My first visit to southern Italy didn’t start well. I was flying from Rome to Palermo in Sicily, and the air conditioning cut out as we ascended. I fell asleep, or passed out, and woke up drenched in sweat.

The airport was undergoing renovations and as I waited in the makeshift baggage-reclaim hall, my eye was caught by some activity.

Some locals had peeled back the flimsy metal of the improvised building to create a direct exit to the real world. They were crouching down and disappearing through it to stand outside, smoking in the hot air as they waited for their cases.

I was in a strange land – one that I didn’t understand and still don’t.

Palermo alone would be too much to grasp, a city where people spend more on their sunglasses than their scooters, where every bar is full at 2am on a Tuesday morning, where old women gather to drink Campari and soda in the afternoon in a way that’s inconceivable in England.

The problem of comparison

Wine is one way into southern Italy – a major success story, but a messy one.

The region makes everything you can think of, from oaked Chardonnay to orange wine, from Sardinia’s Vernaccia di Oristano, aged under a layer of flor yeasts in the barrel, to the lithe, sinewy reds of Nerello Mascalese from Etna.

To some, this looks like chaos; to others, it’s creativity.

Etna is the closest thing the south has to an ambassador, but even these wines tend to be positioned in relation to the north, the reds being frequently compared to Nebbiolo or called ‘the Barolo of the south’ – an epithet applied to various red wines from Italy’s islands and regions south of Rome (sometimes described as the Mezzogiorno) that prove they can play by northern rules.

The Roman writer Ovid tells us that Zeus imprisoned the titan Typhon under the island of Sicily because he couldn’t kill him. Etna is his mighty head, his splayed limbs reaching out to Messina and Noto, his legs pinned down under present-day Marsala.

The island’s earthquakes and eruptions are Typhon’s attempt to break free of his overlord. Etna, then and now, is chaos managed, destruction contained, catastrophe postponed.

Endlessly fertile despite the barren flows of lava, the ground is a rich, composty brown.

Visiting Ciro and Stef Biondi’s eponymous winery, it’s no surprise to see ancient phalluses unearthed and re-erected in their vineyards, which sit in the fertile tongues between the lava flows.

The misty ground here steams with what seems like Jurassic plenitude. Sicily doesn’t need Etna to justify it, but it has helped, even if the volcano is just one facet of wine here.

Across the island, increasingly brilliant wines are being produced from varieties such as Catarratto, Nero d’Avola and Frappato.

A reputation for greatness

Over the water, Campania (the ‘shin’ of mainland Italy) has been restoring its ancient reputation for greatness.

Falernian, a famed wine of the Roman era, was made here – the 121 BCE vintage was so famous it was still being talked about by Romans 200 years later.

And the vineyards of Pompeii, a town just south of Naples that had more wine bars than modern Hackney, are producing wine once again.

Away from the glittering Amalfi coast, Campania conceals one of Italian wine’s greatest surprises. Irpinia, the land of Taurasi, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino, is almost comically verdant.

It can get twice as much rain as London, and its fertile soils, rich in volcanic ash, sulphur and much else besides, produce world-class wines.

It’s the long-lived whites that command critical attention, but it’s with the Aglianico grape that southern Italy puts forth its most heroic red wine.

The death or glory grape

On the volcanic soils of Campania and Basilicata, Aglianico (in the form of Taurasi DOCG for the former and Aglianico del Vulture DOCG for the latter) delivers wines of Homeric scale: ambitious, grand and elemental.

A visit to Salvatore Molettieri in Taurasi isn’t for the faint-hearted.

He runs his estate with his four sons, who appear to have sprung from his thigh in his image. Aglianico isn’t a crop here, it’s a point of honour.

The purple pasta we eat over lunch is laced with it, and the wines seem to operate on some other timescale of evolution.

They are ferociously dark-fruited and muscular, pungent with coal dust and black carbon ink, spiked with resinous rosemary and medicinal juniper, encased in tannins, energised by acidity.

A great Taurasi or Vulture wine is often too far beyond wine’s polite points of reference, so there’s been an effort to make them more friendly.

I taste these wines and understand them, but they leave me conflicted, like hearing about a dilapidated old building with enormous renovation costs that’s now being torn down to make way for modern flats.

I don’t want to feel sympathy for Aglianico. At its best, it’s blood and glory, more like Islay whisky in sensibility than anything else.

Peated malts such as Lagavulin, once deemed too coarse to drink undiluted, are now one of Scotland’s most distinctive and valuable assets. Perhaps Aglianico will have a similar story.

Cirò reconsidered

If Aglianico is Achilles in a glass, Calabria’s Gaglioppo offers a radically different flavour.

The red grape of Cirò is everything Aglianico isn’t: early maturing, easily dominated by oak, pale in colour, with scents of dried flowers and grated nutmeg.

It has tannins, of course – we’re still in Italy – but it’s a variety that seems to draw on the dried spices of the bazaar and the aromatic woods of the sacristy.

Thanks to a small group of growers who have shown inspiring loyalty to Gaglioppo, Cirò is finding its way forward with remarkable conviction and authenticity, its small Classico zone promoted to DOCG as recently as July 2025.

Here you can find some of Italy’s most palate-expanding whites, reds and rosés: wines that stand on their own terms.

The grammar of granite

Over on the island of Sardinia, Cannonau has begun to shed the soft-focus cosiness that’s often expected of the variety (elsewhere known as Garnacha or Grenache).

The Mamoiada region in central-east Sardinia, a world away from the glamour of Porto Cervo on the northeastern coast, is craggy, wind-scoured and granite-bound, and the wines carry some of that gravitas with them.

The reds of Barbagia are still finding their voice, but they show that even when the grape is familiar, Italy’s south doesn’t want elocution lessons – its local accent is what makes it distinctive.

A blue-collar grape

And what of Puglia, on Italy’s heel, and its primitive Primitivo?

If you were to ask a wine professional what their favourite grape is, they would probably say Riesling, even if it’s not, but I’m certain that no one has ever said Primitivo.

Much like the Carignan shipped from Tangiers to beef up Burgundy in the 20th century, Primitivo travelled north to darken other regions’ wines.

There was no first-class ticket for this immigrant from Croatia (where it goes by the names Crljenak Kaštelanski or Tribidrag); Primitivo is a worker, somehow uncomfortable and pulling at its collar when served in a Zalto glass.

It doesn’t move easily in the aspirational wine world. At Fatalone in Gioia del Colle, Pasquale Petrera’s immaculately tended vineyard is idyllic.

The wine he makes from it is a real Primitivo: rugged, sturdy, heady, full of baked plums and fig jam.

Primitivo isn’t a perfectionist. Its bunches arrive with berries that are raisined, berries that are perfectly ripe, and berries that are green.

Far from being fruity filler for fattening up the deficient wines of the north, Primitivo is a scrappy, difficult variety, one that’s all too easy to stigmatise and ignore.

It’s a variety that’s had a hard life. It has travelled all over the globe on a third-class ticket, but it has seen things in the world that Pinot Noir can’t even imagine.

Changing perspectives

For those who want to tidy up, straighten out or pin down southern Italy, it will always be a frustration.

It has always resisted mastery – and it still does. But where there can’t be mastery, there can be something far better: discovery.

Every native grape variety, every twisted old vine and every family coming back to the land has something to tell us.

There’s no El Dorado here, no piles of gold for vinous Columbuses to quickly plunder and take home, but there are committed winemakers, passionate local cultures and much that’s waiting to be understood, rather than domineered.

You can’t start to rethink southern Italy if your frame of reference is northern Italy or France, or your goal is to bring the wines and places into step with more familiar names.

But if you love the thrill of great Vosne-Romanée, then you have it in you to love the great wines of southern Italy.

If you’ve found your way inside the soul of a great Brunello, you can do it again with Taurasi.

That’s what counts – and it’s all anyone needs in order to understand southern Italy and its wines.

Soul of the south: Southern Italy in a glass

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Jason Millar, Michael Garner, and Vincenzo Arnese tasted 83 wines, with 18 Highly Recommended

Vermentino 2023: Panel tasting scores

83 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 1

Highly recommended 18

Recommended 55

Commended 9

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their Vermentino wines from Sardinia or Tuscany, from the 2023 vintage only

Fashionable Vermentino has been making a name for itself in recent years. Native to Italy, the grape is synonymous with Sardinia, which boasts two-thirds of the country’s plantings, but this century has seen the island’s dominance challenged by the Tuscan coast’s ambitious and skilled winemakers.

This exciting panel tasting set out to discover whether it’s the Sardinians or the Tuscans who are currently making Italy’s most impressive Vermentino – and the results were fascinating.

The top-scoring Vermentino from the panel tasting are listed below

The key areas in Sardinia are Vermentino di Sardegna DOC, which covers the entire island, and Vermentino di Gallura DOCG in the northeast.

In Tuscany, Vermentino is a specialty of the Bolgheri DOC and has also become popular in the coastal Maremma Toscana DOC.

There can only be one

So who won? The results were definitive: seven of the top 11 wines were from the Vermentino di Gallura DOCG.

The judges agreed that its wines exhibited the highest quality and varietal typicity. Although Sardinia retained its crown, its most dangerous rival seems to be Bolgheri DOC.

Only five wines were submitted for the tasting; however, none received less than 90 points (as an average of the three judges’ scores) – impressively consistent, yet Michael Garner was expecting more.

‘Good, but not as good as I had hoped,’ was his verdict. Italy’s myriad DOCs and DOCGs can be unhelpful for consumers, but in this case, the classifications appear to have merit, especially given the variability of style and quality in the IGT wines assessed.

‘I found few of much interest,’ Garner said. Vermentino is also on the rise in the Maremma, and Vincenzo Arnese was impressed with this diverse region, highlighting ‘exceptional quality at accessible price points’.

The judges all agreed that the 2023s were drinking well now, with the best wines mostly medium-bodied with crisp acidity and discreet complexity – it seems that the real winners in the battle between the Tuscans and Sardinians are wine drinkers interested in quality.

Click here to see more results from the panel tasting

What to drink with Vermentino, by Fiona Beckett

It’s not only the wine that’s different in Sardinia and Tuscany: the food is different, too. Sardinian menus are dominated by seafood; Tuscany’s – except on the coast – are more classically Italian.

Vermentino, a wonderfully versatile white, goes with both.

Sardinia specialises in seafood platters, with which Vermentino pairs perfectly. Fresher, younger wines are spot-on with raw and marinated shellfish and fritto misto (mixed fried seafood and vegetables).

Try them with shellfish- and vegetable-based pasta dishes such as crab linguine, spaghetti vongole or pasta primavera. (Try a glass with some Pecorino cheese and new season’s broad beans, straight from the garden if you grow them.)

Vermentino is also a good accompaniment for delicate dishes with soft herbs.

On the mainland, you may be inclined to drink Vermentino with antipasti and creamier pasta sauces. Older vintages are great with grilled or roasted fish or a veal chop, particularly with salsa verde.

They’re great, too, with vitello tonnato – veal with tuna and anchovy sauce.

Vermentino 2023 panel tasting results

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Jason Millar is a freelance wine writer, consultant, judge and communicator, with a focus on Italy and South Africa. He has a background in buying, importing and sales, and in 2016 was the top WSET Diploma graduate worldwide

Vincenzo Arnese is director of wine at Raffles London at the OWO. Born in Naples, he worked at top hotels in Italy, Switzerland and Australia, and later Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. A DWWA judge, in 2022 he won the coveted title of Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year

Michael Garner is co-owner of Italian specialist Tria Wines and DWWA Regional Chair for Northern Italy. He is the author of Amarone and the Fine Wines of Verona (£35 Académie du Vin Library, 2017)

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In a region called Barbagia, far away from the crowded beaches and nightlife along the coast of Sardinia, you will find Mamoiada, or Mamojada in the local dialect. Here, 33 small wine producers make wines at high altitude with the Cannonau grape (aka Grenache) and the indigenous white variety, Granatza.

The wines of Mamoiada are Mediterranean in character and display profound elegance and a high-mountain freshness, often imbued with old-vine power and, in the case of the red wines, intense red fruits, rose and creamy sweet tannins typical of Cannonau.

Scroll down for notes and scores for 30 wines from Mamoiada

Wine has always been made in the area but was sold as bulk until relatively recently. Then, in 2015, the producers in Mamoiada created an association called Mamojà. Through Mamojà, they work together, helping each other to promote their wines and being hands-on in the fields, exchanging equipment, ideas and knowledge.

‘Most producers released their first vintage in 2019, and today, altogether, we make a total of 450,000 bottles,’ says Giovanni Ladu, president of the Mamojà association and owner-winemaker at Cantina Ladu.

‘We understood that we could create a better future for our community if we started to focus on quality and bottle our production,’ continues Ladu. ‘The economy took off, we created jobs and there is a feeling of hope here now that is making young people stay or even come back home. Mamoiada is one of the very few places in Sardinia where the population is increasing from year to year.’

Ladu is a young man who works part-time as a carpenter in the family business; the rest of the time he makes wine in the family home’s basement – most producers have jobs on the side and make a small quantity of wine in the garage, shed or, indeed, basement.

Mamoiada is a small town with 2,500 inhabitants, mostly known for the carnival in January when the whole village dresses in impressive and ancient carnival masks known as Mamuthones and Issohadores.

The surrounding countryside looks like a scene from a Western movie, and you could be forgiven for expecting Clint Eastwood to ride by on his horse any minute. Nature here is wild, with high mountains surrounding the vineyards, and woods and old shepherds’ paths in the background.

There’s a large temperature difference between night and day here, even during the hot summer months, meaning the grapes enjoy a long phenolic ripening while keeping acidity high.

‘There are around 400ha of vineyards, 95% planted with Cannonau,’ says Francesco Sedilesu of the Teularju winery. ‘The soil is well-draining granite rock and the average altitude of the vineyards is 730m above sea level, although some vineyards reach 1,000m. We also have a large quantity of old bush vines, with low yields like 20hl/ha, while younger vineyards give a maximum of 60hl/ha. We care for our old vines because, in Mamoiada, to take away a vineyard is like killing a family member.’

Renaissance

In 2001, Francesco’s father, Giuseppe Sedilesu, became the first producer to start bottling under his own name and instigated the wine renaissance in Mamoiada. When the family grew, they split the vineyards and the family members created their own wineries. Francesco started Teularju, together with his wife Rosa and their children, Vincenza, Giovanni, and Giuseppe Jr and his wife Elisabetta, while his second-born, Simone, started VikeVike.

For the moment, there is no IGT or DOC for Mamoiada, and producers can choose from the larger DOC Cannonau di Sardegna, IGT Isola dei Nuraghi (both can be used throughout the whole territory of Sardinia), IGT Barbagia (which falls in 15 municipalities in the province of Nuoro) or IGT Nuoro (which can be used in the provinces of Nuoro, Ogliastra, Cagliari and Oristano).

Many of the Mamojà producers prefer to bottle their wines as IGT Barbagia rather than DOC Cannonau di Sardegna, which was created in 1972. ‘DOC Cannonau Sardegna covers the whole island,’ explains Mattia Muggittu from Cantine Muggittu, one of the youngest producers in the area. ‘It doesn’t focus on the terroir but includes everything: different soil types, styles and prices.’

The Mamojà association has instead created its own member rules. ‘We only use wild yeast to start the fermentation, as we believe this helps maintain the fruit better, and we also ask our members to work organically’, says Ladu. The region is also divided into subzones called ghirade, and if vinified separately these can be written on the label, like the contradas on Etna.

Styles

Wine styles do differ between producers. Some wineries hold on to the more traditional, full-bodied approach, with rich and generous fruit notes and high alcohol balanced by fresh acidity. Others, like VikeVike, have opted for a lighter take, with less extraction and lower alcohol, with the wines being more Burgundian in style.

‘We are so young [as a region] that we still have to understand the longevity of our wines, but we believe without doubt they can improve over time,’ says Piergraziano Sanna, of Cantina Sannas. He is one of the few ‘outsiders’, born in another village in Sardinia. He makes wine in his tiny garage, where there is always a piece of Pecorino cheese, some salami and hand-rolled cigarettes on the table.

‘At the age of 52, I found myself without a job, so I came to Mamoiada and started to make wine because I did not know what else to do. Here you can live simply but with dignity. Wine and this community helped me get my life back,’ he says, while serving a beautiful, intense, nuanced Cannonau called Bobotti.

While the red wines, even though made in different styles, show elegance, finesse and intensity, the whites, made from the autochthonous Granatza, differ hugely.

Sanna makes a quite extreme but interesting orange wine with Granatza macerated on the skins for over 70 days. Others, like VikeVike and Vinzas Artas, prefer a more traditional style with direct pressing, resulting in vertical white wines with intense aromas of Mediterranean scrub, sage and citrus, as well as mouthwatering acidity and a wet stone character.

These producers are small in stature, but their wines are massive. For anyone who loves Grenache or wines full of soul and created from indigenous varieties, they are a must-try; you will drink well and feel Mamoiada´s soul in the glass.

30 characterful wines to try from Mamoiada:

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Despite the Mediterranean glitz and glamour of Sardinia’s upmarket resorts, the island offers a rustic charm that still holds it apart from Italy’s more typical tourist destinations.

Located approximately 240km off the mainland, the fervently autonomous region remains a haven for dreamy, unspoiled coastline, picturesque countryside, and authentic gastronomic experiences. As if hidden in plain sight, Sardinia possesses a timeless agricultural quality, perfectly suited to immersing oneself in the local food and wine traditions.

Over the centuries, the island – almost three times the size of neighbouring Corsica, and only just smaller than Sicily – has beckoned countless conquerors to its shores. The constant changing of the guard on this strategically important island has left behind layers of cultural influence that are woven into every aspect of island life. Various civilisations, including the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and – more recently – the Italians, have all left their mark, shaping without ever defining this rugged land. The culmination of this rich heritage has given rise to a unique ‘Sardo’ identity.

In many ways, Sardinia is the ideal retreat, whether for a few days or a few weeks. Beaches stretch for miles, lapped by idyllic turquoise waters; inland, rolling hills of lush forests, olive groves and vineyards thrive amidst limestone cliffs, deep canyons and hidden caves. The iconic nuraghi – ancient stone towers dating back to the Bronze Age – punctuate the landscape and evoke Sardinia’s mysterious ancient heritage. Volcanic formations, like the Gennargentu Massif, provide a dramatic backdrop for hikers and nature enthusiasts, offering panoramic vistas of a land steeped in natural beauty. And then there’s the wine.

While it doesn’t boast the commercial history and kudos of other Italian regions, Sardinia’s wine industry continues to evolve impressively. Today, it is made up of a handful of large winery brands and co-operative cellars, and hundreds of small- and medium-sized producers. Two key grape varieties dominate: the fresh and fragrant white Vermentino, and the full-blooded red, Cannonau, known elsewhere as Grenache.

In recent years there has been a surge in both consumer and producer interest in rare grapes, meaning there’s now a growing number of low-volume wines made from the likes of Nuragus, Nasco, Torbato, Monica and Carignano, all of which are strengthening Sardinian wine culture.

My perfect day in Sardinia

Morning

Wake up early in the centre of Cagliari and go for a morning run along the marina before stopping for coffee, eggs and pastries with a leisurely flick through Gazzetta dello Sport. After taking it easy for a while in and around Piazza Yenne, stroll through the city’s Castello district, admiring the area’s history and architecture – there’s so much cultural detail here, particularly around the cathedral and bell tower. Lunch may not be far away but there’s probably room for a slice of ‘Sarda’ pizza al taglio.

Afternoon

A quick taxi out to Pula, just south of the city, and a table for two at Fradis Minoris overlooking the Nora lagoon. Surrounded by green aromatic shrubs and cool blue waters, this is a stunning place to gorge on expertly prepared seafood, washed down of course with a few glasses of chilled Vermentino. Chef Francesco Stara focuses on completely ‘circular’ cuisine in this protected marine area, and has been awarded a green Michelin star. After lunch, be sure to spend some time bird watching.

Evening

Back in the city, Cagliari’s football stadium is fairly central. If there’s an evening game on it’s always a lively atmosphere under the lights, and fierce island character can be heard in the stands. Otherwise, fully refreshed from an afternoon snooze, enjoy the atmosphere of the local wine bars. Sparkling Torbato, if you can find it, is an unpretentious start to the night, before heading off for dinner at Josto – the spaghetti alla bottarga and lamb from the interior of the island is recommended, perhaps paired with a bottle of old-vine Carignano.

With the comforts of hotel Casa Clàt (see below) within staggering distance, there’s an argument for closing the night down with one final Sardinian treasure: a glass of old, nutty Malvasia di Bosa. It’ll be fine. You can run it off!

In and around Cagliari

Many rare varieties can be tasted while out and about in the island’s cultural and economic capital, the historic and vibrant city of Cagliari. It’s a sensible staging point given the proximity of the local airport to the city, and Cagliari offers a diverse drinking and dining scene. Walk the promenade and take in the busy harbour before stopping in at one of the many coffee shops, wine bars and casual eateries.

Far too many transit through and miss out on this animated urban hub, but it’s worth the hustle and bustle. Stop in at Cucina.eat for a casual lunch of local appetisers and cheeses with a huge selection of wines by the glass and bottle. Be sure to grab an aperitivo in Piazza Yenne and absorb the city’s beautiful architecture and pastel hues during the golden hour, perhaps before dining formally at Dal Corsaro or Josto.

Wineries have generally embraced tourism and many now open their cellars and tasting rooms to visitors. Nevertheless, it is still best to contact them in advance. Most are small businesses with international commitments and don’t always employ full-time hospitality support.

Within easy driving distance of Cagliari is Cantina Argiolas, an accessible brand that looms large on the island. Its portfolio of wines covers practically every variety and style, and includes ‘Turriga’, one of Sardinia’s most recognised fine wines.

On a smaller scale, Antonella Corda’s winemaking project is gaining notoriety for fresh, perfumed wines, as is Elisabetta Pala with her Mora & Memo winery, located in nearby Serdiana. The large Santadi cooperative offers good value wines, as does Cantina Pala, a family-run winery with a broad range.

Sulcis and the west

Heading further southwest you’ll reach the region of Sulcis, where Carignano is king. The variety is well suited to the hot, dry climate and produces inky-black wines with luscious berry fruit and complex herbal aromas. Some of the vines are pre-phylloxera, having survived for more than a century in sandy soils, and are now capable of producing only small batches of highly concentrated fruit.

These powerful wines are an ideal accompaniment to su porceddu (suckling pig), an island delicacy that sees a young pig wrapped in myrtle or rosemary leaves and placed over a fire pit to cook slowly until tender. There are great tastings of Carignano to be had at Cantina Mesa, but for an extra little adventure, consider a visit to U-Tabarka on the tiny island of San Pietro.

On the west coast is the small town of Oristano, home to the stylistically oxidised Vernaccia di Oristano, one of the forgotten treasures of Italy. Contini – producing wines since 1898 – is a must visit, especially since the inauguration of the new cellar and tasting space in 2022. Sadly, these wines are drifting out of fashion. Made under a layer of flor, not unlike a fino or manzanilla Sherry, they not only age and improve for many years, but they are also highly versatile food wines. There is still an extensive library of back vintages available to buy, and one can’t help but feel you should get them while you still can.

Seafood & Vermentino

In Sardinia, you are never more than 100km from the sea. As such, seafood is a fundamental component of local cuisine. Fresh sea bream and red mullet, as well as tuna, octopus and shellfish are staples of the many coastal restaurants that dot the island.

Perhaps the most iconic seafood dish is bottarga, a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe pouch, typically of the grey mullet or the increasingly prestigious bluefin tuna. Some of the best bottarga is produced in the village of Cabras, just up the road from Oristano, suggestive of a double visit. It also pairs exceptionally well with Vermentino, whose exotic fruit fragrance and mineral character lift and intensify bottarga’s saline nature.

Vermentino may well turn out to be one of the grape varieties of the future, with its seemingly impervious attitude to heat and drought. Its Sardinian heartland will continue to set the benchmark for its quality and style, despite increased plantings as far away as California, Texas, South Africa and Australia.

Northern Sardinia

Arguably, Vermentino finds its best expression, or at least its most distinctive iteration, on the northern end of Sardinia, in the DOCG territory of Gallura. Here, sea breezes cool the fruit after long sunny days, enhancing the aromatic profile of the wines. Many carry the scent of ocean spray and coastal scrub. There are plenty of recommended visits here; look up Petra Bianca, a B&B winery just outside the lively urban centre of Palau, or Tenuta Muscazega.

Northern Sardinia can be reached through smaller airports in Olbia on the east coast, and Alghero on the west, albeit with fewer direct flight options from the UK. If you’re keen on some nouveau glamour and want your evenings a bit livelier, then you might enjoy the coastal retreats of Porto Rotondo or Porto Cervo; the latter is home to a new marina and the Costa Smeralda Yacht Club.

Stroll the Promenade du Port’s art galleries and open air murals, and nearby experience innovative Sardinian cuisine by top chef, Roberto Paddeu at his La Terrazza Frades. The ever-changing menu showcases fresh, locally sourced market produce.

For something a little less touristy, you could hole up in the chic Petra Segreta spa hotel, before heading into the stylish village of San Pantaleo, known for its artists and artisans. Explore the quiet streets and browse the galleries before a spot of people watching in the piazza.

There’s a great aperitif to be had at Caffè Nina before dinner in one of the local trattorias. As an added bonus, we’re only a short drive to the stunning beaches of Marinella, Ira and the Sassi, or the Capichera winery – one of the leading estates for Vermentino di Gallura.

There’s so much to see in Sardinia, but ultimately its size should dictate your plans. The island’s beauty lies in its diverse landscapes and quiet traditions. Rather than trying to cover vast stretches of road and tick off the sights, this is a place that rewards and celebrates taking it easy. It’s worth ditching the stress and travel, picking one corner of this enchanting land, and soaking up the atmosphere with good food and a bottle or two of the local wines – just like every other civilisation did before.

Your Sardinia address book

Where to stay

Casa Clàt, Cagliari

An eclectic suite hotel with restaurant and lounge bar in the centre of Cagliari.

7 Pines Resort, Baja Sardinia

Stunning views of the Mediterranean and a luxurious and tranquil escape.

Petra Segreta Resort & Spa, San Pantaleo

The only Relais & Chateaux in Sardinia.

Where to eat

Fradis Minoris, Pula

Sustainable concept restaurant overlooking the Nora lagoon.

Sa Nassa, Bosa

Simple, hearty cuisine in Bosa.

Josto, Cagliari

Great city centre spot for quality, contemporary food in a relaxed space.

What to do

Enoteca La Bottega, Santa Teresa di Gallura

A brilliant wine shop and delicatessen.

L’Oro di Cabras, Cabras

A co-operative producing bottarga. Stop in to do some shopping and learn more about the process.

Cucina.eat, Cagliari

A brilliant, atmospheric wine shop, bar and bistro.

How to get there

Airports: Cagliari airport in the south of the island is the largest. Olbia and Alghero are smaller but provide access to the east and west coasts in the north of the island, respectively.

Ferry terminal: Cagliari

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As in so many of Italy’s regions, wine is an integral part of Sardinia’s history and economy and, not least, its varied gastronomy. Archaeological discoveries bear witness to a winemaking heritage dating back to Roman times and most likely the earlier preRoman Phoenician era.

Sardinia was blanketed by a sea of vines with nearly 80,000ha of vineyards in the 19th century, however today’s vineyard area covers just 27,000ha – a reflection of a growth in quality wines from specific geographical areas at the expense of ‘rotgut rosso’.

Sardinia is Italy’s Cannonau stronghold, and it is – along with its counterpart white variety Vermentino – the grape for which Sardinia is best known in Italy and overseas. Of the 41 grape varieties planted in Sardinia, the Cannonau di Sardegna DOC represents the largest vineyard area, at a little more than a quarter of all plantings.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 18 premium Sardinian red wines

Known as Grenache in France and Garnacha in Spain, this Mediterranean red grape variety is largely grown in the eastern province of Nuoro and the wild, eastern hillside areas of Barbagia, Ogliastra and Sarrabus, and Romangia in Sardinia’s north.

Island identity

Cannonau responds well to the Mediterranean climate to produce robust, spicy reds characterised by red fruits infused with island herbs: maquis, or garrigue. The grape can easily reach powerful, even overpowering alcohol levels of 15% or more. Freshness is the key to balance in wines such as Sedilesu’s Mamuthone di Sardegna, whose bright, concentrated sweet and sour cherry fruit characters and sinewy tannins can be redeemed by a spine of acidity that verges on the saline.

The fact that the island’s altitudes and soils are so varied (with granite, basalt, schist, marne and alluvial clay) gives it every opportunity to show off its multi-faceted personality. At higher altitudes of 600m, significant day/night temperature swings allow bush-trained vines to produce relatively low yields and, consequently, wines whose relatively high alcohol is to an extent mitigated by natural acidity – even if many of today’s more elegantly drinkable and fresher examples are closer to 14% alcohol

Between them, the next most widely planted red grape varieties – Carignano, Monica, Pascale and Bovale Sardo (known locally as Muristellu) – are not as extensive in vineyard area as Cannonau.

Of these, Bovale Sardo, which has been identified as the same grape as Spain’s Graciano, has perhaps the most potential, as seen for instance in the likes of Atha Ruja’s Muristellu in Dorgali, close to the east coast.

Monica di Sardegna is not generally known for its high quality but can be eminently soft and quaffable in cherryish mode in the hands of a good producer such as Ferruccio Deiana. Carignan (‘Carignano’) produces deep-coloured wines and occasional glimpses – in the southwest’s hot, sunny Carignano del Sulcis DOC, for instance – of fragrant, spicy, peppery reds capable of transcending the rustic in the right hands.

At the same time, the Isola dei Nuraghi IGP – by far the largest IGP on the island at more than 3,000ha, with some 800ha planted (Laore Sardegna, 2020) – allows for the introduction of so-called ‘improving varieties’ such as the Bordeaux grapes, and this works to good effect in wines such as Agricola Punica’s Barrua and Montessu.

Tasting notes and scores for 18 Sardinian red wines

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Decanter’s dream destination: COMO Castello Del Nero, Tuscany, Italy

This vineyard estate in northern Sardinia could be an interesting proposition if you’re looking to slow down the pace of life, pursue a possible boutique wine project and are lucky enough to have the funds for investment.

Located close to the sea and with sweeping views of its rural surroundings, the 10-hectare estate already has vineyards and makes its own wines, according to the listing by ImmobilSarda / Christie’s International Real Estate.

Priced at €2.2m (£1.9m), it is also being sold as an ‘agritourism’ estate.

As the title suggests, it has facilities for hosting groups, including barn accommodation and a 20-seater dining room with a kitchen – not to mention the terrace overlooking the vineyard.

For those more interested in the wine side of things, the listing states there is an opportunity to plant more vines.

While wine production is very much at the boutique end of the scale, the listing says that the current wine production of 8,060 bottles could be expanded to between 12,000 and 15,000 bottles.

A shop selling wine, olive oil and other produce is on-site alongside a 90-square-metre winemaking and barrel cellar, while the main residence is a three-bedroom manor house.

While this is the sort of wine property that may appeal to those seeking rustic charm and tranquility, Sardinia’s glitzier Costa Smeralda is also close enough for a visit, lying to the north of Olbia.

Sardinia’s best-known grape varieties are arguably Vermentino and Cannonau, but there are plenty of lesser-known varieties worth getting to know, according to Decanter Italian wine expert Michaela Morris, who wrote a buying guide to Sardinian wines in 2019.

Estate agency Knight Frank said in August that there was evidence of higher demand for rural property in Italy from international buyers in 2020, despite the market effectively being paused during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

However, it should be noted that building or running vineyard project is no easy task. It’s important to do your research, and be aware of the potential risks, some of which are discussed by this article on the realities of owning a vineyard.

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Beyond the azure-blue seas and white sandy beaches loved by tourists, the Italian island of Sardinia is home to 120 native grape varieties, yet Sardinian wine is dominated by Vermentino for whites and Cannonau for reds.

We asked Antonella Corda, founder and winemaker of her eponymous winery in the south of the island, to help us understand these two flagship varieties as they express themselves in Sardinia – plus another, little-known white grape.

Corda is the granddaughter of pioneering vititculturist Antonio Argiolas. She completed her masters in viticulture and winemaking before inheriting two of her grandfather’s vineyards, located 15km from Cagliari in the island’s south, and establishing her winery in 2010.

She farms organically, and produces just four wines: two Vermentinos, one fermented and aged in amphorae; a white wine made from the Nuragus grape; and a Cannonau red. In 2019, Italian wine guide Gambero Rosso named Antonella Corda ’emerging winery of the year’.

Vermentino

Found primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon and Italy, sun-worshipping Vermentino is in its element in Sardinia’s hot, dry climes, as Michaela Morris wrote in her comprehensive buyer’s guide to Sardinian wine.

It produces a white wine that echoes the island’s heady scent of broom and has a distinctive salty edge.

The DOC of Vermentino di Sardegna encompasses all of Sardinia’s far-flung pockets, but some areas are more suited to the variety than others – including the southerly area around Cagliari, where Antonella Corda is located.

Conversely, Sardinia’s only DOCG, Vermentino di Gallura, refers strictly to the island’s northeastern corner. Gallura experiences significant day- and night-time temperature differences and is characterised by weathered granite soil. The resulting wines are intense and minerally rather than overtly fruity.

While site plays an important role in Vermentino styles, winemaking also plays its part. Most Vermentino wines are fermented in stainless steel for a crisp style. Some producers are experimenting with later picked grapes, lees stirring, partial oak ageing and/or skin maceration (as with Antonella Corda’s Ziru) to lend texture, complexity and ageability.

Antonella Corda on Vermentino:

‘The real strength of Sardinia’s most important white lies in its versatility. It likes both sandy and limestone soils, and these soil types give great expression to its aromatic nature. It’s a grape with naturally medium acidity, and notes of peach, white flowers, apples, sage, and lemon citrus.

‘We make our basic Vermentino entirely using stainless steel – no oak. Some of the grapes have a few hours’ skin contact, some have longer, and some have no skin contact; this gives a really nice balance, freshness and varietal expression.

‘Most Vermentinos are made to be drunk young, but you can age some of the higher-quality wines for a few years – it develops in a similar way to Riesling, showing minerality and petrolly characters. Our Ziru (first vintage 2017) will age for many years. We haven’t labelled Ziru as Vermentino to avoid regulatory issues that might arise as a result of the unconventional winemaking approach we use with this wine. It’s macerated on skins, fermented and aged in amphorae. We’re one of only three producers on the island working with amphorae, and are the only one of those doing it with Vermentino.’

Cannonau

The principal red grape of Sardinia, Cannonau is believed by many to be the same grape as Garnacha, also known as Grenache. Nevertheless, evidence to the contrary keeps the debate raging. Irrefutably, Cannonau has a uniquely Sardinian personality. While not the deepest in colour, it captures the island’s generous warmth, producing plush, spicy and earthy reds.

The Cannonau di Sardegna DOC covers the whole island, as does Vermentino di Sardegna.

While there is no DOCG, there are areas of the island that are known to produce particularly distinctive wines, including Oliena (also known as Nepente di Oliena), Jerzu and Capo Ferrato.

Both Oliena and Jerzu are located in Sardinia’s rugged central interior in the foothills of the Gennargentu mountains, while Capo Ferrato is situated in the southeastern zone.

Corda on Cannonau:

‘This brother grape to Grenache expresses the soils in which it’s grown. We favour stony soils like those in the southern Rhône. It can have a tendency to overcrop, and it helps to use soils that are not fertile and help to regulate yield.

‘How would I describe the character of Cannonau, versus Grenache? For me, it has more freshness, and more red berry flavours, because Cannonau is harvested earlier than many Grenache wines.

‘It’s more elegant and delicate. We have to handle it carefully in the winery as a result – indeed, some winemakers in Sardinia compare our Cannonau to Pinot, nicknaming it Pinnonau! We ferment in steel with no pump-over, and age just a small portion of the wine – about 10 to 15% – in barriques (two-year-old and new French oak, no and low-toast).’

Nuragus

This grape has a long history on the island, with evidence linking it to plantings by the Phoenicians, but it remains little-known. Plantings have been in steep decline, and are mainly found in the south of the island, under the Nuragus di Cagliari DOC.

Typically, it’s a light-bodied, fairly neutral wine, and this perhaps helps to account for the decline in plantings and low profile.

Corda on Nuragas:

‘This used to be the most important white grape in Sardinia, particularly in the south. That changed because the variety has a tendency to overproduce – and if yields are too high, it becomes neutral.

‘Nuragas has thicker skins than Vermentino, higher acidity and more tannins. You wouldn’t typically age this wine – you want to preserve the freshness – and it’s usually enjoyed here in Sardinia as a light table wine.

‘If you macerate too much when you’re making this, you extract too many tannins, so we don’t give it any skin contact.

‘We don’t use any oak either. When planted in limestone soils, this gives freshness. You also get a marked salinity, which is more evident in youth than with Vermentino.’

See Amy Wislocki’s tasting notes on Antonella Corda’s wines

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Sardinia’s trendy calling card variety is currently Vermentino – its crunchy, vibrant wines with green-apple and lime flavours make it Italy’s answer to Sauvignon Blanc, and probably the best known and most popular Sardinian wine. But perhaps Sardinia’s best-kept vinous secret is Carignano, a characterful, distinctive, terroir-driven black variety that achieves its best expression on the sandy southwestern tip of this large Mediterranean island, in an area known as Sulcis.

It was probably the Phoenicians, founders of the ancient Sulci on the neighbouring island of Sant’Antioco, who first brought vines to Sardinia. Ampelographers believe that Carignano originated in Cariñena in Spain’s Aragón region, where it is also known as Mazuelo, or in Catalonia as Samsó. In France and the US, it becomes Carignan and Carignane. Nowadays, with more than 80,000ha, it is the 11th most cultivated variety in the world.

There are only 1,700ha of Carignano under cultivation in the Sulcis area, but it has such a strong identity here. Old-vine Carignano has an amazing capacity to resist the salty breezes in such a hot and increasingly dry climate. In fact, it thrives here like almost nowhere else; it is late to ripen and likes a warm, dry climate with plenty of light. Also, the Mistral winds from the northwest, which blow through this part of the island especially from April until October, give relief from the heat.

If yields are too high, Carignano tannins can be tough and chewy. In Sulcis, old vines ranging from 50-100 years old stand on their own ungrafted roots in sandy soils and are trained with the low-bush alberello method. So yields are very low, typically 1kg per vine, producing intense wines that are a perfect snapshot of the terroir. The dried-cherry, liquorice and sometimes Port-like notes reflect the heat and dryness of the climate, the wild-myrtle and thyme notes evoke the macchia mediterranea vegetation that surrounds the vineyards. The fine-textured tannins remind us of the fine sandy soils, and even the tang of the sea breeze is present on the savoury, salty finish of these wines.

Sulcis at a glance

Carignano del Sulcis DOC Established in June 1977. Includes the islands of Sant’Antioco and San Pietro

Area planted 314ha

Production 19,900hl

Grape yields Maximum 53.8hl/ha

Grapes for red wines 85% Carignano, 15% other black varieties; must be air-dried for passito

Minimum alcohol levels and ageing Rosato 11.5%; Novello 11.5%; Rosso 12%, 40 days in bottle; Riserva 12.5%, two years including six months in bottle; Superiore 13%, two years including six months in bottle; Passito 14%, six months including three months in bottle

Other native varieties White Vermentino, Nuragus, Nasco; Red Monica

Source: www.italianwinecentral.com, 2017

Quality shift

In Sardinia in the 1960s, as in many other regions, quantity was more important than quality. The key producers were the cooperatives, which fulfilled a necessary role in allowing grape growers to earn a living.

In the 1980s, the focus began to shift towards maximising quality. Cantina Santadi’s director Antonello Pilloni began working with the famous Antinori oenologist and 2011 Decanter Hall of Fame award recipient Giacomo Tachis, who created the iconic wines of Sassicaia, Tignanello and Solaia. Tachis’ studies in Bordeaux with Emile Peynaud gave him the skills to work on tannin refinement and quality. He also believed in producing wines with a strong local identity. From this point, the belief in Sardinian Carignano’s potential spread.

When I met Tachis in 1995 at his home outside Florence, he was still bursting with enthusiasm about Sardinian Carignano. In 2002, he went into partnership with Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta (of Sassicaia fame) and Cantina Santadi to create the Agricola Punica winery. Their philosophy, according to commercial manager Massimo Podda, was to make ‘Sardinian wines with an international breath’, predominantly from Carignano but including Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah for broader appeal.

Around this time, many Sardinian grape-growers started to move away from simply selling their grapes to the co-ops, and began to bottle their own wine. Enrico Esu, whose family had for decades supplied grapes to other producers, is representative of the younger generation that has taken over family estates. Esu is committed to preserving the traditional approach towards growing old-vine Carignano. It is very much a hands-off approach: his vines are given no nutrients, they are unirrigated and are grown free of pesticides; his wine is made in 1,000-litre open tanks, then aged in stainless steel before being bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Recently in Sardinia, there has been a reduction in yields. At Agricola Punica in 2002, planting density climbed from 4,000 to 5,600 vines per hectare. This reduced the quantity of fruit per vine while keeping the overall yield the same, in order to get 1kg of grapes per vine. The winery also conducts green harvesting and picks by hand (which takes six times as long as machine picking) in order to increase quality. These techniques are typical of the fine-tuning and attention to detail in the vineyard that quality-minded producers are now focused upon. At Cantina Mesa, they spray vines with a type of clay that protects the grapes and leaves from sunburn and delays the increase in sugar levels. This gives a better balance between phenolic and physical ripening.

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 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.

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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

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.

Enrico Esu

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 high-quality 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.

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‘Sardinia is often mistaken for a tropical island or confused with Sicily,’ sighs viticulturist Salvatore Mura at his family’s estate in Gallura. ‘Sometimes it’s missing from Italian maps altogether.’

Mercifully, Sardinia’s stunning beaches attract tourists from around the globe, though few explore inland beyond her turquoise waters. They are missing out.

Scroll down for Michaela’s pick of Sardinian wines

Inhabited since Paleolithic times, Sardinia is a treasure trove of mysterious artefacts and traditions. It is also the second largest island in the Mediterranean. ‘It’s like a continent,’ says Daniela Pinna, owner of Tenute Olbios. Shaped by winds from every direction and created over several eras, ‘Sardinia’s soil and climate are completely different between the north, centre and south’, she explains. This diverse terroir, coupled with a long history of occupation by various cultures, yields a rich viticultural landscape. In the past, every corner of the island was defined by its own speciality, but today, Vermentino and Cannonau hold sway. Unsurprisingly, both varieties express themselves differently depending on where they are grown. Sun-worshipping Vermentino is in its element in Sardinia’s hot, dry climes. It produces a white wine that echoes the island’s heady scent of broom and has a distinctive salty edge.The DOC of Vermentino di Sardegna encompasses all of Sardinia’s far-flung pockets, but some areas are more suited to the variety than others. In the island’s southerly reaches around Cagliari, for example, ‘calcareous marl soils tend to produce rich, full wines with fleshy yellow peach and even tropical fruit,’ explains Argiolas winemaker Mariano Murru, and this can be seen in the wines of Ferruccio Deiana and Pala.

Conversely, Sardinia’s only DOCG, Vermentino di Gallura, refers strictly to the island’s northeastern corner. Gallura experiences significant day- and night-time temperature differences and is characterised by weathered granite soil. The resulting wines are intense and minerally rather than overtly fruity. Subtle variations are based on altitude, which rise up to 500m. Proximity to the water also plays a role: Mura’s steely wines evoke sea breezes, while those of Sini Gioacchino further inland are reminiscent of verbena and juniper.

While site plays an important role in Vermentino styles, winemaking also plays its part. Most Vermentino wines are fermented in stainless steel for a crisp style to wash down the island’s delicious seafood. Yet many producers also offer more ambitious versions using later picked grapes, lees stirring, partial oak ageing and/or skin maceration to lend texture, complexity and ageability.

Spanish ties

Many of Sardinia’s varieties have long been regarded as Spanish in origin. It is said that Cannonau, the lead actor in the Sardinian red wine story, is the same grape as Garnacha and, on paper, this is quite reasonable, given Spain’s lengthy rule over the island. Nevertheless, evidence to the contrary keeps the debate raging. Irrefutably, Cannonau has a uniquely Sardinian personality. While not the deepest in colour, it captures the island’s generous warmth, producing plush, spicy and earthy reds.

The Cannonau di Sardegna DOC covers the whole island, as does Vermentino di Sardegna. While there is no DOCG, there are areas of the island that are known to produce particularly distinctive wines, including Oliena (also known as Nepente di Oliena), Jerzu and Capo Ferrato. Both Oliena and Jerzu are located in Sardinia’s rugged central interior in the foothills of the Gennargentu mountains, while Capo Ferrato is situated in the southeastern zone.

Close to Oliena, the village of Mamoiada (famous for its frightening Mamuthones masks) has made a name for itself thanks to the wines of both Giuseppe Sedilesu and Giovanni Montisci. In this area, old bush vines on granitic soil are planted at altitudes of 800m. The chilly nights impart pure fresh fruit and floral aromas. By comparison, wines from lower altitudes around Oliena are less perfumed but packed with baked cherry. The most full-throttle examples approach 16% alcohol and may end with a hint of sweetness.

Carignano (Spain’s Cariñena) is Sardinia’s third most-planted grape. It has found a home in the sunbaked southwestern area of Sulcis. Capturing the wild beauty and intricate complexities of the region splendidly, it has earned its own DOC: Carignano del Sulcis.

While abandoned mining sites give Sulcis a slightly desolate feel, it also has a surprisingly lush side, with holm oak and pine forests providing shelter for protected wildlife. Vineyards are planted on deep sandy soil with a high proportion of precious ungrafted bush vines yielding dense, firmly tannic reds. There are small, quality-oriented producers, such as Cantina Giba and Enrico Esu, but cooperatives hold sway in Sulcis. Santadi is the best-known, having engaged the late oenologist Giacomo Tachis to help transform production.

Three grapes dominate the vineyards of Sardinia, but there are varieties synonymous with specific parts of the island, particularly Vernaccia di Oristano. On the west coast, the town of Oristano has given its name to this tragically unfashionable white DOC.

Matured in casks under a film of flor, the wine is often compared to fino Sherry; with extended wood ageing, it resembles an Amontillado. Unlike Sherry, Vernaccia di Oristano isn’t necessarily fortified, and the finest examples tend to be unfortified.

Traditionally dry, this peculiar elixir is best served chilled as an aperitif. It is also a natural match with bottarga (dried salted mullet roe), a classic ingredient in Sardinian cuisine. One of only a handful of estates producing Vernaccia di Oristano, Contini is committed to keeping the tradition alive by buying up abandoned vineyards. ‘If we don’t, they’ll be ripped up and replanted with Vermentino,’ explains Alessandro Contini.

Growing diversity

Sardinia will continue to hang its hat on Vermentino and Cannonau, but her lesser- known varieties are equally crucial to the island’s wine identity. Vinicola Cherchi is largely credited with reviving Cagnulari, a variety that makes nuanced yet charming reds; Argiolas has given the musk-scented white variety Nasco a new lease of life, while dozens of minor grapes contribute to Sardinia’s colourful cast.

Tasty whites include the discreet and refined Semidano, and the slightly tannic, mouth-cleansing Nuragus. Among the must-try reds are the easy-drinking Monica and richly tannic Bovale Sardo. Granazza (white) and Caricagiola (red) are even more obscure, but fiercely passionate producers are set on their renaissance. For a veritable archive of Sardinia’s captivating grapes, you need look no further than Quartomoro’s diverse Memorie di Vite range.

At the heart of Sardinia’s revolution is the shifting framework of producers. The region has long been defined by cooperatives. They provide a solution for thousands of growers to continue cultivating their land and its various grapes. The best co-ops have high standards and remain a source for great value wine. Yet over the last few decades, several have ceased to function. Furthermore, a new generation is choosing to make their own wine rather than supply grapes to the co-ops.

This shakedown has spawned an exciting increase in small independent wineries, such as Stefano Cau. ‘In the last 20 years, Gallura has transformed from seven or eight co-ops and large wineries to include upwards of 50 small producers,’ he says. That said, established producers such as Argiolas, Capichera and Sella e Mosca, which is converting its entire 520ha of vineyards to organic viticulture, remain a powerful force. More than ever, it is fundamental for all players to work together to improve the visibility of Sardinia’s wines, which are still largely unknown.

Navigating Sardinia’s wines can be tricky. The DOC structure does not adequately represent the diversity of its varied terroirs. As such, some producers eschew the overarching Sardegna DOC and label their wines under the island’s dozen or so IGTs. In some cases, these refer to restricted areas such as Romangia IGT around the northern towns of Sorso and Sennori, the stomping ground of well-known natural winemaker Alessandro Dettori. Conversely, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT encompasses the whole island, and its somewhat confusing name is taken from the Nuragic relics – bronze age stone towers – found across Sardinia.

Challenges aside, there is no doubt that Sardinia is deserving of much more than a superficial beach visit. With interest in Italy’s countless grapes at an all-time high, the island is sitting prettier than ever before.

Sardinia’s dynamic producers are demonstrating the many guises of Vermentino and Cannonau, as well as crafting rare and thrilling gems for treasure hunters.

All you need is a sense of adventure.

Michaela Morris is a Canadian wine writer, educator and presenter who specialises in Italy.

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A wine lover’s guide to Sardinia

The pace in Sardinia is slow. Give yourself time to get around, especially if you’re venturing off the beaten track: marvellous rewards lay at the end of those long and winding roads.

If flying into Cagliari, wander up the city lanes that snake to the top of the fortress to complete the day with a breathtaking sunset over the harbour and an elegant dinner al fresco at Sarti del Gusto.

Stock up on wine at Enoteca Cagliaritana before heading southeast to taste Sulcis Carignano or relax on the remote beaches of the Costa Verde.

The Catalan-flavoured city of Alghero makes a great base to explore the awe-inspiring Grotto di Nettuno, the white sandy La Pelosa beach and the wineries around Sássari. Be sure to take in the colourful town of Bosa and sip on the local Malvasia di Bosa DOC, a delightful sherry-like nectar.

Swanky Olbia is the gateway city into Gallura and the glitzy Costa Smeralda. For fresh seafood and homemade pasta head to Ristorante Belvedere in Porto Cervo.

In Porto Rotondo, Da Giovannino stocks Italy’s finest wines and the latest from emerging producers across the island.

Don’t miss Sardinia’s rugged mountainous core, Barbagia. Spa resort Su Gologone allows you to take in the raw natural beauty in luxury.

Oliena, Mamoiada and Dorgali are all within reach for sampling of Cannonau and producers like Puddu and Giovanni Montisci (+39 328 019 3273) might even slice some of their homemade prosciutto for you.

If the call of the sea is too strong, the nearby town of Cala Gonone serves as the entry point to the dramatic, cliff-lined east coast.

This originally feature in Michaela Morris’ guide to Sardinian wines in the Decanter Italy guide 2019.

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Andrew Jefford visits Italy’s ‘other’ wine island and discovers four reasons (or more) to take it seriously...

Wines from Sardinia

It had been a dry winter, everyone told me, but the heart of Sardinia was still vividly green at the end of March. A chaos of hills rippled away in every direction (almost 70 per cent of the island’s landmass is hilly, with just under 14 per cent classified as mountainous), often scored by sheep tracks, echoing to the sound-mosaic of hundreds of sheep bells. Sardinia is home to four million sheep, roughly half the national herd and source of most of the milk for Italy’s Pecorino Romano PDO cheese. Some 80 per cent of the cork produced in Italy, too, grows on Sardinia. The airy cork forests, as the spring equinox passes, are golden with swaying broom flowers.

This is the Mediterranean’s second largest island – pipped only by a Sicilian whisker; its southerly neighbour is just six per cent bigger. In terms of wine production, though, Sardinia is only Italy’s fourteenth largest region (Sicily, for example, produces six times as much wine). Many Sardinian vineyards are tiny, almost hidden, especially up in the highest hills, around Nuoro and Oliena. Their fascinating wines deserve to be better known.

Let me give you four reasons why. The first is Vermentino: maybe the world’s best? That’s a question which merits a separate answer – which I’ll try to provide in a later blog.

The second reason is Carignano. Italy in general grows much less of this variety than does France (Carignan) or Spain (Mazuelo, Cariñena, Samsó), but I suspect that many Languedocien wine growers, at any rate, would be shocked to discover the rich textures and flavours which this variety can acquire in Sardinia. Carignan is often a piercing alto in Languedoc, and best blended; in Sardinia it can be warm and comforting bass, and works well on its own. Never better than in the sandy soils of Sulcis, in the island’s southwest, and especially on the large island of Sant’Antioco (Italy’s fourth largest in its own right), connected to the Sardinian mainland by a bridge. The soils in Sulcis are so sandy, in fact, that much Carignano de Sulcis is ungrafted. I’d be surprised if Sardinian Carignano didn’t feature somewhere in the top twenty of any serious competitive blind tasting of this variety.

The third reason is Cannonau. Once again, Italian plantings of this variety are dwarfed by Spain’s Garnacha stocks and France’s walletful of Grenache – but Sardinia’s efforts with the variety are of compelling interest, and comprise the island’s ‘noblest’ reds. The variety is grown in a number of different locations and different soils, but the best for me came from the granite uplands around Nuoro, and particularly the lonely village of Mamoiada.

Up here, at between 600 m to 800 m, the variety sheds its lowland sweetness and takes on an airy freshness and stony purity. This is not, though, the kind of mountain Grenache which tiptoes gracefully into Pinot territory. It remains strong, masterful and firmly structured, with often hugely impressive tannins. Cannonau, in other words, can be a wine of unusual completeness and authority for this variety.

And the fourth reason? That would be Sardinia’s own indigenous varieties (it claims up to 150) and specialities (including both sweet, dry and botrytised Malvasia di Bosa; as well as the complex, flor-affected Vernaccia di Oristano). Genetic intricacy is always of interest for its own sake, and I enjoyed the examples I tried of these rare varieties, often salvaged with great efforts (including the white Arvisionadu, Alvarega, Nasco and Semidano and the red Monica, Muristellu, Bovaluddu, Bovale Grande, Bovale Mannu, Bovale Sardo, Barbera Sarda and Cagnulari), even if some were, in the vinifications I tried, only shyly characterful.

At least I thought that the twelve just mentioned were all indigenous — but a little research after I got home in Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz’s Wine Grapes suggested that Bovale Mannu and Bovale Grande are in fact the same as Carignano, while Muristellu, Bovaleddu, Bovale Sardo and Cagnulari are identical to Graciano. Some of this is contested on the island, where Dr Gianni Lovicu, one of the island’s leading viticultural researchers, says that Bovale Mannu is in fact another synonym for Graciano, while Muristellu and Bovaleddu are not in fact Graciano but a different variety altogether.

Whatever the truth, Cagnulari certainly seemed to make the most interesting wines after Vermentino, Carignano and Cannonau – in a rather less stern and more voluptuous guise than Graciano can often assume, for example, in Rioja.

Canny readers will have noted just how much vine material Sardinia seems to share with Spain, and this is usually attributed to a long period of Aragonese rule in Sardinia (between the arrival of the Catalan army under Crown Prince Alfonso of Aragon in 1324 and the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713). Catalan is still spoken in the northwestern Sardinian port of Alghero. The Sardinians themselves, though, point out that the trading Phoenicians may have been moving these grape varieties around before the Aragonese ever arrived – and they would dearly love to prove that Cannonau is in fact an indigenous variety which the Aragonese took back to Spain. There is, for the time being, no comprehensive genetic proof of this – though some 2010 research by Manna Crespan and others claimed that Cannonau is more genetically diverse than Spanish Grenache, suggesting possible anteriority. Other researchers cited by the Wine Grapes authors, though, have found the opposite. The question will be tussled over for a while yet.

Anything else? I haven’t mentioned the usual plethora of DO and IGT names since the island’s leading wines usually contain the variety name in the DO or IGT formula. You might be foxed, though, by the critically important, pan-Sardinian IGT ‘Isola dei Nuraghi’ — since no such island can be found in any atlas. It’s a cultural reference to the mysterious towers called Nuraghe which dot Sardinia, and which date back to 730 BCE to 1900 BCE. The problem, apparently, was that since ‘Sardegna’ already featured in a number of DOC formulae, it couldn’t be used for an IGT. Though why not? Using it on its own, perhaps, would have been more helpful to consumers than sending them scurrying off for an island which doesn’t exist.

A Taste of Sardinian Reds

Carignano del Sulcis (Carignan)

Bentesali, Carignano del Sulcis 2014

This wine, made from 100-year-old ungrafted bush vines on the island of Sant’Antioco and exposed to the ‘salty wind’ that gives the wine its Sardinian name, is dark in colour, with a rich aromatic mixture of scents, both fruity, floral and savoury. The palate is very deep and fleshy for Carignan, with ample tannic mass, concentration and rigour. 90 points

Nero Miniera, Enrico Esu, Carignano del Sulcis 2014

This is a much lighter wine than the Bentesali (50 year old vines and with 10 per cent Monica), yet it has superb concentration and tannic grip behind the rose, cherry and liquorice flavours. 90

Cannonau di Sardegna (Grenache)

Fòla, Cannonau di Sardegna, Siddùra 2014

A relatively lightly coloured but classy Cannonau with resonant and harmonious aromas combining stony and meaty notes, and a deep, searching, penetrating palate of considerable refinement and gastronomic aptitude. The month of maceration with the skins was time well spent. 91

D53, Cannonau di Sardegna Classico, Cantina Dorgali 2012

An older wine fermented and aged in large wooden vessels, this is translucent and recognizably varietal, with sweet spiced plum scents and rich, warm, generous plum and cherry flavours. Artless generosity of fruit – but the firm tannic support gives it an authentic Sardinian stamp. 89

Montanaru, Cannonau di Sardegna, Tenute Bonamici 2014

A Cannonau (grown at 750m) marked above all by saline, ‘mineral’ notes and rich tannins. There is plenty of sweet backing fruit but in a warmly subdued guise which allows the unfruity flavours and ample textures to take the lead: delicious. 90

Cannonau di Sardegna, Olianas 2014

A Cannonau mixed with 10 per cent Tintillu and amphora-fermented before being aged in both amphora and older barriques. Classy, refined, settled aromas and pure, drinkable, fine-grained flavours mark this mid-weight wine with a wider allusive repertoire than some of its peers (seaweed and blood orange). 90

Ballu Tundu, Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva, Giuseppe Sedilesu 2010

The two superb 2010 Riserva-level wines produced by Giuseppe Sedilesu (one called Ballu Tundu and the other, top wine just a plain Riserva) prove just how exciting Sardinian Cannonau can be. This wine, grown in Mamoiada vineyards at an average altitude of 700m, has earthy, gruff, planty aromas with dense, exciting, almost shocking flavours which combine plentiful extract with intensely earthy, almost medicinal flavours and vivid plumskin acidity. 93

Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva, Giuseppe Sedilesu 2010

This extraordinary wine, produced from selected Sedilesu bush vines of 50 years or more in the best years only, harvested in October and given a month’s maceration, is drama incarnate. Billowing scents suggesting red fruit, wild lavender, wild mint, crushed stone and perfumed plum skins is followed by a dense, dark, rich, chewy flavour which, metaphorically speaking, seems to explode in the mouth and send granite shards, dripping with herbal blood, splattering round your palate. It has bright, flavour-saturated acidity, packed with plum and cherry, too, invigorating its warm, swelling mid-palate, and it finishes lushly and richly. This elemental, force-of-nature wine is magnificent now but will surely see out a decade or two without trouble. 96

Cagnulari (Graciano)

Bàcco, Cagnulari, Siddùra, Isola dei Nuraghi 2014

Some Sardinian Cagnulari can be very savoury, but the Siddùra version is full of peppery fruits. The wine has harmonious scents and vivid, enticing, smooth-textured flavours – yet it grows in complexity and stature with time in the mouth; the finish is stony, pungent, bitter-edged and thought-provoking. 92

Cagnulari, Chessa, Isola dei Nuraghi 2014

Smoky, earthy, spicy, even tarry: this Cagulari smells nocturnal and byzantine. On the palate, it is rich, weighty, dense, vivid and expressive, with both red and black fruit notes freighted with more exotic incense spice. Despite this generosity of style, the wine is very well-judged, and both satisfying and refreshing to drink. A masterful rendition of what can often be a difficult grape to vinify. 93

Cagnulari, Podere Parpinello, Isola dei Nuraghi 2014

Very dark in colour, with complex scents: both sweet and savoury, suggesting both plants and fruits. On the palate, it is another wine which seems smooth and rich when you first sip, but which acquires texture and flavoury grain as it lingers in the mouth, broadening and filling as it does so. Searching and complex to finish. 92

Cagnulari, Bagasseri, Enrico Melis, Isola dei Nuraghi 2015

An astonishing young Cagnulari: intoxicating primary fruit and flower aromas come storming from the glass, while in the mouth this is a very showy, lush and luscious wine of huge exuberance and impact. There is ample tannin to counterbalance its very sweet style of fruit (though the producer assures me the wine contains no residual sugar). A head-turner, best enjoyed in all its youthful glory. 91

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Carla Capalbo picks out the must visit hotels, restaurants and shops for the ideal Sardinia wine holiday.

Sardinia: where to stay, eat and shop

Hotels

Locanda Conte Mameli, Olbia

In the town centre, this is a small hotel in a historic palazzo with some character. www.lalocandadelcontemameli.com

Li Finistreddi, Arzachena

Near Arzachena, at Micalosu, this country resort near the vineyards offers all the comforts of a summer retreat. www.finistreddi.it

Hotel Nibaru, Cala di Volpe

Stay here to enjoy the Costa Smeralda on a budget: great location, a lovely pool and walking access to several beaches. www.hotelnibaru.it

Agriturismo Agrisole, Casagliana

If you prefer to stay outside the towns, this agriturismo is halfway between Olbia and Arzachena, and offers a more rustic atmosphere, with local dishes available for dinner. www.agriturismo-agrisole.com

Restaurants

Caffè Cosimino, Olbia

In Olbia’s town centre of Piazza Margherita, this wine bar features a huge selection of wines and good food. Always open. Tel: +39 0789 21001

Ristorante Barbagia, Olbia

Try some of the hinterland dishes of pork, wild boar and cheeses in the spacious Ristorante Barbagia. www.ristorantebarbagia.com

Ristorante Nino, Pittulongu

A few kilometres outside Olbia, in Hotel Stefania, this restaurant offers local Sardinian dishes, along with lovely rooms and views of (and access to) the sandy Pittulongu beaches. www.stefaniahotel.it

Ristorante Il Tirabusciò, Calangianus

Inland at Calangianus, in the hills where the cork trees grow, this affordable venue prepares homemade traditional food, with pastas (boiled and fried) and locally reared meats and vegetables. Tel: +39 0796 61849

Gelateria da Pasqualina, Porto Cervo

In the Promenade du Port at Porto Cervo, this ice creamery makes its own fabulous ices and pastries from Mediterranean fruits and nuts. www.lapasqualina.com

Stelle D Stelle, Porto Cervo

In summer, this restaurant hosts Italian Michelin- starred chefs who prepare their own gourmet food. www.stelledstelle.com

Shopping

Soha Sardinia, Porto Cervo

As well as offering handmade jewellery and other accessories, this boutique makes fine, polyphenol-rich skin creams using an extract of red Cannonau grapes. www.sohasardinia.com

In Vino Veritas, Olbia

On the Corso Umberto in the centre of Olbia, you will find a large selection of Sardinian wines to taste and buy, and they also serve light lunches. www.invinoveritas.playfun.tv

Thursday market, San Pantaleo

In the small, traditional village of San Pantaleo, there is a fun market every week where you can find local produce, crafts, artworks and more.

Carla Capalbo tells Decanter her perfect day in Gallura, Sardinia, in the Northeastern corner of the island.

Gallura, Sardinia is Vermentino’s natural home and has been cultivated there since the 14th century. Carlo Capalbo tells Decanter her ideal day in Gallura, Sardinia Vermento country.

Morning

At Antica Dimora La Coronoa, wake up to a breakfast of Sardinian pastries and sheep’s ricotta in a handsomely restored 18th-century house in the village of San Pantaleo. From there it’s a short drive across the hills to Capichera winery near Arzachena and Cudacciolu, run by Emanuele Ragnedda with his father and uncle. ‘My family has been in Sardinia for 300 years, and was the first, in 1980, to make single-varietal Vermentino,’ he says. Make sure you visit the Giant’s Tomb, a stone megalith from Sardinia’s Nuragic Bronze Age civilisation – more than 3,000 exist in Sardinia.

Afternoon

After tasting the wines and some local salumi, head down to Porto Cervo – full of cafés and designer shops – to eat lunch in one of Hotel Cervo’s restaurants, such as Il Pomodoro, which has the area’s best pizza. There are breezy sea views from the terrace, perfect for people-watching. After lunch, drive a few kilometres to Palau and take the boat around Isola della Maddalena national park, an unspoiled, seven-island archipelago close to southern Corsica.

Evening and overnight

In the late afternoon stop in at Vigne Surrau, east of Arzachena. This estate is impressive, with a modern building for tasting and buying wines, sampling local pecorino cheeses and salumi, and learning about winemaking. They produce five versions of Vermentino, including one sparkling and a sweet passito. Meals can be ordered in advance. After that aperitivo, drive west for 15 minutes to Agriturismo Tenuta Pilastru for dinner and an overnight stay. The food is strictly Sardinian.

One of the world’s most popular holiday spots, this Italian island is a haven for those wanting an authentic food and wine experience, finds Carla Capalbo.

Fact File

Planted area 7,000ha, of which 66% is DOC and/or DOCG

Production (2014) 502,000hl

Total Vermentino 4,194ha (of which 70% is in northern Sardinia) Vermentino di Gallura DOCG 1,320ha

Main grape varieties Red Bovale (Bobal), Cannonau (Grenache), Carignano, Monica,

White Malvasia, Muscadellu, Nasco, Nuragus, Vermentino

Sardinia, Italy’s second largest island, has striking landscapes with unspoiled, rocky coastlines giving way to rugged mountains still sparsely populated by shepherds and their sheep. Almost despite its coastal accessibility, the island remains closed and introspective at its heart; many islanders prefer lamb and goat to fish. Yet in recent years Sardinia’s better wines have progressed from stubborn rusticity to a more open, modern approach.

• My perfect day in Gallura, Sardinia
• Sardinia: Where to stay, eat and shop

While the big reds of the south, such as Cannonau and Carignano, reflect the Spanish influence of the island’s past, the light-skinned white Vermentino has links to Liguria – where it is known as Pigato – and to the Tuscan coast. It’s also found in Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon: indeed Sardinia’s geology has more in common with southern France than with its political motherland.

Nowhere does Vermentino express itself better than in the province of Olbia-Tempio, at the northeastern corner of Sardinia, where it’s made into Vermentino di Gallura DOCG (with the Superiore category also available for wines with slightly higher alcohol levels).

Vermentino is most often vinified in stainless steel vats to maintain crispness, though some barrel ageing is also found. Its lively character and attractive citrus and floral notes – often with hints of ginestra, the local yellow broom flowers – keep it refreshing and dry.

‘The region of Gallura is Vermentino’s natural home, where the salty winds and very poor, stony soils of granite and sand give it an intense mineral character,’ says Giampaolo Gravina, one of Italy’s senior wine critics.

As so often with native varieties, Vermentino has found its ideal habitat through time: it has been cultivated in Gallura since the 14th century. The vines have adapted well to the extreme growing conditions: cool, dry Maestrale (Mistral) winds coming down from the northwest, and 300 days of forceful sun a year.

Into the wilds

Still, Gallura is not an easy place for vines to grow. The rocky terrain is very uneven, and the hillsides are covered thickly by macchia mediterranea. Similar to English heath, the mix of indigenous plants here – including broom, euphorbia, holm-oak, buckthorn and myrtle

– are able to survive Sardinia’s parched summers. It results in a fragrant, evergreen and impenetrable scrub. Many trees are also farmed for their cork (used in wine bottles). Wineries here range from small family affairs to large, successful cooperatives such as Cantina Giogantinu  and Cantina Gallura that specialise in affordable and drinkable wines from the local area. All are open to visitors but appointments are necessary.

‘Vermentino is the quintessential Mediterranean grape: it loves the sun, the sea and the wind, and it marries perfectly with fish, shellfish and seafood pastas,’ says Gravina. ‘Despite the region’s climatic extremes, well-made Vermentino di Gallura maintains freshness and acidity and often shows an attractive saline quality.’

Gallura’s stunning coastline, with its pristine, fjord-like bays and sandy beaches, is never far away from the vine-growing slopes. In 1961, the Aga Khan – one of the world’s richest men – created a luxury tourist complex here along 20km of coastline that allowed for some development while successfully preserving its natural beauty. He named it La Costa Smeralda (the Emerald Coast) and built some of the world’s most exclusive hotels and villas around Porto Cervo.

In midsummer, hotels such as the luxurious Cala di Volpe charge prices only moguls can afford, with multi- tiered yachts anchored at its secluded marina. But either side of high season both tourism and hotel prices drop far enough to make its splendid seaside accessible in affordable country agriturismi and smaller hotels.

The food is delicious, with fresh fish and local pastas such as fregola served with intensely flavoured local tomatoes, followed by roast suckling pig – or porceddu – another of the island’s favourites. And save room for dessert: Sardinian pastries are legendary. Look for the fabulous seadas, a fried pasty filled with fresh sheep’s cheese that’s served warm with the bitter honey made from native corbezzolo (the strawberry tree).

It’s worth spending at least one night in Olbia to check out the town before heading to the wine country and beaches. There’s a Roman aqueduct and port, while the Museo Archeologico helps set the scene of Sardinia’s ancient past. Olbia’s historic centre offers shops, cafés and some good food.

Visiting the vineyards of Sardinia

Wine tourism is increasing in Sardinia and well-appointed cellars make perfect destinations for day trips. If you’re intrepid and enjoy spectacularly situated vineyards, Siddùra is a short drive under the mountains towards Luogosanto. Here 19 hectares of macchia have been transformed into thriving young vineyards, mostly planted to Vermentino.

Sardinia’s interior is dotted with small stone villages in which time seems to have stood still, yet in which Sardinia’s gastronomic and cultural heritage is still very much alive. Pane carasau is a uniquely thin crispbread favoured by the local fishermen; often enjoyed with Fiore Sardo DOP cheese. When it is made with the raw milk of the native breed of sheep that is descended from the Nuragic age, it has a slightly smoky character from the wood-burning fire over which the milk is cooked. It’s even listed in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste.

Wine is another great way to access that culture. The annual Porto Cervo Wine Festival, held in mid-May each year, is open to the public and offers a perfect introduction to Sardinia’s exciting world of wine and food.

If you’re based in Olbia, drive 30 minutes’ southwest one day to visit two other fine Vermentino producers. Mura is a family run estate with 20ha and high- quality wines, including the award-winning Sienda. Nearby, Masone Mannu is a larger winery with 60ha and a good range of both whites and reds.

My perfect day in Gallura, Sardinia

Sardinia: where to stay, eat and shop

To set the record straight with a certain customs official at a London airport who directed me into the non-EU channel, Sardinia is part of Italy and therefore part of the European Union. But you don’t argue with customs officials while on their patch, do you? But then, situated in the Mediterranean, 120 miles west of the Italian mainland, 7.5 miles south of Corsica and 120 miles north of Africa, Sardinia also revels in such confusion. It has been occupied over the centuries variously by Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Carthaginians and Catalans, and became part of Italy in 1726, yet it still actively encourages its image of ‘semi-independence’. Its wine industry has a similar ‘otherness’ to it. Until recently, much of that difference was down to a less technologically advanced approach than the mainland, with a lot of Sardinia grapes bulk produced for nondescript wines. However, that otherness is now beginning to be translated into an individuality that is standing the island’s quality-driven wines in good stead to hold their own in the fiercely competitive international market.

Sella & Mosca

At the fore of Sardinia’s quality drive – and, indeed, of contemporary winemaking – is the large, privately owned winery, Sella & Mosca, situated to the north of Alghero and stretching over 650 hectares (ha). Emanuele Bonomi, export director and son of the owner Carlo, says that the general quality level of winemaking in Sardinia has improved enormously in the last decade.

Château de Sancerre has a new owner

‘To some extent, we are the New of the Old World,’ he muses, ‘a new area within a huge winemaking tradition. In the last five years, people have become very interested in Sardinian wine and its different grape varieties, but a lot of people still have to discover us – we have much further to go.’Sardinia’s late arrival on the scene comes at a time when there is great interest in grape varieties. ‘We have a very strong belief in our own indigenous grapes: Vermentino, Torbato, Cannonau and Carignano. We really believe in these and want to give them a major push,’ says Bonomi. ‘We want to keep the Sardinian tradition going, and perfect what we know best. I strongly believe that we can be number one in Vermentino, Cannonau and Torbato: you just won’t find these varieties in California or South Africa.’

Vermentino di Gallura is the only Sardinian DOCG (given in 1997) and in Sella’s Monteoro 1999 has a deliciously crisp, clean palate, giving an elegant wine. Torbato comes in many guises – as dry, sparkling and sweet white – and gives a well-structured wine that Bonomi believes deserves a DOCG. ‘I think the personality of Torbato merits it. It’s a historical grape, rarely seen, and it can produce a great wine.’ Turning to reds, Cannonau (Grenache), imported from Spain more than 200 years ago, is now considered native to the island and has great credentials. The Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva 1997 DOC has a generous plummy, raisiny character – aromatic and elegant with high acidity. The Carignano had a very distinctive burned rubber edge to it, while Sella’s premium wine is Marchese-di-Villamarina; the 1996, just released, is attractive with seductive layers of silky black fruit, hints of oak and good acidity. Its Anghelu Ruju, vino liquoroso, Cannonau, is aged in old oak casks for more than five years, with 18% abv and 7% residual sugar. Bonomi admits that only a short while ago he was less sure of the path that Sella was taking. ‘Six years ago, I had different opinions. We were battling with our local grape varieties and I wondered whether to go more international, take the Cabernet route. I’m now really glad that Consorte kept us with indigenous varieties, where we can take the number one slot.’Credit, indeed, goes to Mario Consorte, Sella’s winemaker for the last 40 years. ‘I only visited Sardinia to work the harvest,’ smiles Consorte. ‘That was the autumn of 1961 and I promised my mother I would be home for Christmas. How time flies!’ Consorte grew up in the Veneto among Prosecco and Valpolicella. ‘My culture is in white wine from the Veneto, and this was very important in building a new philosophy for white production in Sardinia,’ he says.

As a mainlander who fell in love with the landscape and freedom offered by Sardinia, Consorte adds: ‘The long distance from Italy can be dangerous. It’s necessary to maintain contact with oenologists and universities, so that you keep abreast of what’s going on.’ Consorte himself is president of the AIE (Asssociation of Italian Enotechnicians) in Milan, which requires him to travel several times a year. I asked whether there is any kind of Sardinian body, or group, that meets to share information, work out problems and so on. ‘Like everything in Italy, everyone fights their own war,’ replies Bonomi. ‘I am happy if everyone improves, but I’m not going to tell them how to do it.’

The winery owes its existence to the mainland, as it was in 1899 that two Piedmontese gentlemen, Sella and Mosca, visited north west Sardinia on a hunting trip and ended up buying 600ha of scrubland at I Piani, Alghero (that region was given its DOC in 1995). The men set up the first unique nursery in Sardinia, planting 1,600 different clones and varieties. That nursery is still going today, now housing a selection including different Cabernet Sauvignon clones, Greco di Tufo, three different Sauvignon Blanc clones, Falanghina and four different Cannonau clones. Vineyard management is essential, according to Bonomi. As part of an ongoing program, Sella has moved almost all its vineyards from the old espalier training system to the pergola method, to give shade to the grapes from the sun, yet maximise the sun on the leaves. ‘The shade from the leaves moderates the climate, giving good acidity in the wines,’ says Consorte. Continuity has been an advantage, and Bonomi points out that having the same oenologist for 40 years has led to ‘constant improvement over the years; long evolvement, rather than rapid change’.

Expansion

Plans are currently being made to increase the size of the winery, and the team are searching for another 150ha on the island, specifically to grow more native grapes. Expansion in mainland Italy is also a possibility. ‘We want to expand and it would be logical to go somewhere on the mainland – possibly Piedmont or Tuscany, yet we have a lot on our hands right now,’ says Bonomi.

Expansion has also led to a venture in Quingdao, China, where Sella invested five years ago and now owns 200ha and a winery, finished last year. ‘The venture is very new,’ says Bonomi, ‘but the potential is there. There is huge demand, but currently the quality of wine being drunk is very low.’ And, though strictly a family venture, separate from Sella, the Bonomi family bought the 80ha Château Lemargue in Costières de Nîmes, two years ago.

Emphasis here is on low-yielding Syrah and Grenache (ah, Cannonau), along with Grenache Blanc, Roussane and Rolle (oh, Vermentino). ‘It’s an idea that my father and I have had for a while. To enter at the really high end. There is such potential in the area, and we think that we have the quality,’ says Bonomi enthusiastically.

So if Sella is to some extent leading one particular path in Sardinia, who do they admire on the mainland? ‘Oh, this is political,’ laughs Bonomi. ‘Gaja for making a name for himself from nothing. Or, no, it would be Marchese Incisa at Bolgheri for what he’s done to Italian red wine; for understanding the way to go years ago and for taking everyone else along that way.’ So any parallels (one has to ask the question)? ‘If we are to bring the Sardinian wine industry forward, then other producers have to work hard,’ says Bonomi emphatically. ‘Quality has to come first. We are not going to lead them.’