Tasting Report: 2008 Turriga Leading The Way For Sardinia

Sardinia is a beautiful wine region. I always remember a week’s trip on my BMW R 1100 S motorcycle with friends crossing the entire island. The scenery and roads were a motorcyclist's paradise, but the special combination of mountains and sea also make Sardinia a unique place to produce special wines.

The biggest problem remains finding some. Most of the exported bottles come from a handful of producers, and even those can be hard to find. Nevertheless, wines from Agricola Punica, Argiolas, Cantina Santadi and Sella & Mosca can be bought around the world if you look hard enough, and I made sure I tasted all of these this summer.

The whites are mostly made from vermentino, and I tend to prefer the fresher, more minerally styles as opposed to those fermented and aged in new oak. That’s why wines such as Santadi's Cala Silente, which is fermented and aged in cement vats with a focus on purity of fruit, scored highly. A new white not to miss is the Samas from Agricola Punica, a blend of 80% vermentino and 20% chardonnay. You will enjoy the salty undertone to the bright and clean fruit.

The best reds for me either come mostly form cannonau (grenache) or carignano (carignan). The grenache in Sardinia can produce formidable reds reminiscent of great, traditional-styled Chateauneuf-de-Papes with plenty of fruit and finesse. Carignanos have a more rustic character, but come with lots of enticing richness and spiciness. Don't miss the current release of Argiolas Turriga – the 2008. It is the best release this year in Sardinia and is perhaps the best Turriga ever. The 2008 marks its 20th year in production.