Sant'Armettu 'L'Ermite' Rouge 2022

In 1964, Lucien Seroin and his son Paul left Algeria for Corsica’s idyllic southwestern shore. Here they established Sant'Armettu, starting with eleven hectares of vineyards above the Gulf of Valinco. For the next thirty years, the family's vines supplied fruit to the local co-operative in the nearby town of Sartène.

Paul's son Gilles — a wine merchant with an appreciation for fellow Corsican Jean-Charles Abbatucci’s small plot wines — expanded Sant'Armettu in the 1990s, planting more indigenous vines and introducing organic farming. Now the fourth generation, brother and sister Jeanne and Guillaume, cultivate 40 hectares of organic vineyards spread across granite terraces.

The stars of the show are Sciacarellu and Vermentinu. In skilled hands, Sciacarellu produces reds with the sensual fragrance of red Burgundy and a wild, Mediterranean edge. Vermentinu is all about minerality and freshness. All the wines are fermented with wild yeasts, with light infusions to preserve their natural delicacy.

Sant’Armettu’s fine, detailed wines are some of the most exciting in Corsica, and some of the best examples of its two most important grapes.