sardegnian wine

Are there any must visit wineries while I am in Sardegna? Thanks!!!

I havenā€™t been, so canā€™t speak to ā€œvisitingā€, but the wines of Dettori are terrific and if I were in Sardegna I would go out of my way to visit. Also, Cantina di Santadi makes very high quality winesā€¦and Isola dei Nuraghi is a very large, well-known and high quality producer. A smaller, more ā€œnich-eyā€ producer, Panevino, makes only ā€œnatural winesā€, and I would be interested in visiting there as well.

Giuseppe Sedilesu makes a very good Cannonau (I know the Mamuthone bottling) and a friend who visited told me that they are very welcoming and friendly. Here their website:

http://www.giuseppesedilesu.com/en/

Iā€™d say the wines of Dettori are horrific microbial disasters and I would go out of my way to avoid them.

I like the wines from Pala quite a bit. I have no idea what the visit/tasting situation is there. Hereā€™s the website.

Attilio Contini in Cabras (Oristano), Audarya in Dolianova (Cagliari)
In the north Sella & Mosca (Alghero), if you go to visit Sedilesu try to arrange a visit to Giovanni Montisci, they are in the same village (which is probably the place where the best Cannonau is made in Sardinia)

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I think if I were to spend limited time in Sardinia, I would skip winery visits and enjoy the beautiful scenery. After all, you can always drink a wine from there when you come home, but you cannot ā€˜importā€™ atmosphere.

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Funny! I should have qualified my response by explaining that the wines are similar to those of Sicilyā€™s Frank Cornelissen, in that they are unfiltered, no sulphites added, and can be prone to microbial variation (particularly if extreme care is not taken in transporting and storing the wines). I actually donā€™t think Dettori wines are as extreme in these regards as the Cornelissen wines, the majority of which are ā€œinteresting but not enjoyableā€ where as I find most of the Dettoriā€™s to be delicious and enjoyable, although Iā€™ve had a few undrinkable experiences which I chalked up to the wine not being kept at sufficiently low temps during the distribution channels. That said, I believe that the wines of either of these two producers would be particularly enjoyable to try, and likely far less prone to these problems, if tasted at the producer, rather than in the United States after months of transport and storage in unknown conditions.

Iā€™d second the recommendation for Audarya as a half-day trip from Cagliari ā€¦ itā€™s a very small, friendly, family run operation in a beautiful setting. We enjoyed their bottling of Monica di Sardegna during our visit a couple years back. If I recall, bottles were less than 10 EUR each.

Indeedā€¦ The village of Mamoiada is the place to go. There are at least 4, maybe 5 top winemakers located there making the most unique wines in Sardinia. It is also worth taking the little roads branching out from the village to see the vineyards filled with 80 year old Grenache vines up on the hills.

I totally agree: Sedilesu, Gungui, Montisci, Vike Vike. But also Eminas, Cadinuā€¦ All in Mamoiada.
In the South Sardinia I would suggest Antonella Corda, a rising star.

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Cabras is also the center of bottarga production.

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