Domaine de Marquiliani, Rose Gris de Marquiliani, Corsica 2022

The town of Aghione is not far from the old Roman capital of Corsica, Aleria, on the eastern coast of the island, poetically known as the Costa Serena. Flanked against the mountains where the flats begin to rise into the hills, this small village of 245 inhabitants is just as celebrated today for its olive groves and vineyards as it was thousands of years ago. The enduring legacy is no coincidence—cool nights, constant ventilation, perfect situation between mountains and sea, and rocky, well-draining soils help the grapes retain their freshness and allow for a slow, even ripening. Chilled air currents from nearby Monte Renosu—one of Corsica’s highest peaks at 7,716 feet—make this one of the cooler sites on the island’s east coast. The soils in Aghione are a mix of alluvial debris composed primarily of schist and granite, along with silt that has descended from the mountains over the last tens of thousands of years.

The Amalric family has farmed Domaine de Marquiliani since the 1950s, nearly twenty years after the two hundred-year-old domaine was destroyed in a fire and abandoned. The Amalrics bought the property and replanted the vineyards. Daniel Amalric earned great recognition for his wines, as he was the first to plant Niellucciu and Syrah on this side of the island. In 1995, he was joined by his daughter, Anne, an agricultural chemist who had returned from mainland France to take her place at the family farm. Initially, Anne put her energy into planting olive and almond trees. Her determination has not been in vain, as Domaine de Marquiliani’s olive oils, made from local olive varieties, are widely regarded as the best in Corsica. Anne then turned her focus back to the vineyards, replanting much of the land to Sciaccarellu to focus the production on rosé. She still works side-by-side with her father and is quick to credit him as her guiding light in the vineyards and the cellar. In spite of her modesty, Anne has become a success in her own right. Her wine made an instant impression on Kermit Lynch, who raves, “Drinking her rosé is like drinking a cloud. There’s an absolute weightlessness to it. Nothing is left on the palate but perfume.”