Although vinegrowing is an ancient tradition in Corsica, the history, more than any other French region, did not spare its wines. The wine growers' passion, determination were essential to rebuild the vineyard, to reimplant the native grape varieties, to adopt a style and to let the Corsican wines enter the world of the greatest on an international level.
While Corsica evokes a land of protected and authentic tradition, nonchalance, gentle lifestyle, as for the wines of the Isle of Beauty they show rigour, control, relentless work. Vines already existed on the island in the wild before the arrival of the Greeks who began to cultivate it. The Corsican wines never stopped conquering the palates of all Europe. But in the 19th century oidium and phylloxera did not spare Corsica and destroyed, here also, almost the entire vineyard. Two successive overproduction crises and the Great War sounded the death knell of Corsican wines.
Their development started in the early 70s thanks to the will of some wine growers―very much decided to take their fate in their own hands and to improve the quality and the fame of their wines―who grouped together in what will later become the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Corse.
Massive grubbing-up policies―totaling 30,000 hectares in the 60s, the vineyard represented 5,700 ha in 2010―reimplantation of the native vines, definition of the soils, led to the creation of the Patrimonio AOC in 1968, then the Ajaccio AOC in 1971, followed by the Vin de Corse AOC, and finally Muscat du Cap Corse in 1993. The progress towards quality was launched.
Today the communication of the Corsican wines structures around three basic ideas: quality, diversity, typicality, defining a real Corsican style. The Corsican vineyard is Mediterranean but with some specificities. Only island vineyard of France, it conjugates the extremes on a smaller surface area than the Île-de-France department. 2000-meter high summits diving into the Mediterranean; recorded rainfall superior to the continent but an exceptional sunshine of about 3,000 hours a year; while the island is swept by powerful winds, the latter rightly ensure the preservation of a sanitary status which helps avoid the use of inputs.
In 2006 the interprofessional committe CIV Corse refocused the communication on the emphasis set on three star grape varieties: Niellucciu, Sciaccarellu, Vermentinu, native varieties which compose the soul of Corsican wines. Their strong identity is added with the great diversity of the soils. Granit, schiste neighbour limestone and clay. The typicality of the grape varieties sign the Corsican style, the diversity of the soils makes it plural.While AOCs are the guarantee of a quality approach, the table wines (Vin de Pays) deserve their place. They are an excellent way to discover Corsican wines by the great mosaic of soils they express and by their moderate price. “Vins de Pays” doesn't mean lesser quality. Largely produced by the cooperative cellars, the latter have been doing a lot since about thirty years to improve the quality and the representativeness of the Vins de Pays (investment in production tools, work in the vineyards, definition of specifications). Moderate prices, regular quality, the Vins de Pays took a big place on the markets abroad. Today rosé wines develop (57% of the Vins de Pays in 2010) at the request of the consumers, eager for discovery.
Created in 1966, the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Corse ensures a strong presence in the field for the promotion of the wines of the island. They mainly centre the communication on the peculiarity of Corsican wines. Here they do not use the word Cru, words to define Corsican wines as elitist, confidential. On the contrary the interprofession emphasizes on the grape varieties, the authenticity, the notion of sharing.
This image is very strong abroad. 30% of the production leaves the island and France to supply Europe―especially the North―Northern America and Asia. In these countries, Corsican wines remain a souvenir of holidays in the Southern gentle lifestyle. The work on the quality and the typicality of the grape varieties are now recognized. A beautiful reward for the Corsican cellars and the interprofession.
Sylvia van der Velden
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