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For the wine enthusiast, Corsica is a fascinating
place to visit. Corsicans are keenly aware of
the quality of their wines and it can be a job
getting them to part with the best examples.
Those who persist are rewarded as there are exciting
discoveries to be made. In general, the style
of the wines is somewhere between the deep, sensual
wines of Italy and the herb-tinged offerings of
Provence. Serious wines are now being produced
using the traditional grape varieties of Sciaccerello and
Nielluccio (for the reds) and
Vermentino (white). Sciaccerello is only
grown on Corsica. Nielluccio, however, is the
Tuscan Sangiovese,
imported by the Genoese in the 18th
Century. Ordinarily, the two grapes are blended
to give dark, sunkissed,
earthy wines, obviously influenced by the local maquis –
Corsica’s aromatic mountainous scrub - with its
subtle fragrance of lavender, rosemary and sage.
Corsica’s white wines are crisp and zesty
– the perfect accompaniment to seafood.
The excellent, pale rosé makes for an ideal
aperitif and is consumed in copious quantities by
visitors and Corsicans alike during the summer
months. Finally, a remarkable, orange
blossom-scented, sweet white Muscat that is a
speciality of the northerly Cap Corse is drunk as an
aperitif or with dessert.
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