So the answer was buried in a part of the CodeProject post I didn't see. Here is what it says:
As I just stated, Cinch does actually allow you to either expose a CurrentXXXModel off your ViewModel which supports DataWrappers/Validation Rules (IDataErrorInfo) / ViewMode changes / IEditableObject operations, by use of the two Cinch Model classes mentioned above.
But as I also stated above, I no longer recommend that approach, and think that the Model should be left alone, and that you should do all your DataWrappers/Validation Ruless (IDataErrorInfo) / ViewMode changes /IEditableObject operations in your ViewModel.
1.) It is no longer preferred to write a Model that is inherited from a Cinch base class. Models are still used in CinchV2, but binding a View to a Model is no longer preferred.
2.) Write Models as you normally would, but only use DataWrappers and such in the ViewModel.