Cinsaut is a French variety. California's bearing acreage has grown slowly since 2000, from 75 to 125 acres in 2025, spread across 21 counties, with San Luis Obispo and San Joaquin tied at 24 percent of the statewide total each. It is a high-yielding grape with soft tannins, historically used for bulk blending and rose production. A handful of old California plantings are now being sought out by producers for light, fresh varietal reds.
What kind of grape this is
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- NOIR
- Country of origin
- FRANCE
- Synonyms
- 122
- Approved on a US label
- Cinsaut (Black Malvoisie)
- FPS selections
- 5
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Cinsaut, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 369
county-years of acreage
21 counties, 125 bearing acres in 2025
- 298
district-years of crush
16 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 298
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 6
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- 213
regions with a maturity date
modeled, 46 years
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
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Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 16 districts on one axis →
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Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
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Modeled ripening date, year by year
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Growers in this atlas's roster
- Mcprice Myersbottled
Winery · Beautiful Earth Rosé
- Native Bloom Winerybottled
Winery · Cinsault
- Ridge Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Ridge Lytton Estate Rose 2024, Ridge Lytton Estate Rose 2025
- Tablas Creek Vineyardbottled
Winery · Dianthus, Esprit de Tablas
- Turley Wine Cellarsbottled
Winery · Turley Bechthold Vineyard Cinsault 2025
Brand · Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault
6 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 5 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.
Measured chemistry, from one producer's own sheets
- 14% cinsaut
13.2 %
alcohol
3.46
pH
6.9 g/L
TA
—
RS
- 11% cinsaut
13 %
alcohol
3.26
pH
7.38 g/L
TA
—
RS
2 wines from 1 producer, each read from that producer’s own tech sheet and linked to it. No average is shown, and none should be computed from these. Wineries that publish tech sheets are selected by their own marketing departments, so a mean across them describes publishing habits rather than a grape.