Lets talk Corsica!

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, located between the southeast coast of Provence and the west coast of Tuscany. Although it is closer to Italy, Corsica has been under French rule since 1769 and is counted among the 26 regions of France. The island's Italian origins shine through in its wines, which are made predominantly from the Italian classics Sangiovese and Vermentino.

2021 Clos Culombu Vin de Corse Calvi Blanc.

Pale yellow, aroma of peach, lycee and grapefruit. Dry, medium acidity, "noted some apricot" from across the table. Not a lot of experience with Vermentino but found this acceptable for $22 Cda. I thought it might have had a sharper finish, help up nicely overnight.

[David M. Bueker]

That a pretty niche topic Bob. I will admit interest, but I don’t own a bottle, nor does my favorite shop have a bottle in stock.

Yup, Bob. I rather like the Vermentinos from Corsica. They have sort of a savory/saline character that I find attractive. Though I prefer the Vermentinos from Liguria for their more high-toned character. And Calif.
Tom

the Vermentino from Domaine Leccia are, I think, the finest, freshest, most "high-toned" from that terroir, and my favorites from anywhare, at this point, I think. I am a big Vermentino fan, especially from Corsica, but also Liguria, and, often from Sardinia. I think the potential in CA is exceptional, and I just hope the current crop of young vintners in CA pays attention!

Hi Bob,

Corsica is the French region with whose wines I am least familiar. I am doing my best to remedy that. Their wines are quite different from those of the Mediterranean regions of mainland France often being fresher and less heavy and more mineral and herbal. Their two main red grape varieties, Nielluciu (AKA Sangiovese) and Sciaciarellu, are AFAIK not planted in mainland France, though the main white grape Vermentinu is, but usually under the name Rolle. Some Corsican examples of Vermentino(u) can be very fine.

Quite by chance, I opened a red Patrimonio just two days ago. Though made with a principally Italian grape, it was not so Italian in character!

2020 Domaine d'E Croce (Yves Leccia) Patrimonio Cuvées E Croce - France, Corsica, Patrimonio (06/08/2023)
Though Patrimonio's principal grape, Niellucciu, is said to be the same as Sangiovese, this 2020 from Y. Leccia is even less like any Tuscan example of this grape than my previous from this appellation. Colour was quite light and body was medium at most but the wine was linear in shape, quite long and showed a lot of elegance. There was fine berry fruit, especially cherry and strawberry, a touch of Darjeeling tea, delicate fine minerals and fresh acidity leading to an attractive but light taste towards the finish which I can't recall in any Tuscan wines. It was nutty in the manner of fruit stones. I can't say whether this was due to élevage or to the grapes themselves. I would like to know how well Patrimonio ages. This one was very good close to its 3rd anniversary.
Posted from CellarTracker

The two regions of Europe so far unvisited by me, which I am longing to see, are the big Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Corsica. However, high summer is best avoided as temperatures exceeding 40°C seem to be now the norm!

At various times I have wanted to explore the wines of Corsica but then there were always only a few producers around, and somehow other regions caught my interest more. But, there is a lot of tasty wine out there!

I REALLY like Abbatucci, but the collection wines are 3-4X any other Corsican producer. I do like Leccia, had mixed results with Petroni. There's also a rose that's easy to find whose name escapes me, but is decent for the $8-9 it goes for.
The only ones I really look for are Abbatucci, but that is generally only if massive sale discount. Fun wines with fun story.

I had a great trip to Corsica and Sardinia in 2016 and went to several wineries and drank all local wine for the 4-5 weeks I was there. The vermentino in both islands/countries were very good, and in Corsica the Nielluciu and Sciaciarellu were very interesting. Lots of variation between producers and even among each producers' bottlings, but I guess that is normal in other regions as well. Sardinia is starting to get a lot of tourism, but Corsica is less visited: both are still wonderful places to visit, and it's easy to get away from the main tourism areas in both places. There is extremely limited bottles of Corsican or Sardinian wines here in BC!