Corsica: it's not fair

originally posted by Brzme:
originally posted by VS:
Vermentino is a variety that gets up there sugar-wise.
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Not in Provence, Victor. And not always in Corsica.

La Courtade from Richard Auther is the perfect example of Vermentino with alcohol under control.
And in Corsica Gioielli and the legendary Nicrosi often show alcohol in the 12%s.
IMHO Arena's choice is aesthetic and philosophic.

I was in Sienna last week and visited my friends Helena and Dante Lomazzi, who produce a nice macerated white from malvasia (which, I guess, is very closely related to Vermentino-rolle if not the same) at 11.5% of alcohol in 2009!

Again, I really believe that producing high alcohol whites out of vermentino or clairette or bourboulenc or ugni blanc in southern climates is mainly a question of personal choice from the winemaker.
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Thanks Eric. 11.5% in 2009 is impressive. I wonder if their wines are available in the US.
I was checking the alcohol level on some Arena whites in 2008 and they're all around 13%. I have to admit it never bothered me in his wines.
 
Had a bottle of the 2004 Antoine Arena Carco blanc tonight that was fantastic -- slight prickle of effervescence, great waxy and mostly fruitless affect, briskly fresh and delicious. Brilliant, really. Moreish as Otto would say. 14% abv, per the label. It wowed several non-geeks.
 
There's at least one place to drink pleasantly priced (and often older) Corsican wines in Paris, but I think I probably should keep the name on the DL.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
... If you want to follow mother nature, you have to accept the climate.
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Sure. Just like in CA or Espana or Australia or CDP or any other hot region in the world.
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What you can do in a hot region, while accepting the facts of life and climate, is make wines that don't feel hot or jammy.

Then you drink a little less of them than of an 11% cab franc. So they last longer, help you fight the recession.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Why? Are you six years old?
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Sharon, have you tried La Villa Corse in Paris ? Good food and interesting wine list with quite a lot of Corsican wines (obviously!).
I've been only to the one Bvd Grenelle but it seems they opened a 2nd one as well.
 
I sent this thread to the only Corsican importer in So Paulo, hoping to inspire them to bring in the best of the above. They replied "great post, but we disagree that there are no good Corsican pinot noirs; we import one." Always game for a round of Don Quixote, I picked up a bottle and took it for a spin last night.

2007 Terra Mariana Pinot Noir Corsica 12.5%
Unusual aroma combination of sour cherry, powdered sugar and rosemary. Good acidity, but cloying sweetness, short finish and dishrag undertow. Another one bites the dust.
 
And I assume you will share your feelings with this importer? But I guess he still won't be persuaded to bring in something else?
 
Unless they ask, I'm wondering if it's worth the aggro. After all, if they like this, they must be tuned to a different frequency.
 
The '08 Arena Patrimonio Carco was brilliant tonight. Nose like a lover's mischievous smile, palate like the spluttering refreshment after they've just tipped over the kayak. Perfect with a simple salad of snap peas and ever-so-slightly-blanched cherry tomatoes.

Surprisingly it was a good, but not great, pair to toasted pasta with clams, mussels, and shrimp. The pasta wanted to go a bit "lower" down in the flavor spectrum, and the Arena is a bit too spiky.

Thomain's Enfer d'Arvier from the Valle d'Aoste was just the ticket. Chilled Petit Rouge for the win. Take that old school soda fountain that got me all nostalgic and a bit melancholy over in another thread, put it in some little Alpine village where you're not sure if you're in France or Italy, sit down next to the regulars smoking their little cigarillos, and ask the wouldn't-be-a-jerk-it'd-be-an-old-guy-wearing-tweed-with-a-violet-boutonniere for a Cherry Coke. Whatever you got might taste like this, perhaps. If you're very, very lucky.

Toss in a little Donati Malvasia Dolce (was it wine? beer? cider? sure!) w/ the peach cobbler, and you've got yourself a good night.

Good night.
 
Capitoro.jpg
Too young but obviously no over extraction...
 
View's not bad, either.

La Villa Corse
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Arno, the one on Grenelle's right around the corner from our Paris rental, but somehow we never made it there. Nice to know it's worth a visit.
 
originally posted by Brzme:
Capitoro Reserve 2001
Capitoro.jpg
Too young but obviously no over extraction...
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Too bad those wines don't make it here...I'll definitely look to grab a few bottles when I go home next month.
 
I suspect it was the malevolent influence of the frozen food market just down the street. Or the McDo just a little further on. I'd just avert my eyes and walk to the Mtro, not stopping to consider a drop-in because, on non-market days, it felt like a culinary dead zone. My mistake.

There's a restaurant advertising natural wines down the street (Croix-Nivert, not Grenelle) the other direction, too, and on which I could find absolutely nothing of use on the interwebz. I'll have to give that one a shot, though I admit a through-the-window peer didn't fill me with confidence.
 
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