Domaine Abbatucci, VDF “Alte Rosso” 6 Bottle Case 75cl

Biodynamic, aromatic, full bodied Corsican white wine. Barbarossa is a little known white variety with a pinkish skin, that has unknown origins, but is indigenous to Corsica. The grapes are biodynamic (the vineyard converted in 2000), hand picked and fermented and matured in stainless steel. The resulting wine is full and round, with tropical fruit flavours, candied peel and subtle smokiness, with great persistence. This is a surprising but excellent wine from a superb producer from a lesser known region.

The winemaking history of this family estate is over a hundred years old, with many generations of winemakers passing down their know-how. In the 60s, Antoine Abbatucci, witnessing the disappearance of local varieties in favour of ‘international’ ones so he decided to plant a 1-hectare ampelographic station, in an attempt to save 18 Corsican grape varieties from oblivion. His son Jean-Charles took over in 2000 and converted the estate to biodynamic. He started to graft some of these old varieties onto their existing vineyards. He now produces 14 different wines all from traditional Corsican varieties.