We’ve long turned to Corsica–that rugged and isolated island between Tuscany and France–for refreshing, textured Mediterranean whites. But can it produce “great” wines? Do Corsican whites gain in complexity and depth if we’re willing to wait? Can they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in France, and the world? The answer today is a resounding “yes.” Antoine-Marie Arena’s 2016 Bianco Gentile “BG” is peak Corsica; like all the best white wines from here, it sings with inimitable seabreeze minerality, scrub brush herbs, and a simultaneously lush yet electric texture. But now, with close to a decade of age, it’s taken on further saline, golden-fruited depth, its coastal limestone terroir shining through unabated. The Arena family is legendary amongst the Corsica cognoscenti, and a wine like today’s discovery ably demonstrates why: The Arenas basically put Corsica on American wine drinkers’ radars, and they continue to produce some of the island’s best wines. For those looking for an utterly unique drinking experience, or simply for an undeniably grand one, look no further. Corsica is here to impress!
Corsica sits at a true cultural crossroads, being roughly equidistant from Italy's western coast and the French Riviera. While it’s technically French from a legal standpoint, its viticultural traditions are more closely linked to Italy. Vermentino is a key grape here, as it is in Liguria and Tuscany, and there’s some evidence one of the island’s main red grapes is actually Sangiovese. Ask a winemaker here whether they’re French or Italian, though, and they’ll reply that they’re Corsican.
The Arena family embodies the Corsican spirit of independence perhaps more than any other wine grower. In the 1970s, patriarch Antoine Arena was working on the mainland before he decided to return home and demonstrate to the world just what Corsica was capable of. He moved back to the family farm in Patrimonio, a region at the island’s northern tip. He identified his family’s best parcels and vinified them separately, he singled out the oldest vines, and he made wines without sulfur long before it was the cool thing to do. Through Antoine’s work–and its promotion by importer Kermit Lynch–he put Patrimonio on the international winemaking map. Now, the next generation is stepping up at the Arena estate.
Antoine-Marie Arena, Antoine’s youngest son, studied viticulture and enology and then returned to the family estate in 2004. Because both his father and his brother wanted to continue making wine, the three Arena men split the family’s holdings evenly. Antoine-Marie chose their plots of the special Bianco Gentile variety, and for good reason; this may prove to be Corsica’s most exciting indigenous variety. A mere six hectares of Bianco Gentile remain in the world, and it was actually thought extinct until Antoine discovered a plot and spearheaded its revival in the 90s. It’s now a variety back on the rise, and Antoine-Marie’s bottling ably makes the case for its importance.
Antoine-Marie farms his Bianco Gentile organically, then ferments and ages in stainless steel with indigenous yeast. Young, it’s full of ripe orchard fruit and herbs; now, it has become something else entirely. The nose opens with a rush of creamy pear, white peach, sage, chamomile, straw, hazelnuts, honey, and lemon zest. A briny, crushed-rock minerality runs beneath the fruity herbal tones. On the palate, it’s lush and dynamically textured, but a vein of stringent acidity and oodles of seabreeze flavors keep it fresh. The finish thrums with chalky, limestone minerality. It almost feels like a halfway point between rich Premier Cru Chablis and a savory Etna Bianco or Canary Island white. It’s at the true peak of its powers right now, and it’ll hold here for a few years yet. We’re not sure we’ve ever offered a Corsican wine with significant age like this, and doubt we ever will again. That’s a sad fact, because this is profound stuff. Best to get in on it while you can!
