Nielluccio

Nielluccio, the Corsican grape variety (pronounced 'nee-el-LOO-choo'), is often associated with the well known Italian mainland grape Sangiovese. There is much debate about the origins of the grape and its similarity to Sangiovese, although the Nielluccio grape has almost identical similarities to its Italian brother it is more like a distant cousin.

There is very little doubt that vines from Italy would have crossed the waters of the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian seas (between Corsica and Italy) and it is also of the opinion that the grapes have been established on the island for a along time, supporting its Corsican characteristics that have formulated such an unsure questioning to the debate of its origin. The Nielluccio grape in character is dark plum in colour creating robust strong tannic wines, and is the principal red wine grape that is also used to make rosé.