Domaine Saparale: A French Second Empire-style vineyard

The Second Empire in France, under the imperial Bonapartist Napoleon III (1852-1870), saw the country involved in some ill-fated colonizing efforts in Vietnam, Italy and Mexico. The country also had its fingers into Egypt, mostly because of influence gained there by the first Napoleon, where French fortunes were made with the construction of the Suez Canal by a French construction company of the same name and involvement in Cairo’s transformation into the Paris of North Africa by its then ruler, Khedive Ismail.

A nobleman from Corsica, Philippe de Rocca Serra, returned from Egypt about this time with an enormous fortune. Someone in a similar situation today, who was interested in wine, might buy a Bordeaux chateau. A man of his times, obviously, de Rocca Serra set about creating his own little wine empire. In 1883, between the city of Sartène and the village of Bonifacio in the southern part of Corsica, he had 100 hectares of vines and fruit trees planted. Many of the estate’s 100 workers were housed in a small village that he had built onsite, complete with its own bakery, butcher shop, and other stores. One of the largest buildings, given the island’s reputation for lawless bandits who fought bloody vendettas and hid out in the scrubland maquis that covers much of the island, was a Gendarmerie Nationale station for French military police.

The maison de maître (literally the “master’s house) built by de Rocca Serra soon became known as simply the Casteddu—“Castle” in Corsican. A huge chai was constructed to house wine barrels to age the wine. Over 40 meters (more than 120 feet) in length, this cellar contained 18 gigantic oak barrels, which could hold more than a combined total of over a half million liters of wine.

The area chosen by de Rocca Serra for his vineyards, the Ortolo Valley, has a microclimate that is ideal for growing grapes. The decomposed granite soil heats up quickly in the springtime, and it is porous, rich in minerals and well drained. Low rainfall levels and maritime breezes from the nearby Mediterranean help to limit the development of mold and mildew diseases that might attack the grapevines.

The local varieties of grapes planted by de Rocca Serra did well here. His wine had an excellent reputation, even capturing a gold medal at a Universal Exposition in London. The good times were short lived, however. A one-two punch of phylloxera and bandits (yes, bandits, in spite of the on-site Gendarmerie) left the village deserted by World War II. It stayed like that until the 1980s when the father of the present owner, Philippe Farinelli, inherited the property. The elder Farinelli had replanted some of the vineyards, taking his grapes to the local cooperative. His son, who has a degree in oenology from Montpellier University, took over in 1994.

Stainless steel vats and oak barrels now occupy a stable where the farm’s workhorses were once kept. Farinelli doesn’t use any chemical fertilizer on his 18 hectare of vines, and the vineyard will be “bio” accredited, an organic-agriculture certification, in 2010. AOC Sartène varieties–Sciaccarellu, Niellucciu and Vermentinu grapes–are planted on south- and southwest-facing hillsides.

He makes reds, whites and rosés for a cuvée de garde (wines meant to be aged), the Cuvée Casteddu, and a red, white and rosé range of less complex wines under the Cuvée Domaine Saparale name. The Cuvée Casteddu and the Cuvée Domaine Saparale reds are both made from a blend of Sciaccarellu and Niellucciu grapes.

The Cuvée Domaine Saparale red is made from machine-harvested grapes from vines with a yield of 45hl/ha. The uncrushed grapes are fermented for 15-20 days at 26-28 °C (79-82 °F), and the wine is then moved to large oak barrels for 8-12 months of aging.

The Cuvée Casteddu red uses grapes from selected parcels, and the yield is reduced to between 28-30 hl/ha. The uncrushed grapes are placed in stainless steel vats for a temperature-controlled fermentation, using indigenous yeasts, that lasts 30 days. Daily pumping of the wine from the bottom of the vat to the top, wetting the solid material (“the cap”) that floats to the surface during the fermentation/maceration process, augments the color of the wine. Aging, which is done in 250L oak barrels, lasts for 12 months.

Both cuvées are luscious reds, with fruity notes and the spiciness typical of wines made with the Sciaccarellu grape (the name Sciaccarellu comes from a Corsican adjective, sciaccarella, which means “crisp” or “crunchy”). The Cuvée Casteddu is a generous, balanced wine that deserves some aging before drinking. The Cuvée Domaine Saparale will benefit from two to five years of aging, as well.

The secret to these red wines, says Farinelli, is the Sciaccarellu grape, which is unique to Corsica. “The Sciaccarellu can be difficult to deal with [it's particularly susceptible to mildew], but it can have a marvelous spectrum of aromas and peppery tastes,” he adds.

The Domaine de Saparale whites, which are made from the Vermentinu grape, and two rosés, one made from a blend of Sciaccarellu and Vermentinu, the other from a blend of Sciaccarellu, Niellucciu and Vermentinu, are also good wines. In particular, the Casteddu blanc, which is made from hand-harvested grapes from selected parcels of low-yield vines (30 hl/ha), is a beautiful straw-colored dry white wine, with mineral aromas and a long, persistent finish.

Farinelli certainly has ambitions to improve the estate’s wines. This spring, he hired Patrick Daney, a Bordeaux winemaker, to be his Maître de Chai. It will be interesting to see what effect this experienced cellarmaster will have on the Domaine Saparale wines.

If you decide to visit this beautiful estate to taste the wines and to perhaps imagine how it must have been like living here a century ago (minus the bandits), Farinelli has renovated an old olive mill into a luxurious gîte, complete with a swimming pool and a traditional-style, hammam steam bath. There are views of the nearby mountains, and the 180m² stone house is set right in the middle of the vineyards. The three bedrooms each has its own bathroom, and the antique furnishings come from a Paris auction house, the Hôtel Drouot, where his stepsister works. The rental fee is steep, however; depending on the season, it ranges from €3,500 to €7,200 per week. More details are available on the Domaine de Saparale website.

Tagged as: Corsica