging by the way the auction went this year (the average red wine bottle price was over R1000), we can safely say we are offering this at half price!
The Old Trafford 2014 blend was in effect the second wine to the Old School - what to do with the rest of the Cinsaut? The idea was to simply flip the blend around with 2/3 Cinsaut and 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon which was also quite common pre 80's. Of course I couldn't resist adding some of our delicious Syrah. So the blend is Cinsaut 47%, Cabernet Sauvignon 33% and Syrah 20%. We feel that this is drinking beautifully now with a wonderfully aromatic nose, however it will be fascinating to see how it develops.
