Drinking the wines of Corsica is akin to a visceral immersion into the natural wonders of the Île de Beauté: each sip is the liquid sum of sea, sun, stone, wind, and the wild maquis herbs that make up this stunning land. But beyond this, it is also a window into the Corsican identity and the strong local culture that has been forged as a result of the island’s turbid history. From this perspective, there is no better portal to understanding Corsica than through the wines of Antoine Arena.
     Antoine’s career began in 1975, when he returned to the family farm in Patrimonio after law studies in Nice. Tensions between Corsicans—notably, separatists in favor of independence—and the French government had reached a boiling point, leading to violent episodes that ultimately marked the founding of Corsica’s extremist nationalist movement. At the root of these issues lay the sentiment that France treated Corsica like a colony, exemplified by the special treatment given to pieds-noirs (Algeria-born French citizens repatriated to Corsica after Algeria won its independence in 1962) in the form of unfair land grants and government subsidies. Rather than using his education to try to make a living on the mainland, as his parents so adamantly favored, Antoine got word of the incidents taking place back home and chose to return to his roots and work the land, just as countless generations of Arenas had done before.
     At the time, Corsican wine had yet to turn many heads. Though the Arenas’ hometown of Patrimonio had become the island’s first AOC in 1968, most Corsican wine was still either produced in tiny quantities for family consumption, or mass-produced and destined for blending with leaner, lighter bulk wines from the mainland. The decision to come back to the domaine was a controversial one—his own father wouldn’t speak with him for a whole month after his return—but Antoine was determined to succeed as a vigneron, relying on traditional methods of farming to valiantly wave the flag for his homeland through his wines.
     After expanding the family holdings to include some of Patrimonio’s finest terroirs and honing the art of vinification, Antoine gradually built a reputation for himself, and for Corsica, that spread to the mainland and eventually overseas. His riacquistu—a term used to describe Corsicans' patriotic re-appropriation of their culture and language in the 1970s and ’80s—inspired many other vignerons to follow suit, eventually bringing unprecedented recognition to local wines. He also spearheaded a movement to salvage and replant near-extinct heirloom grape varieties, and in doing so preserved a fascinating aspect of Corsica’s viticultural heritage.
     Today, Antoine works alongside his two sons, Jean-Baptiste and Antoine-Marie. The three continue to set the bar for Patrimonio and all of Corsica, crafting a number of unique cuvées through organic farming and hands-off winemaking. With this sampler, you will discover the Arena family’s work through several of their diverse terroirs, savoring the essence of Corsica and consequently delving deep into the animated history that has come to define what it means to be Corsican.