Domaine de Vaccelli - Granit 174 - Vintage 2020
In Cognocoli-Monticchi, in the Taravo valley, Domaine de Vaccelli is among the estates that have given Corsican reds a finer, more precise, and more ambitious dimension. The Courrèges family settled on these lands in the early 1960s, after reclaiming a vineyard overrun by maquis and building an underground cellar in granite, a detail that already speaks volumes about the intimate relationship between the estate and its soil. The Ajaccio appellation here forms a unique environment, where granite hillsides, maritime influences, and mountain winds give Sciaccarellu a particularly fragrant expression. Vaccelli's reds do not seek density for its own sake; they advance through grain, length, freshness, and that spicy vibration that distinguishes the great wines of southern Corsica. The estate is now recognized among the island's major references, with certified organic viticulture and increasingly refined parcel research. Granit 174 2020 is at the heart of this demand, in a tighter reading of the terroir, rarer and more vertical than the entry-level cuvées. It is a deeply identity-rich Ajaccio red, where Mediterranean ripeness remains contained by the natural finesse of Sciaccarellu and the freshness of granite.
This cuvée is made from Sciaccarellu, the emblematic grape of Ajaccio, indicated on the 2020 vintage as 100% Sciaccarellu in the Ajaccio appellation, with an alcohol content of 13.5%. The name Granit 174 refers to a very precise expression of the estate, linked to a granite terroir worked in a parcel-focused and confidential spirit. Some sources describe this cuvée as coming from old vines located on the upper slopes, exposed to the north, which explains its less sunny, more tense, and more chiseled profile. The 2020 vintage delivers a wine already deep but still held by a fine structure, capable of gaining nuances with aeration and a few additional years in the cellar. Sciaccarellu here brings its scent of red fruits, sweet spices, and maquis, but it takes on a more serious dimension thanks to the mineral relief of the place. The matter is not built in mass; it rests on an extended texture, a precise mouthfeel, and an almost saline sensation on the finish. Granit 174 thus stands out for rare elegance, with the ability to unite the aromatic delicacy of a great Corsican grape and the depth of a wine for aging.
The color presents as a bright red, with garnet reflections, without excessive opacity, faithful to the natural finesse of Sciaccarellu. The nose opens on fresh cherry, wild strawberry, redcurrant, and blood orange, before evolving towards fine pepper, peony, cistus, myrtle, and a slight note of warm stone. On the palate, the wine has a supple, almost silky attack, then gradually tightens around a granite framework that gives relief and persistence. The tannins are fine, powdery, perfectly integrated into a matter that favors momentum rather than thickness. The finish returns to tangy red fruits, maquis herbs, spices, and a saline touch that prolongs the tasting with great naturalness. This red will pair perfectly with roasted herb lamb, veal with olives, pigeon, seared tuna steak, brocciu cannelloni, or aged sheep cheese. Served around 15 to 16°C, after slight aeration, it will reveal more precisely its aroma, its grain, and that discreet depth that makes the charm of Vaccelli's great cuvées.
Grape variety: Sciaccarellu
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