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No Hermitage is another name for Shiraz or Syrah.

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Cinsaut

Cinsaut (or Cinsault) is most often used as a blending grape with other types. France has more Cinsaut planted (50,000 hectares) than Cabernet Sauvignon and there is as much Cinsaut acreage planted in its former backdoor wine colony of Algeria.

Cinsaut is one of those "grower" varieties that easily produces a very large crop of 6 to 10 tons per acre. At this crop level, it shows little flavor distinction. When properly managed to crop from just 2 to 4 tons per acre, it can produce quite flavorful wines of strong aroma and easy quaffability.

The tight bunches rot easily, so it does best in drier climes. The Cinsaut vine is fairly drought tolerant and has a fairly short growing season. With cluster stems that easily detatch from the vine, Cinsaut adapts well to machine harvesting.

It is one of the most often planted varieties in Southern France, Algeria and Morocco, and is a major red variety in South Africa, Corsica, and Lebanon. The North African plantings were particularly important when, as colonies of France, their wine was shipped across the Mediterranean for blending. The grape was originally known as "Hermitage" in South Africa (although French Hermitage has none in its blend). When a South African professor crossed the grape with Pinot Noir, he therefore named it Pinotage (now the Top Red there). There are also Cinsaut plantings in Australia, although it has yet to achieve popularity there.

Cinsault leaf.Wine made from cinsaut grapes can have great perfume and supple texture. Fairly low in tannin, it is often made into rosé by itself or blended, to brighten the fruit and tone down the harsher edges of carignan, in particular. Although officially sanctioned in Châteauneuf du Pape, it is used by only a few producers in their blends.
Typical Cinsault Smell and/or Flavor Descriptors

Varietal Aromas/Flavors:
Fruit: strawberry
Floral:
Spice:
Herbal:

Processing Bouquets/Flavors:
Terroir: musk, meat
Oak (light): sweet wood, vanilla
Oak (heavy): oak, smoke, toast, tar
Bottle Age:

http://www.winepros.org/wine101/grape_profiles/cinsault.htm

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Syrah is the only grape used to make the famous Rhône wines of Côte Rotie and Hermitage, but also forms the backbone of most Rhône blends, including Chateauneuf du Pape.

Although cultivated since antiquity, competing claims to the origin of this variety gave credit to it either being transplanted from Persia, near the similarly-titled city of Shiraz or to being a native plant of France. Starting in 1998, combined research of the University of California at Davis and the French National Agronomy Archives in Montpellier proved syrah is indeed indigenous to France. DNA profiling proved syrah to be a genetic cross of two relatively obscure varieties, mondeuse blanc and dureza.

More than half the world's total Syrah acreage is planted in France, but it is also a successful grape in Australia (called Shiraz or Hermitage), South Africa and California. Syrah is a fairly new variety in California, first introduced in 1971. Some of the state's vines were propagated from Hermitage and some from Australian cuttings. It is also one of California's most rapidly increasing varieties. In 1984, there were less than 100 acres. Syrah now accounts for 12,700 vineyard acres, almost half of which is less than three years old and not yet bearing fruit.

Syrah vines are relatively productive, yet not too vigorous. Like Merlot, it is sensitive to coulure, and although Syrah buds fairly late, it is a mid-season ripener. Syrah requires heat to get fully ripe, but can lose varietal character when even slightly overripe. The berry is thick-skinned and dark, almost black.

Syrah forms intense wines, with deep violet, nearly black color, chewy texture and richness, and often alcoholic strength, with aromas that tend to be more spicy than fruity.
Typical Syrah Smell and/or Flavor Descriptors

Varietal Aromas/Flavors:
Fruit: black currant, blackberry
Floral: grass
Spice: black pepper, licorice, clove, thyme, bay leaf
Herbal: sandalwood, cedar

Processing Bouquets/Flavors:
Terroir: musk, civet, truffle, earth
Oak (light): vanilla, coconut, sweet wood
Oak (heavy): oak, smoke, toast, tar
Bottle Age: cedar, cigar box, earth, leather

Each time our tasting panel reviews Syrah, we conclude that, for both sensual appeal and great value, we should drink this varietal more often.

http://www.winepros.org/wine101/grape_profiles/syrah.htm#top

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John aka NitroX

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