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Nielluccio is a red wine
grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...
that is widely planted on
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
. It is the principal grape variety used in the production of the ''
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...
'' AOC red wine Patrimonio, where it must by law make up 95% of the blend.E. McCarthy & M. Ewing-Mulligan ''"French Wine for Dummies"'' pg 242 Wiley Publishing 2001 An early budding vine, Nielluccio produces wines lacking in color and with high alcohol levels. It is commonly used to make
rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
wine.J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 208 Mitchell Beazley 1986 There is confusion about the grape's exact origins with some wine experts describing the grape as being indigenous to Corsica while other theories report that the grape is of
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
origins and possibly even a genetically identical clone of the Tuscan wine grape
Sangiovese Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin , "blood of Jove, Jupiter". Sangiovese Grosso, used for traditionally powerful and slow maturing red wines, is primarily grown in the central regions of Italy ...
that came to Corsica from
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
.


History

The exact origins of Nielluccio are disputed. While the grape is today known as primarily a French, or more specifically, Corsican grape,Decanter
Grape Varieties-N
''Decanter's Grape Guide''. Accessed: February 13th, 2011
ampelographers Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of th ...
in the late 20th century began to believe that the grape was likely of Italian origins. Nielluccio's close genetic similarities to the
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
Italian variety Sangiovese suggest that the two grapes are closely related. The grape was likely introduced to Corsica by the Genoese during their long rule over the island from the 13th century to the 18th century.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 129 Oxford University Press 1996 But this view is not universally accepted with some wine experts, such as
Oz Clarke Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster. Early life Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roma ...
, believing that the grape is
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
to Corsica.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 164 Harcourt Books 2001 Even
Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
believed once that Nielluccio was native to Corsica but her more recent works give support to the Genoese theory. To further add to the mystery, there is some belief that the extremely close genetic similarities between Sangiovese and Nielluccio could mean that they are exactly the same grape (or rather a clone given Sangiovese's propensity for
mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...
). Indeed, the German
Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...
data base of known
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s does not even give Nielluccio a separate entry, rather grouping it in as a
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
of Sangiovese.Nielluccio
Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...
, Accessed: February 13th, 2011
Still many French and English wine texts, such as the ''
Oxford Companion to Wine ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' (''OCW'') is a book in the series of Oxford Companions published by Oxford University Press. The book provides an alphabetically arranged reference to wine, compiled and edited by Jancis Robinson, with contribut ...
'', list the grape as a separate entry but with a note describing its close similarities to Sangiovese.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 484 Oxford University Press 2006 While there is very little Nielluccio grown today in Italy, it is the third most widely planted variety in Corsica. Plantings declined for most of the 20th century as French immigrants from
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
imported cuttings of varieties common in
Algerian wine Algerian wine is wine cultivated and bottled in Algeria. It has played an important role in the history of wine. Algeria's viticultural history dates back to its settlement by the Phoenicians and continued under the Roman Empire. Prior to t ...
such as
Carignan Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...
and
Cinsaut Cinsaut or Cinsault ( , ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache an ...
. At the turn of the 21st century, as Corsican winemakers rediscovered "indigenous" Corsican varieties, interest in Nielluccio was on the upswing.


Wine regions

Today Nielluccio is found almost exclusively on Corsica where it is the principal grape variety behind the AOC wines grown around Patrimonio in the north of the island. The grape's stronghold in the south is
Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; or ; , , or (South)) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the marshy and alluvial east ...
, where it is usually blended. According to the AOC regulations for Patrimonio the grapes must be harvested to a yield no greater than 50 hectoliters/hectare and produce red wines with a minimum
alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...
of 12% and ''rosé'' a minimum of 11.5%. For ''Vin de Corse'' which includes the wines of Porto-Vecchio, the harvest yield requirements are the same but the red wines only need to reach an alcohol level of at least 11.5%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 91 & 109 Firefly Books 2004 Throughout Corsica, the variety is often blended with
Sciacarello Sciacarello (or ''Sciaccarello'', ''Sciaccarellu'') is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in Corsica. It is most noted for the wines that come from Ajaccio which tend to be highly perfumed. It is also associated with wines fr ...
. Other varieties that Nielluccio is blended with for red blends and ''
rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
'' wines include
Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Uni ...
,
Grenache Grenache (; ) or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry condi ...
,
Vermentino Vermentino is a light-skinned wine grape variety, primarily found in Italian wine. It is widely planted in both Sardinia and Liguria, to some extent in Corsica, in Piedmont under the name Favorita, and in increasing amounts in Languedoc-Roussillo ...
, Cinsault and Carignan. While its plantings declined during the 20th century, updates to the ''
encépagement The glossary of wine terms lists the definitions of many general terms used within the wine industry. For terms specific to viticulture, winemaking, grape varieties, and wine tasting, see the topic specific list in the "''See also''" section below. ...
'' for Corsica's AOCs have been allocating increasingly higher proportions of red and ''rosé'' blends to the use of Nielluccio. Along with Sciacarello and Grenache, Nielluccio must compose at least 50% of the blend for red wines labeled under the general ''Vin de Corse'' AOC.


Viticulture

As of 2000, there were 4000 acres (1,600 hectares) of Nielluccio planted on Corsica. The grape seems to thrive on
vineyard soils The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticulture, viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrie ...
that are primarily
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
and
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
, particularly those of Patrimonio. The variety
buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...
early and ripens late which puts it at risk for both spring time
frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...
s and grape rots with rains during
harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
.


Wine

Wine expert Oz Clarke describes Nielluccio as producing "robust and tannic" wines with moderate to high levels of
acidity An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...
. Jancis Robinson describes the wines very
alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
with low
color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
pigmentation and "lacking guts" or structure. While the tannins and acidity in the grapes can help to produce fuller bodied wines with some
aging potential The aging of wine is potentially able to improve the quality of wine. This distinguishes wine from most other consumable goods. While wine is perishable and capable of deteriorating, complex chemical reactions involving a wine's sugars, acids an ...
, they can also make the wine come across as harsh depending on not only the
physiological ripeness In viticulture, ripeness is the completion of the ripening process of wine grapes on the vine which signals the beginning of harvest. What exactly constitutes ripeness will vary depending on what style of wine is being produced ( sparkling, still, ...
of the grapes at harvest but also how the
winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...
process is carried out from maceration,
fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...
, clarification and if the wine goes through any
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
and
filtering Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...
. Another method that is often used to balance Nielluccio's tannins and acidity is blending with Sciacarello a frequent partner. According to Jancis Robinson, it is the Nielluccio ''rosé'' from Patrimonio that tend to get the most critical acclaim from non-Corsicans of all the Nielluccio-based wines.


Synonyms

Over the centuries, Nielluccio and its wines have been known under a variety of synonyms including Niellucio, Niella, Nielluccia and Negretta.


References

{{reflist Red wine grape varieties