2011 Domaine Antoine Arena Muscat du Cap Corse Blanc

Domaine Antoine Arena produces wines in the Patrimonio and Cap Corse appellations of Corsica. The estate was established in the 1970s when Antoine Arena and his family moved back to his family’s Corsican farm. Today Antoine makes wines with his two sons on 35 acres of land. Arena makes red, white and rose wines from indigenous grapes. Wine Advocate has written that Antoine Arena is “arguably Corsica’s most renowned vinous ambassador – certainly the island’s grower who has made the greatest waves in fashionable French wine circles… (he) was inspired in the mid-1970s by Corsica’s independence movement to quit a law career on the French mainland and become a wine grower like his ancestors on the ruggedly chalky slopes of Patrimonio, a career now shared with his two sons. Their wines are as distinctively delicious and intriguing as any in France.”

Corsica is a large island located under the southeast corner of France and it is actually closer to the northwestern coast of Italy than to France. Nevertheless it is part of France and for a long time its main contribution to international winemaking was bulk wine. Corsica is sunnier and drier than any part of mainland France and its vineyards tend to be small patches wedged into the island’s mountainous, rugged terrain. But in recent decades a new generation of Corsican producers has focused on improving the quality and reputation of the island’s wines, and the program has met with considerable success. The best wines are now exported and touted by prestigious distributors in the U.S. and throughout Europe. Corsica’s main appellations are Patrimonio, generally considered the best, Coteaux du Cap Norse, Calvi, Figari and Muscat du Cap Corse, which covers sweet white wines. Most Corsican wines are reds and rosés made of Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Nieulluccio (the local name for Sangiovese) and Sciacarello. The main white grape is Vermentino, typically blended with Ugni Blanc.