Diapsalmata Cinsault 2022, Angus Paul, Stellenbosch

White pepper leads on the nose before Cinsault’s signature strawberries and raspberries. The tannins are fine, but firm, with a natural brightness shining through the wine as a result of the cool climate.

Angus Paul has a passion for South African heritage varietals, focussing on Chenin Blanc and Pinotage, and believes in minimal intervention winemaking – a combination that clearly works well.

Diapsalmata loosely translates to a ‘refrain’, which befits the introduction of Cinsault into the range, as it provides a call-back between the ‘Single Sites’ of Chenin (and potentially Pinotage).

Sourced from an old single vineyard, planted in 1966 in Firgrove; an area producing many of the top Stellenbosch Cinsaults. The soils are coarse red granite and the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, which provides cooling influences, is only a couple of kilometres.

Whole bunches are foot trodden before undergoing fermentation – without the addition of sulphur, yeast, acid, enzymes or water. After fermentation and sufficient tannin extraction, the wine was transferred into large, old, oak barrels for 8 months of maturation.