Domaine Comte Abbatucci
Vin de France · Casalabriva, Ajaccio · biodynamics
The Abbatuccis are a noble family from Zicavo, a mountain village in the Ajaccio region in the south of Corsica.
Photo: © Claude Cruells
A nursery of Corsican varieties
In the 1960s Antoine Abbatucci proved a visionary by creating and maintaining a genuine nursery of Corsica’s identity grape varieties. The estate lies beside the hamlet of Casalabriva, between sea and mountain, and covers some twenty hectares.
Among the white varieties are Bianco Gentile, Barbarossa, Biancone, Brustiano, Carcajolo Bianco, Genovese, Paga Debbiti, Rossola Brandinca, Rossola Bianca and Riminese. The reds are Aleatico, Carcajolo Nero, Minustello, Morescola, Morescono and Montanaccia.
Out of the appellation
Today Jean-Charles is the third generation and continues the family work with a thorough biodynamic approach. He makes authentic, complex wines of high quality, from those varieties completed by the more classic Vermentinu, Niellucciu and Sciaccarellu.
Because the AOC rules allowed him no more than 10% of his “old” varieties, he decided in 2011 to take all his wines out of the Ajaccio appellation and sell them as Vin de France. So today, among the best wines of France, there are excellent wines from Corsica.
The cuvées carry the names of ancestors with a glorious past — le Général, le Ministre — or names from the present, such as Faustine, Jean-Charles’s daughter. She has just started working at the estate and is set to take it over.
The estate at a glance
| Appellation | Vin de France (since 2011, previously Ajaccio AOP) |
| Vineyard | 20 ha — 15 ha red, 5 ha white |
| Production | ± 100,000 bottles a year |
| Harvest | By hand |
| Vine age | 35 years on average |
| Approach | biodynamics |
| Red varieties | Sciaccarellu 70%, Niellucciu 20%, and 10% Carcajolo Nero, Montanaccia, Aleatico, Morescone and Barbarossa |
| White varieties | Vermentinu, completed by Bianco Gentile, Brustiano, Genovese, Rossola Bianca, Biancone, Riminese, Rossola Brandica, Carcajolo Biancu and Paga Debiti |
