Thirst Cinsault

Beautiful with seafood dishes, or even as an aperitif, as the freshness and aromatic profile will be great to open the appetite.

The Cinsault vines were planted in 1989 and are grown on sandy soils lining the banks of the Moddergat River. They are bush vines and keep fruit within the canopy, away from direct sunlight. There is no irrigation in this vineyard so it produces a small crop but one with lovely concentration and we harvested early during ripening to retain maximum freshness.

In the cellar, semi-carbonic maceration methods were used during the natural fermentation, resulting in a wonderfully perfumed fruit expression.

Founded in 1998 by Alex Dale, Radford Dale set about the Cape in search of exciting vineyard parcels for their chosen specialist varietals. Today, they have two producing wineries. The first is located in Stellenbosch, predominantly focused on sourcing maritime influenced parcels around the Helderberg and Polkadraai. Here, they produce the cult, single vineyard wines of Renaissance Chenin Blanc and Frankenstein Pinotage, and the Radford Dale Vinum range; a set of six wines that consistently overdeliver on style to price. The 2022 vintage marked the maiden release from their own vineyards purchased in Elgin under Radford Dale Organic, with the release of four single varietal Estate wines, the only organic certified vineyards in the region. More recently, they have co-founded South Africa’s first Organic Wine Association. They continue to reintroduce Gamay Noir to the Cape, establishing the first new plantings for some 20 years. It’s a varietal geared up to thrive in warm conditions, and on granite soils. Stylistically, Gamay also embodies Radford Dale’s championing of elegant, refreshing red wines.