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Now let's see that I'll be doing hello, My name is Claudia. I was born and raised in Sardinia. I still call it home. I am the mastermind behind the Streetly Sardinia Travel Blog and now the Streetly Sardinia Podcast where each week I will bring you the best Sardinia has to offer and share my most useful tips help that will will help you plan a memorable trip to my wonderful island. In the last episode I tried to tell you everything or at least the most important things you should know before traveling to Sardinia. And one of the things I mentioned was the fact that we have some excellent wine. So if you're planning a trip to Sardinia and you are into wines and wine tasting, this episode is for you. As always, let me remind you that you will find a more detailed version of today's episode on my blog strictlyceridinia.com you will find links to the relevant posts in the podcast episode description, so make sure to read the short description of that for those links. Now let's finally talk about the best Sardinian wines. There are some varietals, some grapes that are so typical of Sardinia and that you should definitely consider trying when you are on the island. Obviously if you are into wine now, not only do we have excellent grapes that make fantastic wines, but we have a long tradition of winemakers and some fantastic wineries. And in today's episode I will not only describe the best wines that you can try on the island, the best varietals, but also pick the best wineries where you can have these wines. Let's start with Sardinian typical red, Cannonau. Cannonau di Sardinia. It's Sardinian signature red. One in every five bottles of wine on the island is a Canonao. It's the most planted varietal. About 30% of all the grapes on the island are Canonau. It's grown everywhere, but the best can Canonao will be the one produced in the regions of Ogliastra and in the mountains around Nuoro. It generally has a low acidity level and a high alcohol content. It's a perfect wine to pair with meat dishes or cheese. Strong cheese. Lots of wineries around the island make it. My favorite is a very typical Nepente di Olena. There is a whole story attached to this wine. Olena is a small village in the center of Cerdina in the mountainous area of Cerdina. But other wineries make some excellent canonao. For example the winery in Mamoyada. It's a great wine to have. Now, if you're coming in the summer or if you're eating fish or seaweed seafood, the best pairing with that will be a Sardinian Vermentino and more specifically a Vermentino di Gallura. The Galura region is located in the northeastern tip of Sardinia and this wine is the only Sardinian wine that has the DOCG classification, so the Italian four tier classification. The grape has been grown in the north eastern tip of the Galura province of Sardinia for centuries. It can be found throughout the island, but the best quality comes from there. It's sharp, zingy wine, quite strong, dry, full bodied, almost salty as an aftertaste. So expect some minerality, notes of lemon, white flowers. The best vermentino will be the Capichera so Capicera Winery which is in the Galura region, or that of the Vinhe Surrau Cantine Vinhe Surrou which is located really close to Arzakena, also close to the Emerald coast of Sardinia. But you can find some excellent Vermentino bottles for under $20 a bottle at Piero Mancini, another excellent Sardinian winery. Next, Nuragos. This is my parents favorite white wine here in Sardinia. It's mostly grown in the south of the island in the Cagliari province. It's a dry, light bodied, highly approachable, although quite acidic wine. Perfect to have on a summer sunset on your patio. It has quite a zesty taste most of the time. It's actually a very a very inexpensive wine. It will cost around 15 a bottle. It doesn't have to be aged particularly so. The best Nuragos my parents wear by it will be the Selegas from Arjoles winery which is in my mom's hometown of Serdiana, but also the near the next do. Cantine di Dolianova makes some excellent Nuragos. Next wine I want to mention is a Carignano del Solchis. This is a Sardinian wine cultivated in the southwestern corner of the island. It's called Carignan in France and Carignena in Spain. Predominantly grown in the province of Sulchis and Carbonia Iglesias, widespread also in the provinces of Cagliari and Teulada. It's usually a red or a rose wine. The rose wines are only recently starting to become more popular here in Sardinia. It has a lower alcohol level and oftentimes because it has a more delicate flavor, it's also paired with fish and seafood dishes. A must try when it comes to Carignano is that of Cantina Mesa, but also Terre Brune of the Santadi Cantina. So Santadi's winery. It's a fantastic wine. Aged in a barrique, intense garnet color. It's just fantastic. Bovale, another grape that is typical of Sardinia, actually has 24 different names, thanks to the variety of the Sardinian language itself. But anyhow, Bovale is mostly grown in the areas of Mandrolisay and in the mountainous regions around Nuoro, though there are vineyards dedicated to bovale around the island. The Bovale variety is one of the very few grape varieties that has a distinctive genetic similarity to wild grapevines. It is described as a friendly wine, smooth, not overly complex. It's often used for blends, so you often find it mixed with canonao for some of the best Sardinian wines. But if you want to have a great bovale, you could try the corem of the Argyolas winery here in South Sardinia, more specifically in Sardiana. Another grape that Sardinia is famous for is Vernaccia. Now, this grape was almost completely going extinct, extinct until recently. A few Sardinian wineries have been pressing to produce it more and to make it into a. To turn it into a more noble wine. The legend says that the grapes were brought into Sardinia by definitions more than 3,000 years ago. It's an oxidative white wine aged for between three to four years in barrels. It's a quite complex wine, quite alcoholic too. Depending on which on the one you have, it can be also 15% the best. The best. The most famous Vernaccia is that the Vernaccia di Orisano Riserva by Silvio Carta, but also Cantina Contini makes an excellent. Makes an excellent Vernaccia. And there are more places that are now producing this varietal. I also really, really recommend having a Monica, which is a red, deep, easy on the palate, taste Anasco, which is mostly grown in the area of Cagliari, and a varietal that was introduced by the Romans. But now let's. Let's look into the best places where you can enjoy Sardinian wines, meaning the best wineries in Sardinia. My personal favorite, and I'm definitely biased here, Argyolas winery in Serdiana. Now my mom comes from Serdiana and of course we know everyone that is working at the Argolas winery. It's one of the biggest wineries in Sardinia. The first wines here were planted in 1906, but in in the region of Parteola, a region that it's devoted to the production of olives, olive oil and wine, also fruit. It's typically agricultural. This state was officially founded in 1938. It's only about 25 minutes drive from Cagliari. So if you're basing yourself in in the Cagnari area, this is a perfect place to go for a wine tasting experience. They have some excellent wines here. My personal favorite will be the will be the Torbato which is a blend of several grapes which include Canonao and Bovale. I also like that would be the Turriga. I also really like their Corem Varietal which is a delicious. A delicious Bovale varietal pair with meat dishes. But they have some excellent wines. Their Nuragos, my parents swear by it. Their Izelis, which is a great Vermentino. Also in Serdiana you will find more wineries such as Vinipala and their spin off Aoudaria. So they are part of the same family, the Pala family. Personally a bigger fan of the Pala wines. I find them to be a bit more full bodied, a bit more interesting and deep. But the Audaria organizes excellent wine tasting experiences, picnics in their property. They have an excellent Monica that's probably their best varietal. Let's find wineries in a different area of Sardinia. I really like Cantina di Calazetta. It was established in 1932 and it's one of the oldest recognized wineries in Sardinia. It's perched atop Santiago island and hovers in the coast of southwest Sardinia. It covers around 120 hectares of land, mainly growing Carignano grapes which are typical of this part of the island. Such is Iglesiante. But there is a small a small production also of Vermentino and Moscow. I am a friend of their Carignano del Solchi's Doc Superiore, a fantastic mineral Carignano. They also have a wine shop and they do wine tasting experiences. But if you want an even better place to try wines in Sardinia, not far from that, there is Cantina di Santadi. It's a fantastic place to stop for a wine tasting experience. It was founded in 1960. Most of the wine produced here is red. About 75% of their wine production is Carignano Monica, but they also have Syrah, Merlot, Bovale. My favorite wine that they have is their Terre Brune which is a blend of Carignano del Solchi Superiore and Bovale. This wine has an important story because it was created by one of the Italian, one of Italy's most famous enologists. Tackies. It's absolutely fantastic. They do offer wine tasting opportunities, experiences between from Monday till Saturday and they have different, different kinds. Another winery that I like to go for wine tasting experience and because they organize a lot of events is Cantina Suen to locate in the lovely small town of Sanluri in the region of Marmilla, which is about 45 minutes drive from Caglieri. They have all sorts of varietals, Vermentino, Nasco, Moscato, Chardonnay among the whites. And they also have Bovale, Canonao and Merlot in the reds. My favorite is actually their Nina Rose, a blend of mostly Bivali grapes with other Sardinian varietals. It's perfect wine to drink in the summer. Easy to pair with both meat and fish dishes. They offer wine tasting opportunities. They have a restaurant, Arriedas, which is the perfect place where you can, where you can go to match your wine tasting experience with delicious food. Now I want to mention one of the most famous wineries in the Sardinia to try Vermentino and that would be Capicera, which is close to the small town of Arzakena in the Galura region. To give you an idea where the Galura region is located, it's probably what you would identify as the Emerald coast area. They are famous for their Vermentino. They started aging their Vermentino grapes in barrels. Their Capichera is a fantastic Vermentino wine. Here you can have wine tasting experiences that you need to book in advance. They're only open Monday to Friday, so not on the weekends. So make sure that you spend an afternoon enjoying wine tasting experience here. Not far from there you will find Cantine Vigne Surao, which sits close to the entrance of Sardines Galura. They do have wine tasting experiences that usually in this case do not include a tour of the wine production. So basically you just go and sit and drink and taste the wines. They have some excellent, delicious, delicious wines. When I went, I tried their Barrio, which is a red and a blend of Cabernet, Sauvignon, Syrah and other Sardinian native grapes. It's fabulous. They also have fantastic whites and rose wines to try and I'm looking into one more winery that you should consider. Piero Mancini. And this is a testament to bold Sardinian wines. It's also located in the Galura region. They are in Luago Santo and their pride is their Red Cannon, which is dry, full bodied, very elegant. And they also make an excellent golden straw yellow vermentino that is super well structured, delightfully smooth. They obviously run their own wine tasting experiences. You will have to send a request via email. I also really like also in Logo Santo, a Sidura winery. Now this Sidura is a relatively new winery, was first founded in 2008, but they have since then produce some of the best Sardinian wines. One of my favorite is their which is a perfect wine to have on a summer evening. Their tasting room also serves as a contemporary art gallery. So it's a fantastic place to explore just even. Even regardless of wines. And their wines are fantastic. Let's move into the mountainous region of Sardinia. Now there's Jerzo, which is famous for its Canonao. And the Antiki Poderi is their signature winery. It's not a traditional winery, but a comparative with so many wine growers. Initially it was founded by 45 members in 1950, but it has grown ever since. Scenes you can visit for a wine tasting experience. You go on a guided tour, you visit the cellar and then you sip on their best wine. You need to book in advance, as always. Now let me mention one more winery that is located in the north of Sardinia and this is Celle Mosca. Now I want to mention this because this is probably the biggest wine producer on the island. It's close to the small town of Alghero. It was founded in 1899. You can see the traditions in the wine you're drinking. They have some excellent whites, they make an excellent sparkling torbato wine, which is a bit like a Metodo classico, meaning that it's made the same way that champagne is made. But I particularly love their Marchese di Villa Marina, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon. So a red wine that is perfect to drink in the colder winter months. I have done wine tasting here a bunch of times. They do have several tiers. I obviously opted for the top one, meaning that I spent a few hours enjoying a two tour of the winery, visiting the vineyards, visiting the various buildings that they have, learning about how wine is made and then having. Well, I think when I visited I had five wine tastings and it was fantastic. Now let me go again south and mention Familia Oro this is a teeny tiny winery that I visited a couple of years ago here. It's located in Tramazza, close to the Sinis Peninsula, not far from Oristano. Its owner is Davide Orro. He's an agronomist and a researcher at the University of Sassany and he really puts his knowledge into work when it comes to wines. The best varietal you can try here is the Vernaccia, the famous Sardinian Vernaccia that I told you about. It was almost dying as a varietal. They revived it and it's thriving. You can have a wine tasting experience during which you can also try some of the produce they have. And you can visit their local Museo Enologico where you can learn a bit more about the history of the Vernaccia wine and the wine production making process. Now this brings me me to an end on the Sardinian wines and wineries. If you come to Sardinia, you should definitely consider booking a wine tasting experience at one of the wineries. They also run wine tasting experiences in local enoteche wine shops in Cagliari, Alghero and the biggest city, the bigger cities in Sardinia. As far as today's episode, this is all next week we're gonna talk about one of the most beautiful regions of Sardinia that you should visit, the region of Galura. Now, if you like my podcast, give it a five star rating, give it a good review and make sure to share it with your friends that are planning a trip to to Sardinia. Until next week then. Goodbye. Nara.