Campu Tondu

An apiarian and oil-producing estate

U CAMPU TONDU is an apiarian and oil-producing estate covering almost 74 acres, located nearSartene, South Corsica, close to the beaches of Tizza and Tradicetu, and the famous Cauria and Paddaghju megalithic sites, in a region that is also well-known for its vineyards.

U CAMPU TONDU is to be found along the Route des Sens Authentiques (Route of Authentic Senses) which identifies the producers of real Corsican products. There are two old houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries on the estate, as well as two stone houses, built in the style of traditional shepherds’ dwellings, which are available for renting.

These buildings are set amongst the impressive trees of an olive grove that is hundreds of years old and produces a sweet, aromatic oil from the olive varieties to be found in the region.

The estate has its own honey-making facility, allowing the visitor to discover how honey is extracted and packaged. Corsican Honey is the only honey on the market today with the A.O.C. guarantee of quality.
The owner-harvester Georges Preziosi produces a reputable honey in six different varieties ranging in degrees of sweetness.

Click here for more information on the honey.

Corsican Honey: the first regional honey with the AOC guarantee of quality

Not only heavenly to taste, the “Corsican honeys” were also the very first to obtain the AOC (“Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée”) guarantee of quality.

AOC Corsican honey is indeed quite special since it spans a wide variety of tastes and flavours from a region that is very small. This unity in variety, and variety in unity, underline the peculiarity of Corsican honey. This is also the reason why Corsican honey asserts itself as the “honey of honeys”…and why this doesn’t surprise anybody.

Corsica’s vegetation is wild, natural and endemic. The maquis releases wonderful scents which blend perfectly to provide various flavours of honey. It’s interesting to know that the maquis includes no less than 2,800 plant species of which 127 are endemic.

And then there is the Corsican bee, a quite particular bee in its own right. Throughout the course of its existence, the apis mellifera mellifera Corsica (that’s its name!) has adapted to the climatic and geographical conditions on the island, and thus to the flora. This adaptation allows it to gather and harvest the variety of nectars offered by the maquis all year round.

But that’s not the whole story and it wouldn’t be sufficient on its own. Man also plays a part in the story…

The skill of producing honey goes back a long way on the island of Corsica. Man has been “working” honey for thousands of years. Some Corsicans even have hives in the walls of their homes, as though the bees were guests (and this says it all, in fact!). It should also be remembered that Corsican honey won the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in London in 1862…and that in 1998 it headed for the stars as part of the astronauts’ food on the Mir station.

Today, the AOC is a mark of international recognition appreciated by consumers looking for authentic products. But this recognition was not obtained by accident. For fifteen years, Corsican apiculture has been working on improving quality. Well-organised and rigorous, it continues scientific research into the origin of its honeys and the quality of the products. It has also developed an advanced methodology which is recognised throughout the apiculture sector.

Publication by the Corsican AOC Honey Union (Syndicat AOC miels de Corse)

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