You wouldn’t realize it if you met them, but the Canarelli family is perhaps the most respected, accomplished yet discreet clan in southern Corsica. They built, own, and manage the famed Michelin-starred restaurant Cala Rossa in Porto-Vecchio, as well as the Domaine de Murtoli in Sartène, which is by far the most unique and breathtaking accommodation available in Corsica (visit www.murtoli.com to see what I mean). Regardless, the crown jewel of the family is the Clos Canarelli, a small patchwork of the family’s vineyards around the village of Tarrabucetta, within the appellation of Figari on the southern tip of Corsica. Figari has a Wild West feel to it—the mountains of the north give way here to hot and dry foothills and prairies, closer to its neighbor Sardinia in feel than to the rest of Corsica. You half expect tumbleweeds to blow over the small roads that cross the empty expanses in this region, where small, shuttered-up, nearly ghost towns dot the landscape.
   Decomposed granite dominates the soil, and fierce, hot winds blowing up from Africa carrying sand and salt relentlessly sweep the land. It’s a tough place to grow grapes—or much of anything, for that matter. Yves Canarelli, a younger lad of sharp intellect who owns and runs the domaine, introduced biodynamic farming to the region and over several years of trial and error has successfully adapted it to his land. Never before have vines in such a hot, arid, windswept area looked so lush and content.
    Through nothing but word of mouth, a following and fervor has grown around Yves’s wines, making them the rarest and hardest to find in Corsica. Some say his Sciaccarellu-based rosé is not only the best rosé there is from Corsica, but the best all of France has to offer. Others in the press have named him “Le Roi du Vermentinu,” while many have fallen for his Niellucciu-based red, with its ethereal, airy, smoke-filled nose, and intense, voluminous black fruit. What all agree on is the wines have focus, purity, and vibrancy, while never being flashy or showy. Think the class of a DeNiro as opposed to the brash and brawn of a Pesci. The understated elegance of his labels sets the mood.