Pick any vineyard in Corsica and there is a high chance you’ll enjoy a spectacular view as well as excellent wines. You might gaze upon the sea from the vineyards in Cap Corse or admire the wave-shaped La Conca d’Oru mountain in the Patrimonio wine region. Wherever you are on the island, the breathtaking scenery varies, but so too does the soil, ranging from slate to clay-limestone to granite. It means Corsica delivers a huge variety of wine, even with the same grapes being used throughout.
Although the summer sees a huge influx of visitors, those in search of Corsica’s vinous and gastronomic assets will find the cooler months bring fewer crowds, along with rewards such as vineyard walks and the chance to try its rustic, seasonal cuisine which isn’t available in peak summer – the island’s much-loved brocciu cheese comes back into production in October, while the chestnut pulenda (similar to polenta, but made with chestnut flour) and figatellu sausage are eaten over the autumn and winter. A week allows for a whistle-stop tour of the 180km-long island, but a trip of 10 to 14 days allows for a more comfortable pace.
A good place to start is Domaine Devichi, which is now in the hands of Marie-Franc?oise Devichi, the sixth generation and the first woman in the family to run the estate. As well as developing her own modern ‘Mlle Devichi’ branding for the wines and experimenting with biodynamics and ecological methods, she offers visitors the chance to take guided walks around the 42ha site to learn about the clay-limestone terroir and how the grapes – namely Niellucciu for reds, Vermintinu for whites and Muscat a? Petits Grains for dessert wine – grow in the company of broom flowers, wild asparagus and wild pear.
At the centre of the vines is her grandfather’s winery and house, shaded by mighty 200-year-old eucalyptus trees. Devichi hopes to one day put it back into use, but for now tastings are offered at her family’s newer winery, set in the village of Barbaggio. The Patrimonio appellation, to which Domaine Devichi belongs, was the first in Corsica to be awarded its AP, in 1968, and it has a winning combination of terre et mer in that it is close to the sea with a clay-limestone soil. It lies at the foot of Cap Corse, the mountainous peninsula that juts out to the north. The wines here gain minerality from the slate soil and have a much stronger influence from the sea. This is also reflected in its social history: its inhabitants were sailors and explorers rather than farmers and shepherds as with the rest of the island.
Seafaring legacy
Looking down on the harbour from Bonifacio old town. Credit: Westend61 / Lisa & Wilfried Bahnmüller / Getty Images.
Tucked away in the village of Macinaggio, in the Cap’s northeast corner, Se?bastien Luigi’s family winery Clos Nicrosi (+33 [0]6 11 91 12 15) was established in the 1850s by Luigi’s four-times-great-grandfather who had – as many Cap Corsicans did – sailed to the Americas to make his fortune. To show how well he had done, he built their family home, a so-called Maison Ame?ricain – these elegant Tuscan-style mansions can be seen throughout Cap Corse and are testimony to a history shared by many other local families. Though Luigi’s father and grandfather continued to look abroad to sell, Luigi has scaled back on the exports, preferring to keep the wines more exclusive and sell to the island’s best restaurants. One of these smaller-scale wines is rappu, a sublimely moreish sweet red wine unique to Cap Corse made with the Aleatico grape.
In northwest corner of the Cap you will find Centuri, a fishing village where you can enjoy the local speciality of lobster and langoustine at one of the many quayside restaurants, such as U Cavallu Di Mare (+33 [0]6 18 15 76 31), with a view of the harbour. Returning south along the twisting roads of…
Source : https://www.decanter.com/wine/corsica-for-wine-lovers-511633/
