This communication is published in accordance with Article 17(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (1).

COMMUNICATION OF APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

‘Île de Beauté’

PGI-FR-A1166-AM01

Date of communication: 20.7.2023

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

Vine varieties

Chapter I of the specification has been amended under section 5 – Vine Variety, with the addition of 5 old and native varieties to the PGI vine variety:

—	White: Brustianu B, Cualtacciu B, Rossula bianca B and Uva biancona B.

—	Red: Vintaghju N.

These old varieties present in the PGI area reinforce the identity of Corsican wines and the link to geographical origin of ‘Ïle de Beauté’ PGI wines.

While preserving the expansion of genetic resources, the development of these native varieties in the area allows for better adaptation to climate change, thanks to late-ripening varieties with more pronounced acidity.

These 5 varieties have been added to the list of wine grape varieties in the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1.   Name(s)

Île de Beauté

2.   Geographical indication type

PGI – Protected Geographical Indication

3.   Categories of grapevine product

1.

Wine

4.   Description of the wine(s)

Organoleptic and analytical characteristics

Concise textual description

The ‘Île de Beauté’ protected geographical indication covers still, red, rosé and white wines.

The share of rosé wines is increasing and accounts for around 50 % of production. There is a wide range of aromas and nuances of ‘rosé’, although the tendency is towards strong aromas and wines which are pale in colour.

The red wines (one third of production) are mainly from the local varieties Nielluccio N and Sciaccarello N, associated mainly with the following varieties: Merlot N, Cabernet-Sauvignon N, Grenache N, Pinot noir N and Syrah N. They are generally deep in colour. On the nose, they present fruity notes and hints of liquorice and leather; on the palate, they are silky with a long finish.

The white wines are known to be produced from the variety Vermentino B, which often gives them floral notes. Other varieties used also leave their mark, such as Chardonnay B, with its fruitier or even honeyed notes, or Chenin blanc, which is a firmer and bolder grape.

The analytical criteria other than the minimum actual alcoholic strength follow the limits laid down in EU legislation.

General analytical characteristics
Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume)
Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume)	9
Minimum total acidity
Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre)
Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre)

5.   Wine-making practices

5.1.   Specific oenological practices

Specific oenological practice

The wines follow the œnological practices laid down in EU legislation.

5.2.   Maximum yields

120 hectolitres per hectare.

6.   Demarcated geographical area

The harvesting of the grapes, and the vinification and processing of PGI ‘Île de Beauté’ wines must take place in the departments of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

7.   Wine grape variety(-ies)

Aléatico N

Barbaroux Rs

Biancu Gentile B

Brustianu

Cabernet Franc N

Cabernet Sauvignon N

Carcajolo N

Carcajolo blanc B

Carignan N

Carignan blanc B

Chardonnay B

Chenin B

Cinsaut N - Cinsault

Codivarta B

Cualtacciu

Genovèse B

Grenache N

Grenache blanc B

Grenache gris G

Marsanne B

Merlot N

Morrastel N – Minustellu, Graciano

Mourvèdre N – Monastrell

Muresconu N – Morescono

Muscat d’Alexandrie B – Muscat, Moscato

Muscat à petits grains blancs B – Muscat, Moscato

Muscat à petits grains rouges Rg – Muscat, Moscato

Nielluccio N – Nielluciu

Pagadebiti B

Pinot Gris G

Pinot Noir N

Riminèse B

Rossula bianca

Roussanne B

Sauvignon B – Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Gris G – Fié gris

Sciaccarello N

Syrah N – Shiraz

Tempranillo N

Ugni Blanc B

Uva biancona

Vermentino B – Rolle

Vintaghju

Viognier B

8.   Description of the link(s)

8.1.   Special characteristics of the geographical area and of the product

The geographical area of the ‘Île de Beauté’ Protected Geographical Indication is made up of all the the municipalities in the departments of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

However, production predominately takes place in the area extending from Bastia to Solenzara, over the entire eastern coastline, which is the largest wine sector on the island.

Most of the vineyards grow along the coast, and the perimeter of the island is almost entirely planted with vines. This maritime organisation of production lends a strong sense of unity to Corsican wine-growing.

Second main landscape feature: most of the vineyards are planted on lowlands and, more generally, gently sloping areas, although hillside and terraced plantations are not uncommon.

There are 4 types of soil planted with vines: arenaceous granite, shale, clay-limestone and alluvial soil. The permeability of the soil, which plays a crucial role in preventing water retention on the mainland, is not as important in Corsica, since it benefits from a drier climate. On the contrary, retention of the low moisture content is desirable.

The climate is typical of the Mediterranean coastline, with overall high temperatures and moderate rainfall (average rainfall of 600 to 700 mm water/year).

There is a risk of late frost, but only in a few small areas of hollows or lowland slopes.

Summer drought causes moderate water stress, causing the berries to become enriched with sugars on soils with sufficient usable water reserves.

The winds are also of vital importance in the regional nuances of the Corsican climate. The ‘local’ winds, which are sea and land breezes, or mountain and valley breezes (thermal winds with a more or less pronounced Venturi effect), shape the character of some of the island’s wine-growing areas. The ‘regional’ winds are no less important in shaping the Corsican climate and its impact on wine-growing: the Tramontana, a high North wind, the Maestrale (or mistral), a wind from the North-West, the Libecciu, a southwesterly wind, the Sirocco, with a South-East direction, and the Grégale, a high rainy wind from the eastern front with a North-East orientation.

Together, these winds create a particularly favourable environment for vine growth.

The history of vines is linked to that of the Mediterranean, and Corsica has been closely involved for geographical and agronomic reasons. The beginnings of wine-growing in Corsica have been attributed to the Greeks, with Corsica becoming part of wine-making civilisation in the 6th century BC. In 600 BC, the Phocaeans thus built the Alalia trading post on the eastern shores of Corsica. Similarly to the other trading posts in Gaul, the establishment of Alalia involved the arrival of vines as a colonial crop, in the same way as the olive tree.

Throughout the Pax Romana, wine-growing benefited from the agronomic knowledge of the Romans, in terms of growth methods and how to make wine. Consumption grew across all social classes, from the slaves to the nobility, not forgetting farm hands and domestic servants.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Corsica suffered a string of invasions until the 11th century. Corsica was administered by Pisa until 1285, and the Roman Church made a positive contribution to the development of wine-growing, helping it to become a source of trade once again. The Genoese period which would follow a century later reinforced trade with Italy.

The second half of the 20th century was marked by the arrival of some 17 000 repatriates from North Africa. Combined with financial resources and favourable legislation, this would give real impetus to the ‘new wine sector’. Producers arrived with mass wine-growing and oenological techniques and created mechanised vineyards to make the product with which they had experience: a medicinal wine for the mainland. Vineyard cultivation started in 1960, accelerated from 1964 to 1969 and peaked in 1976. This was followed in the 1980s by unprecedented levels of grubbing up.

Since then, the wine-growing community has successfully built new foundations, recovered quality wine-growing territory and invested in the improvement of production quality through the selection of local grape varieties, wine-growing and oenological experimentation and vineyard restructuring, thus setting a healthy basis for the future.

Île de Beauté ‘Vin de pays’ wine was recognised by decree in January 1982.

In 2008, wines marketed under the ‘Ile de Beauté’ protected geographical indication accounted for 60 % of wine production in Corsica. The 190 000 hl in question, from 3 150 ha of vines, are produced by 5 cooperative wineries, one agricultural cooperative (SICA, société d'intérêt collectif agricole) and 36 private wineries.

8.2.   Causal link between the specificity of the geographical area and the specificity of the product

Corsica is a mountain at the heart of the Mediterranean, an island bathed in sunshine where the climate, the relief, the soil and the history of the wine-growing community combine to form a terroir like no other.

Corsica gives the vine and its wines all the strength and specificity of its island nature, while the know-how involved in blending and also in individual wine-making techniques which bring to the fore specific grape varieties give these wines an undeniable and well recognised island identity. This identity is reinforced by the maintenance of a vine population in which historical island varieties take pride of place. Indeed, the wines have a specific identity which is reinforced by native varieties such as Sciaccarello N, Nielluccio N and Vermentino B.

Vines are one of the steadiest expressions of island identity. This is of course down to the efforts of the winegrowers and also to the combination of natural factors:

—	the soil: Geological diversity has set the scene for a diversity of skills and therefore of production, since the poverty of the soil (granite and shale) is favourable to the cultivation of high-quality vines;

—	the topography, which has allowed cultivation on terraces which have been pruned, backfilled and walled by hand over many centuries, and the creation of real wine-growing landscapes;

—

the climate: the maritime influence limits the effects of overly hot summers and tempers the rigours of winter, the aggregate temperatures are conducive to optimal grape growth, the moderate rainfall is generally sufficient for quality wine-growing, and the winds also play a major role in achieving quality wine-growing, providing partial protection from fungal diseases, particularly in springtime, while the sea breeze in summer maintains a certain level of humidity which is necessary to successful photosynthesis in high temperatures.

9.   Essential further conditions (packaging, labelling, other requirements

Legal framework

National legislation

Type of further condition

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition

The European Union PGI logo must appear on the label if the words ‘Indication géographique protégée’ (Protected Geographical Indication) are replaced by the traditional term ‘Vin de pays’.

Link to the product specification

https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-7deb9d98-f486-4253-b5db-292b018bf5f6

---

(1)   OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.