Corsican Wines

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.