Appellation
Patrimonio
Identity card
RegionalAOPWhiteRedRosé
Corsica · Recognised on 13 March 1968
Key points
- Corsica's first appellation d'origine contrôlée, recognised in 1968.
- Reds: at least 90% Nielluccio and at least 12% natural alcohol.
- At most 50 hl/ha; irrigation and chemical weedkillers are banned.
Grape varieties
Red
Allowed as a small share of the red wine: Grenache Noir, Sciaccarellu, Vermentino
Niellucciu · at least 90% of the holding's vines
Nielluccio: at least 90% of the vines and of the blend
Rosé
Accessory varieties: Grenache Noir, Sciaccarellu, Vermentino
Niellucciu · at least 75% of the holding's vines
Nielluccio: at least 75% of the vines and of the blend
Production rules
50
hl/ha
Maximum yield
11
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
4,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: Reds: at least until 15 February of the year after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 129 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 14 % ABV across 79 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 136 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: An amphitheatre open to the Gulf of Saint-Florent (Nebbiu)
- Soils: Mostly clay-limestone; schist towards Poggio-d'Oletta
- Climate: Mediterranean, tempered by the sea; maestrale and libecciu
Wine style
- Red
- Blackcurrant
- Blackberry
- tannic structure
- spice, toast with age
- Rosé
- Raspberry
- Redcurrant
- fresh, usually drunk young
- White
- Hawthorn
- white flowers
- great aromatic richness
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
25 April 2022
Arrêté du 25 avril 2022 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Patrimonio » (JORF du 5 mai 2022, publié au Bulletin officiel du ministère de l'agriculture le 12 mai 2022). Appellation initialement reconnue par le décret du 13 mars 1968 — la première appellation corse reconnue.
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Patrimonio »— INAO / Ministère de l'agriculture (Bulletin officiel)
- Official sourcePl@ntGrape — le catalogue des vignes cultivées en France— IFV, INRAE et Institut Agro Montpellier (UMT Géno-Vigne®)
- Official sourceVIVC passport data — SANGIOVESE (variety number 10680)— Julius Kühn-Institut — Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The first Corsican appellation to be recognised, by the decree of 13 March 1968, across roughly 400 hectares spread over seven communes of Haute-Corse around the Gulf of Saint-Florent and the Nebbiu region. Whites are made exclusively from vermentino B; reds and rosés from niellucciu N — Tuscan sangiovese under its Corsican name — which must make up at least 90% of red blends. The cahier des charges itself reaches for the metaphor of "sanguis jovis", the blood of Jove, to describe the effect of the local limestone on that variety.
Mini-challenge
Patrimonio
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