Domaine Giacometti 'Cuvee de L’Agriate' 2023 Rouge Patrimonio, Corsica

750ml bottle
14% abv

Brambly blackberry, garrigue, blood orange, leather, and warm spices. The palate is powerful and round, with silky tannins. The finish is long and lush.

Grape(s): Niellucciu (97%), Grenache (3%)
Vineyard: Clay-granite soils, vines 10 to 45 years old, 35 hectares total, Agriates Desert, northern Corsica
Method: Hand-harvested, indigenous yeast fermentation, aged 10 months on fine lees in stainless steel, unfiltered.

Christian Giacometti founded the domaine in 1987, taking over vines planted in 1966 in the Agriates Desert, a dry, windswept strip of northern Corsica between Cap Corse and Calvi, accessible by one paved road and home to a single hamlet of roughly a dozen people. The estate is now transitioning to his children, Sarah and Simon, with Simon listed as winemaker on the 2023 rouge. Soils are clay over granite. Vines are plowed regularly to encourage deep roots in the arid conditions. Farming is practicing organic.

The ‘Cuvée de l’Agriate’ rouge is Patrimonio AOC, built on Niellucciu, the Corsican name for Sangiovese, the appellation’s dominant permitted variety, with a small addition of Grenache. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged 10 months on fine lees in stainless steel.