Crisis threatens survival of Corsican wine

Corsica (bergmeer)High transport costs and obligations from Europe to grub vineyards threaten the existence of the Corsican wine sector, says Bernard Sonnet, director of CIV Corse, to the press agency Reuters. The Corsican wine sector is vital to the economy of the French island. Corsica is the third wine-producing island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia. The average annual wine production of 370,000 hectoliters (hl) is but a drop in the ocean of French wine, but both for volume and for value wine is the main export product of Corsica. The island once produced millions hectoliters of cheap plonk, but the the lack of quality destroyed the wine sector. Nine new AOCs, more emphasis on quality and still relatively low prices make today that the demand for Corsican wine is greater than the supply. However, Europe demands that another ten percent of the Corsican wine area is to be grubbed up. But according to the CIV Corse, wine production should not fall below the critical level of about 370,000 hl per year without bringing the existence of the whole industry in jeopardy. With the current area, this represents an average production of 54 hectoliters per hectare, which is rather low compared with many other French wine regions. Some 1500 Corsicans work in the sector. There are 950 growers and the wine export is good for 120 million euro per year. Almost half (44%) of the wine is drunk in Corsica itself. Of the rest, about half is sold in France and the other half exported to other European countries. 56 percent of the AOC wines are rose’s, 33% are red wines and 11% are white. Some grapes, such as Niellucciu (related to the Italian Sangiovese) are only found in Corsica. Niellucciu accounts for 35 percent of the Corsican wine area. Seventeen percent is planted with Vermentiu, a variant of the Italian white grape Vermentino. In addition to the obligation to grub up vineyards, there is also the problem of high transport costs. Ten to twelve percent of the price of Corsican wine is due to the high transport costs.