Italian Inspiration
Written By: Dylan York on Tue, Feb 5th 2008
Recently I had the pleasure of finding Di Vino, this great little wine bar on the island with a great selection of Italian wines. I was in the mood for something that I could decant and drink over the next hour or so. Jon Jo, the bartender came back and proudly presented me with his last bottle of 2004 Santadi Rocco Rubia Carignano di Sulcis Riserva. Perfect, this was exactly what I was looking for.
The wine comes from the southwest part of Sardinia and is produced by Cantina Santadi. It is made from 100% Carignan (Carignano) and is aged 10 months in French oak then several more in the bottle before release. The clarity of the wine was clear with a deep, almost opaque, ruby color with pronounced youthful aromas of black fruit and spice and appeared to be highly viscous. On the palate, the wine was dry, with medium acidity and medium-high tannins. It was full-bodied and intense with flavors of blackberry, liquorices, leather and chocolate. Though it was high in alcohol, the fruit was not overshadowed and the finish was long and silky.
After finishing the bottle of Rocca Rubia, my buzzing excitement lead to inquiries on other Sardinian wines, one of them being a Vermintino made by Argiolas. Before I knew it I was looking at a bottle of 2006 Is Argiolas Vermintino, he had it! With great self control on my part I decided to wait till the following weekend and come back to drink it.
The following weekend we returned along with a friend and shared a bottle of the Vermintino and it was spectacular. The clarity was clear with medium intensity. The color was lemon-green with medium viscosity. The nose was crisp and fresh with pronounced youthful aromas of honey and citrus peel. On the palate, the wine was off-dry with medium-high acidity, the body was light-medium with pronounced notes of honey, pineapple and tropical fruit. Aromas of delicate flowers lingered in the glass and the finish was long, rich and satisfying.
Our guest, Turid, had once lived in Sardinia and was talking about the beauty of the island and its culture. After hearing all about the wines and the country, I decided to make Sardinia my first research assignment. Italy, in my opinion has always been the most intimidating wine region to study because it contains over 1000 varieties of grapes, and over 300 locations produce wine. Since I have a good resource where I can drink Italian wine, I might as well start here. In my next article, we will begin our tour of Italy with the beautiful island of Sardinia.
