2018 Domaine Rimbert, Cinsault “Cousin Oscar” Vin de France, Saint Chinian, Languedoc, France.
The all natural 100% Cinsault Cousin Oscar from Domaine Rimbert is a tangy fresh red wine that is bursting with vibrancy and classic Cinsault character, and while his Carignan based Saint-Chinian wines are his serious offerings, I love this playful Glou Glou style wine with it’s low alcohol and tangy freshness. This new release of Cousin Oscar is vibrant with a light ruby hue in the glass and with a strawberry led profile that includes tree picked plum, sour cherry, rosewater, cinnamon/pepper spiciness and intense licorice notes. This vat raised Cinsault loves being served with a slight chill and with lighter cuisine, it perks up nicely with food lighting it to a weight similar to Pinot Noir and gains earthy tones and hints of lavender. This wine has a Natty following and features on some Nature Wine Bar lists, it succeeds in being an honest and delightful lighter style red.
Jean-Marie Rimbert, the self proclaimed defender of the Languedoc’s native Carignan grape, is a benchmark grower for the region and also a maverick, being one of the leading lights in the Saint-Chinian AOC. His Cousin Oscar is named for a family member that had a serious reputation with the women in the region, such was his looks and charm he was known, I hear, to have women fighting over his attention, and the label alludes to this and his playful character. Rimbert’s Carignan based reds are, as mentioned above, the more serious stuff and remind me a little of Maxime Magnon’s intriguing Coberieres wines, as well as some fresher (style) Gigondas producers, with its added doses of Grenache and Syrah adding lovely complexity. This Cousin Oscar is wonderful fun and well made, it should satisfy the Natty and non Natty crowd in equal measure. Also if you are Cinsault curious, it also grows great in South Africa, see Baadenhorst, along with some fun stuff coming from California, look for some from Turley, Sandlands, Andrew Murray (Rose) and Randall Grahm is using it freely in his new Cigare Volant at Bonny Doon!
($17 Est.) 88 Points, grapelive