One of my highlights this Christmas holiday was visiting the Sardinian wine region of Mamoiada, 110 kilometers north of Cagliari. Its dark and rustic streets, with a population of a few thousand hearty souls, are a far cry from the glitz of the island’s Costa Esmeralda with its glossy and beautiful blue sea, luxurious houses, massive yachts, and private jets during the summer, even though the two are just about a one-hour drive apart. It was even more so the case when I visited in early December the rustic town of Mamoiada and the surrounding hillside vineyards planted in granite soils with cannonau (what Italians call grenache) for three cold yet invigorating days to prune some of the oldest vines in Italy.
I was with my friend Marco Simonit, the well-known vine consultant and guru, and Tuscan winemaker Marco Bacci, who has just recently started making wines in the area. The energy and fascination of being with vines dating back to the late 1800s touched my heart. Walking the vineyards and pruning these vines was like touching history. I thought back to those who planted the vines and tended them over the decades. It was hard to imagine what it was like back then when they had little more than simple field tools and oxen to work their vineyards. They would not have had electricity, running water, or any other modern conveniences, but they had the foresight and perseverance to plant these magnificent vines!
Enjoy the video shot by our Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade, who joined me on the short trip.
– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman