Lessons from nature: Domaine Comte Abbatucci

8 November 2014: Despite its long tradition of winemaking since 15th Century, the Abbatucci family had long been better known for its connection with Napoléon Bonaparte and his descendants. Jean-Charles Abbatucci (1770 – 1796) was a friend of Napoléon’s and while serving as General, he conquered Holland at the young age of 23 years. Jacques-Pierre-Charles Abbatucci (1791 – 1857) served as lawyer of Corsica, magistrate of Orleans and then Paris and eventually became the Minister of Justice of the Second Empire. He was well known for his love of all traditional products of Corsica and was responsible for crafting the modern Corsica.

Jean-Charles Abbatucci

The current winery of Domaine Comte Abbatucci has been making wine for over a century, covering 100 hectares of granitic terroir, about 20% of which are planted, in the area of Ajaccio. The winery is now run by Jean-Charles Abbatucci, whose father started planting some near-extinct local indigenous varieties in the family vineyard in 1960’s and spent 10 years preparing a notebook detailing results of his study including ampelography and cultural character of these varieties. There are an estimated 22-23 indigenous varieties in Corsica and you can find 18 of these at Domaine Comte Abbatucci. Jean-Charles is passionate to craft the best wines possible from his land, and since 2000, he started practicing biodynamics when he noticed that nature produced the best fruit possible when unadulterated. Apart from biodynamic practices in accordance with the lunar calendar, he has augmented such with phytotherapy. The most remarkable changes to his vineyard and wines since the adoption of biodynamics are that the depth of topsoil of decomposed granite has increased from 7 cm to 30 cm, more vigour in the canopy, greater biodiversity in the soil, greater concentration of micro-organisms in the roots, and the whites are showing much more minerality while the reds demonstrate a distinct aroma of the earth, especially in his top cuvée Ministre Impérial. The use of natural yeast has also ensured a better balance between aromatic complexity and complexity on the palate. It has been a long and rewarding learning process, learning about the harmony between nature, vines and man.

Some of Jean-Charles’s top wines, with the signature hallmark of elegance, freshness, and unique character, are sold as Vin de France, as they are not made in conformance with AOC requirements. The entry level wine range (AOC Ajaccio) is called Faustine, named after Jean-Charles’s daughter, with production levels of the red about 30,000 bottles, 20,000 bottles for the white and 15,000 bottles of the rosé. At the premium range, there is the Cuvée Collection, comprising 2 white labels and 1 red label. The whites are Diplomate d’Empire and Général de La Révolution and the red is Ministre Impérial. Just below these 3 top cuvées, there are 2 wines, namely Carcajolo-Nero (CN in short) and Barbarossa (BR) based on the varietals. About 25,000 bottles are produced all together for these 5 wines.

Faustine Blanc, Faustine Rouge et Cuvee Collection Ministre

During my tasting with Jean-Charles, I tasted 3 of his wines. I started with the 100% Vermentino, Faustine Blanc 2013, Vieilles Vignes. Vinified without use of oak. Aromatically, this recalled green grass, green apple and citrus. On the palate, there was a clean precise minerality, complementing the refreshing bright acidity. The wine finished long, with a saline complexity to the finish. Fabulous as an aperitif or to pair with seafood platter or sashimi.


The red Faustine I tasted was from the 2012 vintage, a blend of 70% Sciaccarello and 30% Nielluccio. Vinification in cement tanks, without any oak influence. The aromas presented wild berries, myrtle (characteristic of Sciaccarello), lavender and cardamom spice. Fresh acidity greeted the palate, together with fine-grained elegant tannin, lending a silky mouthfeel. Finishes fresh and spicy. Refined, aromatic and very attractive.


Both of these entry level wines are drinking well now and will continue to drink well for another 6 – 8+ years. Guided retail price about HK$200 a bottle.

I finished the tasting with the 2012 vintage of the Ministre Impérial, from the Cuvée Collection. Jean-Charles said he’s still trying to understand how the wine would develop, as its first vintage was only 2007! Made from a blend of 7 grape varieties, with Sciaccarello and Nielluccio making up 40% of the blend. Aged in 600-litre used demi-muids, without any new oak influence. The nose was intense but delivered great aromatic complexity and intensity, with nuances of raisin, plum, violet, earthy, iodine, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg spice. The intense flavours continue on the palate, and are built into layers and layers of complexity. The tannins are firm, ripe and fine-grained, giving a velvety roundness to the mouthfeel, balanced by vibrant acidity. The finish goes on for a few minutes. It embodies elegance, finesse and harmony, even at this young age. If served blind, it would be almost impossible to position this in Corsica! This wine has been well-received by some well-known winemakers from Bourgogne, with one famous winemaker from Puligny-Montrachet, likening its style to a wine between Chambolle Musigny and Château Rayas. Further, Jean-Charles believes in wax closure for additional protection, as he uses only minimum sulphur. Guided retail price about HK$ 850 a bottle.

It was very exciting to learn that Jean-Charles had just acquired a piece of 40-hectare vineyard at 600 metre altitude where he is envisaging an oasis of vines in the middle of maquis-covered land. (Maquis is a local term, very similar to garrigue in the Languedoc, with immortelle and myrtle as key components.)