Top 100 sweet wines of Corsica

Discover the top 100 best sweet wines of Corsica as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the sweet wines that are popular of Corsica and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Discovering the wine region of Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, located between the southeast coast of Provence and the west coast of Tuscany. Although it is closer to Italy, Corsica has been under French rule since 1769 and is one of the 26 regions of France. The island's Italian origins are evident in its wines, which are mainly made from the classic Italian Grapes Vermentino and Sangiovese (known here as Rolle and Nielluccio respectively). Despite its remoteness, Corsican winemakers have amassed an impressive and diverse portfolio of grape varieties - there are very few places on earth where Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Barbarossa grow side by side.

More than 40 of them, mostly of Spanish, Italian and French origin, are allowed to be used in quality wines. Despite this wonderful diversity, most of them are only used in IGP wines; only a small handful of varieties are used in Corsican AOC wines (see French wine labels). Just as Corsica's Italian history is evident in the local wines, so is the French connection. The classic grape varieties of southern France are all present here to some extent; Grenache is a main ingredient in many Corsican red wines, and Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsaut and Carignan all play a supporting role.

News from the vineyard of Corsica

Andrew Jefford: ‘Arresting and generous, but without vulgarity or excess’

Layers of colour in the sky before me: indigo, peach, salmon. In the rear-view mirror, the gold was catching fire. As I drove down through the lonely, Mistral-chilled vines of Babeau-Bouldoux towards nearby St-Chinian, I was thinking about what Christine Deleuze of Clos Bagatelle had just said. ‘When you came to visit 10 years ago,’ she reminded me, ‘you said we needed to wait another decade for a market breakthrough. Today you’ve said we need to wait another decade or two. So when, exactly, wil ...

Andrew Jefford: ‘Arresting and generous, but without vulgarity or excess’

Layers of colour in the sky before me: indigo, peach, salmon. In the rear-view mirror, the gold was catching fire. As I drove down through the lonely, Mistral-chilled vines of Babeau-Bouldoux towards nearby St-Chinian, I was thinking about what Christine Deleuze of Clos Bagatelle had just said. ‘When you came to visit 10 years ago,’ she reminded me, ‘you said we needed to wait another decade for a market breakthrough. Today you’ve said we need to wait another decade or two. So when, exactly, wil ...

Group of Bordeaux vignerons launches Pirate wine union

The project began life in 2019 as a Facebook group, created by Graves-based winemaker Jean-Baptiste Duquesne of Château Cazebonne. The positive reactions from both the public and fellow winemakers that followed prompted the group to pursue official recognition. ‘The idea started with me and with my friend Laurent David of Château Edmus in St-Emilion. He gave me the idea of the name “pirate”,’ Duquesne told Decanter. ‘So in December 2019, I created a Facebook group called Bordeaux Pirate to show ...