Vin de Corse Porto Vecchio: Domaine de Torraccia Rouge 2018
An earthy, medium-bodied, herb-tinged Corsican red wine. It is well-rounded with attractive red fruit aromas and supple, balanced tannins that are ideally suited to rustic cuisine. Vigneron Marc Imbert suggests wild boar as they proliferate around Torraccia and cause untold damage to the vineyard! Certified organic.
Made from Corsican curiosities Nielluccio and Sciacarello blended with Rhône reliables Grenache and Syrah. It is a lovely smoky, mid-weight wine with lots of dark, wild berry fruit over grainy tannins. Ideal served with roast lamb and thyme or local dish 'aubergines à la bonifacienne'.
Drink over the next decade or so. Blend usually comprises 50% Nielluccio, 30% Grenache Noir, 10% each Sciacarello and Syrah.
Style | Red Wine, Sec, Medium-bodied, Non Sparkling |
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Wine Region | Corsica |
Grape Variety (Cépage) | Grenache, Nielluccio, Sciacarello, Syrah |
Food & Wine Matching | Casserole, Charcuterie, Lamb, Pork |
Viticulture | Organic |
Vintage | 2018 |
Cellarage | Best drunk with 3 to 7 years bottle age. |
Vinification | The wine is made from grapes produced using organic viticultural practices and a minimum of chemicals during winemaking. Grapes are co-fermented in temperature-controlled tanks (26C-30C) using indigenous yeasts. Wines are transferred to semi-underground concrete tanks using gravity only (no pumps are used) to keep intervention minimal. Lightly-filtered before bottling. |
Alcohol By Volume (%) | 13 |
Domaine de Torraccia
An aristocrat from Nevers, the tireless, flamboyant Christian Imbert arrived in Corsica in the 1960s after many years trading spices in Chad and set about planting his organic vineyard on reclaimed scrubland in the hills above Porto Vecchio, in the south east of the island. Overlooking the bay of Pinarellu, its granite soils have a south-eastern orientation yet the vines cling to sometimes steep mountainous slopes and are cooled by vigourous sea breezes.
Christian promoted the interests of like-minded, quality-driven Corsican winemakers through the UVA Corse collective that he founded over thirty years ago and was a member of the prestigious Academie du Vin. We were saddened to hear of his passing in August 2023, at the very respectable age of 94.
The Domaine has been ably run by Christian's son, Marc Imbert for some years and now numbers some 43 hectares of vines. Marc continues to follow the same organic and qualitative principles first established by Christian.
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