Clos Venturi Brama Sciaccarellu 2024
£27.25
The wine
Light ruby red, with black cherry and white pepper on the nose. The palate runs to juicy red cherry with vibrant acidity, a hint of spice and silky tannins.
Brama is Corsican for a sigh, and evokes the breeze that blows across the island’s vineyards at night. Manu Venturi makes the range exclusively from indigenous Corsican varieties, each wine from a single parcel; this one from low-yielding Sciaccarellu of 25 to 35 years, the grape Tuscany knows as Mammolo. Clos Venturi is a 28-hectare site carved out of Domaine Vico in north-east Corsica for its ancient sandstone soils and its shelter among forest and mountain. It is certified organic and biodynamic, worked by horse to spare the soil, with sheep, chickens and beehives brought in for fertility, weed control and biodiversity. The fruit is destemmed and gently crushed, fermented in barrel on indigenous yeasts with daily punch-downs, then given 45 days of post-fermentation maceration and 14 to 18 months of ageing.
The producer
Clos Venturi
View all Clos Venturi winesClos Venturi lies at the heart of Corsica, in the mountainous Corte region at the geographic centre of the island. Run by Manù Venturi, it is one of the leading estates of a wine scene undergoing a remarkable revival. Corsican wine has never been more exciting.
The estate champions the island's native grapes, above all Vermentinu for the whites and Niellucciu and Sciaccarellu for the reds, alongside rare varieties like Biancu Gentile. Granite and schist soils at altitude, cooled by mountain air, give the wines freshness and precision. Organic farming is the foundation.
In the cellar the approach is pure and low-intervention, letting Corsica's distinctive grapes and terroir sing. The whites are taut and mineral, the reds fragrant and structured, the rosé pale and savoury. Nothing is forced.
From the everyday 1769 range to the single-vineyard Le Clos and Altare, Clos Venturi offers Corsica at its finest. Distinctive, mineral and utterly of their place, these are wines that capture the wild beauty of the island.
