Comte Abbatucci, another Corsican gem.

Jean-Charles Abbatucci is the winemaker for the Comte Abbatucci domain. Located in the southern part of Corsica in the Taravo valley, the domain is spreading over 18 ha with a lot of granitic soils.



At an altitude of 100m, the varietals are typical for the region: Vermentino, Sciacarello and Nielluccio plus a few other obscure varietals (Barbarossa..).
Since 2000, the domain is in a biodynamic farming mode. No machine harvest here and only native yeasts are used. Just like Barral, animals are living in the vineyards. Here, ewes are at home during the winter.
Wines are made in 3 all colors: red, white and rosé. Kermit Lynch decided recently to import the wine (only the white so far I believe) and I'm thankful for that !

The white cuvée Faustine (AOC Ajaccio) comes from an old parcel, 40 years old, of vermentino. Yield is only 25 hl/ha and the grapes is picked only in the morning and pressed immediately after to keep its freshness. No barrel is used here, only stainless steel tanks.
The 2009 Faustine is an outstanding wine. It shows superb aromatics and is fresh and vibrant. Citrus and honeydew with some white flowers and a touch of flint. Rich but with very good acidity. Focused. A hint of anise on the palate. I'm just surprised by the energy of this wine.
This is simply the best vermentino I ever had, so far.

Delicious times

The 2009 vintage in Beaujolais is hailed as the very best vintage in recent memories. It will be interesting to see if like in the Loire Valley, wines have maintained a decent acidity level to balance the high sugar content.

This 2009 Damien Coquelet Chiroubles is only my second 2009 Beaujolais (after a Clos de la Roilette) and this was a beautiful and delicious one. Damien's father in law in the great Georges Descombes. No chemical and indigenous yeasts are used by Damien.
The nose is pure and inviting. Nice minerality with bright fruit (cherry, cranberry and plum) with a hint of licorice. Earthy and floral, this is quite complex. Balanced, delicious with good acidity. There's also a slight green touch ( reminded me of green peas). Definitely Beaujolais, the bottle was gone really fast....














Also, after drinking his Patrimonio recently, the 2008 Antoine Arena Muscat du Cap Corse was another delicious wine. Very floral and with some lytchee on the nose, sweet but with enough acidity, this is another wine quite easy to drink. It was, in my opinion, a marvelous pairing with my wife Tres Leche (thanks Mary for the recipe!).



Two nice examples of winemakers working consciously and the result is showing in their wines.

Corsica: it's not fair

Yup, it's not fair.

Not only they have Laetitia Casta


a beautiful island

and awesome cheeses

but they also have some ass kicking wines with authentic winemakers who pay ultimate respect to their terroir and vines.

This was a beautiful Sunday in Chicago and along home made sausages, we drunk 4 Corsican wines I brought back from home.

The program was 2 Patrimonio, 1 from Calvi and one from Porto Vecchio.

While decanting the 2 Patrimonio, we started with the 2008 Clos Culombu. A blend of 50% Niellucio, 30% Sciacarello, Grenache and Syrah. The nose is great with nice pure fruit on the nose. Pepper and garrigue notes with red fruits and a touch of blackberry comes along. There is a great energy on the palate with a nice lift on the finish. Very good structure. Served slightly above cellar temperature, it is a superb wine for summer.

The second wine was on the opposite spectrum. The 2004 Domaine de Torraccia Oriu (Porto Vecchio) is a blend of 80% Niellucciu and 20% Sciaccarellu. Fermentation is done with indigenous yeast and follows with a soaking from 15 to 21 days between 26 and 30°C with a finishing on “marcs”. The blend is aged in concrete tanks for 18 months, then at least two years in bottles. Brickish rim, masculine wine. Darker profile. Gamy nose. Slightly stewed fruit but enough acidity. Needs food. Long meaty finish. Overall a very good rustic wine which needs some air. Taste a little older than its 6 years. This Oriu cuvee is the top one for Domaine de Torraccia. The grapes are grown on the granitic soil.

Manual weed control with hoes, no chemicals, and harvesting the grapes by hand. The only treatment they use for controlling mildew in their certified-organic vineyard is bouillie bordelaise. The wines do not see any kind of wood.

We then moved on to the 2 Patrimonio, maybe the best know appelation from Corsica using mainly Niellucciu (must be at least 90%), a cousin of Sangiovese.

The 2007 Antoine Arena Morta Maio was simply beautiful. Antoine Arena is the star of Corsica. Doing everything as natural as possible, using absolutely no chemicals or fertilizers, only indigenous yeast, his wines always show great purity and depth. Here also, no wood at all is used but instead concrete or stainless steel tanks. This is 100% Niellucciu, young vines (replanted in 2001).
For such young vines, this is fantastic. Very sangiovese like with a lot of pure red fruits, dusty cherry. The tannins needs to soften up a little bit but give the wine its strcuture. Earthy with very good acidity. Bravo !

The last wine was a 2007 Yves Leccia Patrimonio. Yves Leccia left the family winery in 2004 to create his Domaine d'E Croce. Vines are around 20 years old and here also everything is made with respect to the soil. Schiste, calcareous and clay are the main types of soil. Here 10% of grenache complements the niellucciu. At this point, it needs more time than the Morta Maio. Lot of fruits, you can feel the potential is here but it will blossom in 4-6 years. Dark cherry with a very velvety texture. Some herbs with a nice mix of red/dark fruits. Overall, less acidity and a little darker profile than the Morta Maio. Very good as well.

Overall this was a pretty awesome lineup with all wines showing well. It is so nice to see well know producers not falling for new wood. Those wines all showed an outstanding purity along with a sense of place. This is all that we are looking for....