Sulcis, Sardinia: 10 names to know
AGRICOLA PUNICA
Started as a collaboration between Giacomo Tachis, Cantina Santadi and Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta (of Sassicaia). It makes two excellent red wines and a white, which blend both Sardinian and French varieties. The talent, skill and flair of this famous partnership certainly brings out the exciting qualities of Carignano.
ARGIOLAS
A famous name here, started in the early 1900s and now run by the third generation. Concerned with sustainability, it has also done a lot of research into isolating and protecting 11 native Sardinian varieties. It makes a delightful sparkling wine from Nuragus and an exciting white from Nasco.
CANTINA DI CALASETTA
I was impressed by the quality of the wines from this Sant’Antioco co- op, established in 1932. It produces Carignano and small amounts of Vermentino di Sardinia and Moscato di Cagliari. Its young and dynamic winemaker Fabio Vitillo comes originally from Taurasi in Campania.
CANTINA GIBA
Based in the village of Giba, with 20ha of vines on their own rootstocks in sandy soils facing Porto Pino beach. Its top wine, Carignano del Sulcis Seimura, won a Tre Bicchieri in Gambero Rosso in 2019.
CANTINA MESA
Stylish and aromatically pure Carignano. Established by advertising executive Gavino Sanna, and now owned by the Santa Margherita Wine Group, it gets grapes from 78ha, of which it owns 66ha. It is situated in Sant’Anna Arresi, overlooking the promontory of Porto Pino.
CANTINA SANTADI
This cooperative has a strong relationship with its growers, some of whom grow ungrafted vines on sandy soils in vineyards more than 100 years old. Its flagship Carignano del Sulcis is Terre Brune, but it also makes the unoaked Rocca Rubia, as well as Latinia, a sweet white passito from the intriguing Nasco grape.
CANTINE SARDUS PATER ENRICO ESU
This cooperative was set up in the 1950s on the beautiful island of Sant’Antioco. There, its 200 members cultivate 300ha, most of which is old-vine Carignano. However, some of the land is dedicated to white varieties Vermentino, Moscato and Nasco, and some to native red varieties Monica, which produces light, fruity wines, and Cannonau, also known as Grenache or Garnacha.
Based in Carbonia, a former coal-mining area. His Carignano del Sulcis Seruci Miniera is named after the mine his father worked in, and is probably the most intensely characterful, terroir- driven Carignano I have tasted. A little less sophisticated than some perhaps, but a refreshing walk on the wild side.
SELLA & MOSCA
Based in Alghero in the north of the island, and well known for its highquality Vermentino and Torbato. In 2016, the company was sold by Campari to the Terra Moretti group, which also owns wineries in Tuscany and Franciacorta.
Its Carignano del Sulcis vineyards are planted on clay-based soils.
TANCA GIOIA
On the island of San Pietro, where the soil is sandy and volcanic. Father and son came from careers in banking and engineering, and they planted their first vineyard in 2000. They own 8.5ha and produce 3,500 bottles. Wines are unoaked and aged in steel or glass.
Change is not always easy though. Andrés Garcia Blas, winemaker at Cantina Giba, is a Spaniard who moved to Sardinia in 2010. He experienced some resistance to new ideas: ‘Making a selection of grapes during harvesting was difficult.’ Only by showing how his methods have resulted in better wines has he been able to convince others that better vineyard management and grape selection leads to higher quality. Cantina Giba has recently been awarded a coveted Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri award, so perhaps this will help him to garner support for his ideas.
Drinking the land
As a delightful counterpart to these voluptuous reds, there are some interesting native Sardinian white grape varieties aside from Vermentino. Nuragus, one of the oldest vines to be introduced to Sardinia (named after the Bronze Age Nuragic civilisation), has very delicate aromas of white flowers and citrus and can make delicious sparkling wine. The even more characterful Nasco, with its beautiful heady, musky perfume, reminiscent of Gewürztraminer or Moscato, can be sweet or off-dry, and is currently enjoying a revival. One of the best white wines I tasted on a trip to Sardinia in November 2019 was Iselis, a Nasco by Argiolas.
As wine consultant Luca d’Attoma says: ‘Sardinia is a world unto itself, and for this
‘ We talk so easily about terroir, but very rarely does it reveal itself so intensely’
reason, it makes it even more fascinating.’ It has a wealth of distinctive native grape varieties, but Sulcis has that very special and rare thing: a very strong terroir relationship with Carignano. We talk so easily about terroir, but very rarely does it reveal itself so intensely. This is one of those magical combinations that is just meant to be – a love affair between grape variety and place that deserves to be more well known.
Drinking these wines is like breathing deeply and drinking in a little piece of wild Sulcis, as you imagine 100-year-old vines growing in low bushes, on their own rootstocks, their feet in the sand, their heads towards the sea, buffeted by the cool, moisture-laden Mistral. Drink these wines and dream of Sardinia’s picturesque southwestern coast with its turquoise waters, white sandy coves, wild-herb-scented scrubland and echoes of the Phoenician and Nuragic people who once lived there.