Morande’s Organic Cinsault-Pais Blend

Pais means country in Spanish, and in Chile, it also signifies a rustic red grape. Ampelographers believe Pais the grape, along with the Criolla Grande grape of Argentina and the Mission grape of California, are descended from the “common black grape” brought to Mexico in 1520 by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Along with Spanish missionaries, the grape spread throughout the Americas; my grandfather planted the Mission grape in his yard in the Mission town of San BuenaVentura hoping to make wine from it. In Chile, the Pais grape was an important wine grape until the late 20th and early 21st centuries when Bordeaux wine varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon became more prominent. In the 1940s, Cinsault brought color and structure to wines made with País.  Continue reading →