A Sardinian tasting

1. Cantine del Remedio, VSQ Brut Metodo Classico Aristanis N.V.

You need only to read the labels of the wines of this winery of Oristano, on the western coast, to see that it is steeped in the island’s history. The website is nothing special to look at, but the range is a whole different question, and the winery won winery of the year with Five Star Wines.

My pick for wine one is called Aristanis, the Sardinian name for Oristano.  It is a non-vintage, classic method brut sparkler, 15 months on the lees, made with a blend of 85% Vernaccia di Oristano and 15% Vermentino. 

The wineries notes read thus:

Bright straw yellow, tending to gold. Fine and persistent perlage. The nose gives hints of dried and candied fruit, accompanied by notes of almond flowers, while breadcrumb is perceptible in a pleasant and delicate way. The mouth-feel of this sparkling wine is quite dry and bold. Enveloping but delicate and persistent. Almond reappears on the finish. Its livelines and freshness invite for another sip.

The Five Star Wines 2025 guide – in which this wine also won Italian Sparkling Wine of the Year – also notes a delicate tea leaf aroma.

This wine is available in the UK by special arrangement with MTW. Guide price £30.

2. Tenuta Ledda, Vermentino di Gallura DOCG Superiore ‘Soliànu’

This bottle has been a long-standing feature of my portfolios.

Arising from the best Vermentino vineyard of Sardinia – perhaps the world – which is pictured at the top of the page, of pink-hued granite of Gallura. The vineyard is directly above the sea, which ensures a consistent day/night temperature during the growing season. This, notwithstanding the altitude (400m), which means the ripening of the sugars doesn’t outrun the phenols.

The intensely flavoursome wine is texturally rich and opulent. It shows floral, stone fruit and herby maquis aromas with just enough fresh acidity to give lift and elegance.

The winery also own a Vermentino vineyard on the very top of an extinct volcano in the centre of the island – that wine, named Pelao, is a lean, acid-driven version of Vermentino with a touch of petrichor (the aroma of rain on dry ground) and kerosene. In this profile, Pelao is closer to a Trocken Mosel Riesling than its stablemate from the seaside.

The bottle costs £31.95 through MTW. Please enquire for the current vintage and availability.

3. Tenute Dettori, IGT Bianco Passito Moscaddedu

[My wines] are what they are and not what you want them to be.

Thus reads my favourite ever statement on the back label of a bottle.  The Dettori vines are old and trained to Albarello – the ancient, single stake method by which growers have ensured the preservation of their indigenous vines and ecology in harsh environments.  Albarello is one of the great markers of quality in winemaking, and it comes at a price.

The Dettori wines are intensely flavoursome, difficult to know and totally unique. You can see the full range here.

My pick is the Moscaddedu – Moscato by its Sardinian name. The reason is that perhaps the most memorable food pairing I have ever had was a spicy curry and this bottle.  There is a sweetness in the wine, but at 15% abv (at least, the last bottle I tried), nothing like any other Moscato. It is, rather, and as Dettori says, anarchic.

Extensive back vintages are available – the wine is indestructable. 

Available by special request through MTW – guide price £55-£60.

4 & 5. Agricola Punica, Isola dei Nuraghi ‘Montessu’ & ‘Barrua’

More tried and tested, and for this we move to Agricola Punica, in the south of the island.  We are stepping in to the world of the ‘Super Sardinian’ here, and the influence of the famed enologist Giacomo Tachis, the technical brains behind Sassicaia, and others. This pair come under the island-wide appellation, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT, which allows wineries the freedom to experiment with varietals, growing and vinification.

The wines are Carignano-driven (yes, Carignan, and grown here since forever) with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The more youthful Montessu is 60% Carignano, and spends 12 months in French oak; while Barrua is 85% and spends 18 months in the same.  Both wines are polished and balanced. Montessu is leaner, more mineral; Barrua, rich and complex.

Available from MTW.  Montessu £24.95, Barrua £39.95.

6. Cadinu, Cannonau di Sardegna, Ghirada Fittiloghe

The towns of Mamoiada, Oliena and Dorgali are a heartland of Cannonau winemaking – Grenache, in its better-known form.  Cadinu make wines from 8 parcels of centenarian vines, separated by dry stone walls into named Ghirade, each of 1 hectare.  Ghirada Fittiloghe is the oldest parcel, with 120 year-old vines trained to Albarello. The wine is aged in small chestnut barrels for 18 months.

Poor quality granite soils, 700 metres of altitude, Albarello training and the sheer age of the vines bestows the wine with an arresting combination of floral notes, red and black fruit, and spice (cinammon, clove). A lean graphite note sits at its core. This is a hefty, muscular wine, intense and elegant in equal measure. Choose an older vintage, if possible.

£61.95 from MTW.

7. Columbu, Malvasia di Bosa DOC

Along with Vernaccia di Oristano, Malvasia di Bosa is Sardinia’s answer to premium sherry. These wines are aged under flor, where a natural yeast growth covers the wine inside its small barrel. In this way, the wine develops an unusual aromatic profile, fortified levels of alcohol and a highly distinctive texture.  Some bottlings can contain wine which is many tens of years old.

Columbu is one of the fathers of Bosa winemaking. His Malvasia is simultaneously sweet and saline. It shows intense almond and toasted hazelnut; this is a what the Italians call a ‘meditation’ wine, whether to drink by itelf, or to accompany sweet pastries.

Enquire for availability: guide price £59.95 (50cl)