Corsica

Corsica (Corse) is an island in the Mediterranean sea between the southern coast of Provence and the Western coast of Tuscany.

Corsica is under the control of France from 1769, but of Italian origin in the whole manifests itself in his wines, produced mainly from Italian classics: Vermentino and Sangiovese, here called Rolle (Rolle) and nielluccio (Nielluccio), respectively.

Despite the relative isolation, winemakers Corsica has assembled a surprisingly diverse collection of varieties. There are hardly many places in the world where the vines grow Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Barbarossa.

In quality the wines of Corsica allowed the use of more than 40 varieties, mainly Spanish, Italian and French origin. But much of this diversity is only used in the wines IGP, and only a handful of the varieties is the production of wine class AOP (AOC).

The French influence here is as noticeable as Italian. All kassiesa varieties of the South of France one way or another represented in the wines. Grenache is the main ingredient in many Corsican Reds, with the support of Syrah, mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan.

With Vermentino (aka Rolle) – variety number one in the Corsican white wines – not so obvious: it’s French, no less than the Italian. Controversy about its origin has been to many, but to date, area planted this variety leads France.

Obviously, the climate in Corsica is Mediterranean, with more sunshine than in any part of mainland France and, consequently, less rainfall. The vegetation period on the island is very favorable for high-yielding viticulture. Weather conditions during the harvest period usually ideal. At the same time, due to the mountainous topography, there are a lot of sites with markedly different mesoclimate.

In Corsica the AOC, there are three levels: regional, subregional (village) and municipal.

The regional Vin de Corse AOC , may be added the name of one of the five boroughs, if the grapes come only from his site:

• Calvi (Calvi)
• Sartène (Sartene)
• Figari (Figari)
• Coteaux du cap Corse (Coteaux du Cap Corse)
• Porto Vecchio (Porto-Vecchio)

Such instructions can be considered a subregional appellations.
Three are independent CRU:

Ajaccio (Ajaccio) in the vicinity of the capital of Corsica. In Italian sounds like Ajaccio. This red, pink and white wines. For white the main varieties – Vermentino.

Patrimonio (Patrimonio) in the Northern part of the island, whose red wines based on the varieties of nielluccio (Sangiovese) are considered the best in Corsica.

Muscat du cap Corse (Muscat du Cap Corse) in the vineyards of the Peninsula of cap Corse, which produces sweet white wines the level of vin doux naturel from the varieties Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains.

Although increasing the number and quality of Corsican wines, yet the bulk of them are manufactured under relaxed wide appellation Ile de beaute (IGP Ile de Beaute). On this marvelous-sounding category (which translates as “Island of beauty” and is traditional among the French “nickname” of the island) has almost twice the drink than on all other categories combined.

Island but AOC is a rare ratio the pricequality, since few people even know that in Corsica they make wine, and especially about these wonderful modest appellations.