By Anne the 23/02/2023

Saint Martin gathers around the sharing of new wine

PATRIMONIO. Every year, to celebrate the saint patron of the village and the end of the grape harvest, people gather around the confreres. The wine is blessed, and the barrel is pierced in respect and conviviality forming the age-old roots of this tradition.

Vines have been replanted on the plains and hillsides for hundreds of years, a strong wine tradition that extends from the south to the north of the island with each micro-region having its own characteristic. Some plots of land have been abandoned over the years, but little by little, the vine is being reborn on the island, refined and developed.

La pieve du Nebbiu – Conca d’Oro is one of the most renowned micro-regions for its vineyards, notably with the Patrimonio appellation.

During Saint-Martin day, the saint patron of the village and the inhabitants gather around their confreres and celebrate the newly blessed wine. A centuries-old tradition according to the winegrowers whose archives show that this celebration goes back to the beginning of the 19th century. Under the eye of Saint Martin, they raise their glasses and taste together the fresh and finished harvest.

For the last few years, the harvest happened earlier, though the tradition remains on the 11th of November.

Tasting this new wine, too young to be bottled but fermented enough for a spicula, With the first hole in the barrel, we can already taste the conviviality, the generosity whilst meeting the forty or so winegrowers gathered for this celebration.

Older estates whose reputation is well established, and others much younger, is proof of the important dynamics of the sector on the island. The wine is shared and the glass exchanged on a land of essential values carried by the brotherhood of Saint Martin.

The Via Sancti Martini is a pilgrimage route walked by many to follow the footsteps of the saint. A route of more than 2,500 kilometres which continues all the way to Patrimonio.

Always with this desire to perpetuate traditions and to honour the place, the , l’AOP Patrimonio modified its requirements this year. A significant event in the wine world, since it is only the third revision since 1968.

The winegrowers decided to totally exclude the use of synthetic chemical weedkillers in the vineyards. A source of pride for the president of the PDO, who points out that this is the first initiative of its kind in France and in the world.

SUNSET

The west coast of the island offers sensational sunsets over the Mediterranean.

EXCEPTIONAL PANORAMA

Climbing up to the heights of Patrimonio, at the highest point on the side of the Pignu antennas, you can enjoy an exceptional panorama of the eastern and western sides of the Cap Corse. Towards Italy, Bastia spreads out under our feet as far as the southern edge of the Eastern Plain. In the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Tuscan islands are on the horizon.

To the west, the Conca d'Oro and the Nebbiu wildly emerge with their hills, perched villages and hillside vineyards, facing the splendid Gulf of Saint-Florent, opening to the Agriate coast.