Bellevue Estate Collection Cinsault
£17.99
£23.99 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 11 bottles available
Cinsault was once dismissed as a workhorse, the backbone grape behind South Africa's mid-century reds. Bellevue make a case for taking it seriously on its own terms. Fresh, perfumed, and built for chilling, this Stellenbosch red drinks like summer in a glass: raspberry, sour cherry, silky tannins, and a finish that begs another pour.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We listed this one because chilled red is having its moment, and frankly, most attempts fall flat, too sweet, too thin, or too keen to be Pinot Noir. Bellevue's Cinsault doesn't try to be anything else. It's pure, perfumed, gently structured, and it does exactly what a good summer red should: refresh you, surprise you, and leave you reaching for another glass. Perfect for the drinker who's already got the heavyweights covered and wants something genuinely different on the table. Stock is limited, we don't get much of this each year.
Tasting Notes
Lifted and perfumed on the nose, raspberry, wild strawberry, a flash of sour cherry. The palate is medium-bodied and gently fragrant, with that distinctive beetroot earthiness that good Cinsault always brings, threading through bright red fruit. Tannins are silky rather than gripping, the acidity keeps everything fresh and lively, and the finish slips away clean and refreshing. Not a wine that shouts. A wine that beckons.
About This Wine
Here's a wine that quietly rewrites what you think a South African red can be. Most people reach for Cabernet or Pinotage when they want Stellenbosch in a glass, but Cinsault, locally known for decades as Hermitage, has been doing the heavy lifting behind some of the Cape's most celebrated blends. Bellevue have pulled it out of the chorus and given it a starring role, and the result is genuinely lovely. The nose is lifted and perfumed, raspberry, wild strawberry, a twist of sour cherry, and that faintly earthy beetroot note that good Cinsault always seems to find. It's medium-bodied and silky, with tannins that brush rather than grip, and a refreshing finish that makes the next glass almost inevitable. Fermentation was quick and gentle, with the wine resting on its lees before a stint in French and American oak barrels for shape and subtle depth. Serve it lightly chilled, half an hour in the fridge is the trick, and watch it transform a summer lunch. It's brilliant with beef carpaccio, lightly seared tuna, charcuterie boards, or a Provençal-style roast chicken. A picnic wine, a barbecue wine, a Friday-night-on-the-patio wine. For anyone curious about South African Cinsault, or sending a thoughtful bottle to a wine-loving friend back home, this is exactly the kind of discovery that makes a gift land well. Delivered across the UK, ready for whatever the weather gives us.
Food Pairing
This is a chilled-red wine in the best sense, built for warm evenings and lighter plates. Try it with beef carpaccio dressed with lemon and rocket, or lightly seared tuna with sesame. It loves charcuterie boards, roast salmon, and even a herby roast chicken. For a proper British summer treat, pour it alongside a Sunday lamb salad with mint and new potatoes.
- —Beef carpaccio with rocket, parmesan and lemon
- —Lightly seared tuna with sesame and soy
- —Charcuterie board with cured ham and salami
- —Roast salmon with herb butter
- —Cold roast lamb salad with mint and new potatoes
How to Serve
Decanting
No need to decant. This is a wine built on freshness and lift, not structure, opening the bottle fifteen minutes before pouring is all the air it asks for.
Ageing & Cellaring
Built for early drinking. Cinsault's charm lies in its fresh, perfumed fruit, and this wine is showing exactly that now. Enjoy over the next two to three years while the raspberry and strawberry notes are at their most vivid, there's nothing to gain from waiting.
The Land
The fruit comes from a bush-vine block, partly drip-irrigated, planted in the mid-1990s. Untrellised bush vines force the plant to work harder, yielding smaller crops with more concentrated, perfumed fruit, exactly the kind of raw material Cinsault rewards.
The Winemaking
Pressed and inoculated straight away, the juice ferments fast, around four days, with pump-overs three times a day to coax colour and gentle structure from the skins without over-extracting. Malolactic finishes in tank, then the wine rests on its lees to build texture and depth. A spell in French and American oak barrels follows, just enough to round the edges and add a whisper of spice without burying the bright, perfumed fruit that makes Cinsault sing.
About the Producer
Bellevue Wine
Bellevue is one of those estates that quietly changed South African wine. In 1953, when P.K. Morkel went looking for Gamay vines and couldn't find any, he took a punt on a new local cultivar called Pinotage, and planted some of the first commercial blocks anywhere in the country. Those gnarled bush vines are still producing today, more than seventy years on, twisted by decades of Cape sun and wind. Two centuries of family winemaking sit behind the label, but the philosophy is unfussy: good soils, minimal intervention, and a respect for the old vines that put this place on the map. The Atticus blend, named after one of the estate's prized Arabian stallions, is Bellevue at its most expressive.