History
The island has long been linked to the Phoenicians, who had always been very interested in grapes and wine. Sardinian wine came to prominence with the fall of the Byzantine Empire. The first DOC Vernaccia di Oristano was in 1971 followed in 1972 by the typical Sardinian wines: Cannonau, Girò di Cagliari, Monica di Sardegna, Monica di Cagliari, Malvasia di Bosa. For many years, Sardinian wines were not so popular because they gave products with a lot of body, little in the way of acidity, and considerable alcohol. However, things have drastically changed in the last 30 years, and now Sardinian wines are all the rage.
Territory
The territory is 14% mountainous, 68% hilly and 18% flat. The climate is Mediterranean with long summers and very hot, dry, and windy short winters with little rainfall. The soil is calcareous on average, rocky and stony, but varies greatly over the island, with many sandy sites yielding characteristic wines.
Typical wines include Nasco di Cagliari, especially interesting in the sweet version with special hints of moss from which it derives its name (nasco derives from a Latin word meaning musky or moss). Malvasia di Bosa and Monica di Cagliari are little known but outstanding Sardinian wines. The most cultivated red grapes include Cannonau, Monica, Carignano, Pascale and Bovale, while Nuragus, Vermentino and Malvasia di Sardegna are the main white grapes. Semidano is little known but makes a lovely dry white wine.
The only DOCG is Vermentino di Gallura. There are 18 DOC, among which: Girò di Cagliari DOC, made of native red berry grape Girò. The Bovale grapes are the basis of the Terralbatra Cagliari DOC and Oristano DOC. Vernaccia di Oristano (DOC), made of native Vernaccia di Oristano grape, is a wine that can be aged two years in barrels, with a minimum alcoholic strength of 14% rising to 15.5% for the Riserva type.
