The Winery Da Passano of Vin de Corse of Corsica

Discovering the wine region of Vin de Corse

Vin de Corse (or simply "Corsica") is the Generic name for Corsica, an island located in the Mediterranean between France and Italy. Although much closer to the Italian coast - and separated from Sardinia only by the narrow Strait of Bonifacio - the island has been under French rule since 1769. The Vin de Corse appellation includes several sub-regions, corresponding to five major wine-producing areas of Corsica: Porto-Vecchio, Figari, Sartene, Calvi and Cap Corse. The other places, Patrimonio and Ajaccio, are also Part of the general catchment area of Vin de Corse, but have their own appellations since 1968 and 1984 respectively.

Vin de Corse wines are red, white and rosé, with the dominant colour being pink (as is the case in the closest continental wine region to Corsica, Provence). About half of the wine is rosé, a third is red and the rest is white, including a small amount of Sweet Vin Doux Naturel produced under the name Muscat du Cap Corse. The main Grape varieties used in the reds and rosés are Grenache, Sangiovese (known here as Nielluccio) and Sciaccarello. They are reinforced by the traditional Corsican varieties Aleatico, Barbarossa, CarcajoloNero and Minustello (Graciano) as well as Mourvedre, Cinsaut and Carignan from the South of France.