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Written by Levi Reiss
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Sunday, 22 October 2006 |
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Word Count: 1045 I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Sardinia Region
If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Sardinia
region of southern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have
fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.
Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean, located in the
Tyrrhenian Sea west of mainland Italy. Sardinia’s terrain is mountainous, and
its beaches are excellent. Sardinia is known for archeological ruins and has
become a tourist destination for the international jet set. Because of its
exceptional location Sardinia has always popular, Invaders include Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Spaniards, without mentioning
numerous Italian peoples. During part of the 18th and 19th Century it was united
with the northern region of Piedmont in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The
population is about 1.6 million.
Sardinia’s administrative center is Cagliari, an ancient university town on the
southern coast of the island. Its population is approximately one hundred sixty
thousand. The famous author D. H. Lawrence compared this beautiful city to a
“White Jerusalem.” Another city of interest is Sassari, which has the best
collection of Sardinian art.
Sardinia is Italy’s leading source of organic produce, and includes nearly
one-third of Italy’s land cultivated biologically. The climate is subtropical
and more than half the territory is devoted to pasture land. Food is plentiful,
it is said that there are over 500 kinds of bread, perhaps one for every
village. The inland is full of meat, including lamb, goat, pork and game, while
the coast teems with fish, lobster, and eel.
Sardinia devotes about 107 thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 8th among the
20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 28 million
gallons, giving it a 12th place. About 57% of the wine production is red or rosé
(only a bit of rosé), leaving 43% for white. The region produces 19 DOC wines
and one DOCG wine, Vermentino di Gallura, one of the two DOCG wines produced in
southern Italy. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may
be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality
wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that
such wines are truly superior. About 15% of Sardinian wine carries the DOC or
DOCG designation. Sardinia is home to almost dozen four major and secondary
grape varieties, about half white and half red.
There are no widely grown international white grape varieties in Sardinia. The
best known Italian white varieties are Vermentino, Nuragus, and Vernaccia.
Widely grown international red grape varieties include Cannonau, known as
Garnacha in Spain, and Grenache in France and elsewhere, and Carignano, known as
Carignan in France. The best known Italian red variety is Monica, which probably
originated in Spain, and may be related to California’s Mission grape variety.
Before we review the Sardinian wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to
purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few
suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful
region.
Start with Melanzane in Pinzimonio, Smoked Eggplants in Mint-Basil Oil.
As a second course try Aragosta Arrosto, Roasted Lobster with Parsley and Bread
Crumbs.
For dessert indulge yourself with Seadas, Pastry with Cheese and Bitter Honey.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand
Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy
is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail
price.
Wine Reviewed
Sella and Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna (V) DOC Reserva 2003 13.5% alcohol about
$12.50
Cannonau wine may qualify as the mother of all European wines. It is made from
the Grenache grape, which originated in Spain. The producer, Sella and Mosca,
has the second largest contiguous vineyard in Italy. Over 6 million bottles are
year are produced on an estate of more than 1500 acres. Some will say that such
a humongous estate is unlikely to produce an outstanding wine. Such a claim may
be incorrect, but this wine was far from outstanding.
The marketing materials stated that this wine is more or less ruby in color,
tending to orange upon aging, with a light scent of grapes with a characteristic
flavor ranging from dry to sweetish. It was aged three years in oak prior to its
release and may be cellared for a decade or more. The wine is said to be
particularly suitable to accompany red meats and seasoned cheeses. Uncork it at
least one hour before serving.
I found that it had quite a light color for a red wine. To my mind, it was thin
but pleasant with very little nose. I first tasted it with a rib steak marinated
in a spicy sauce. This pairing brought out the fruit, and the wine was
pleasantly acidic, but I would have preferred a more robust wine to balance the
meat. I finished the bottle withy barbequed hamburgers, and it didn’t go quite
as well. The wine was weak, perhaps affected by staying too long in the bottle.
Pecorino Sardo is a traditional sheep’s milk, semi-cooked hard cheese that comes
in a "sweet" or "ripened" variety. The sweet variety is soft, and the ripened
variety is hard. My cheese was ripened and treated with balsamic vinegar. A
commercial roasted eggplant with sweet red peppers accompanied the wine and
cheese. Everything went well together, the nutty flavors of the cheese balanced
the wine’s fruit. In conclusion, I liked the wine best with the cheese. I don’t
plan on buying this wine again, I found it a bit overpriced. Even though it
didn’t cost a lot, one might have thought that a mass-produced wine from
Sardinia would be somewhat less expensive.
About the Author
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet,
but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine,
accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario
French-language community college. His wine website is
www.theworldwidewine.com . You can reach him at
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