The Brutal Beauty of Sardinia: The 2022 and 2023 Vintages

BY ERIC GUIDO | APRIL 10, 2025

There are many things to love about Sardinia. It’s considered a paradise for its beaches. Sardinians live long, active, healthy lives surrounded by family, establishing the region as one of only five Blue Zones worldwide. The cuisine is rich with fresh seafood and hearty mountain fare. Not least, the wines are incredible. Sardinia's grape varieties, many of which are considered indigenous, are descendants of more familiar Spanish and French grapes, having adapted here for hundreds or even thousands of years. While global warming presents challenges, Sardinia's key varieties continue to demonstrate their resilience. Sardinia even has its own emerging winegrowing region in the island's interior that’s wowing international palates, including mine. What’s not to like?

Siddùra's vineyards in Gallura are planted on sandy granite at an elevation 300 meters.

The biggest problem facing Sardinian wine is a worldwide lack of awareness. Though the region is a premier location for vacationing Italians and globe-trotting summer tourists, the island’s wine scene remains a mystery to most consumers. The problem is two-fold. Most Sardinian producers are fully aware of both issues. For one, Sardinian producers lack a marketing push outside their borders. I rarely hear about official tasting events for the press or the public organized by a Sardinian trade organization, though just this year, I was surprised to receive an invitation to a formal press trip. We do not accept these offers at Vinous, but the invitation served as a positive sign that the tide may be turning for Sardinian wine. While Sardinia needs more journalists to explore its regions and communicate their merits to the public, Sardinian producers need to venture outside the area to speak on its behalf and allow consumers the opportunity to taste the wines. Lovers of ageworthy Bordeaux would find much to like in Sardinian Carignano, while fans of Châteauneuf-du-Pape would feel right at home with Sardinian Cannonau. There’s a lot of potential here.

The second problem is Sardania’s lack of enticing restaurants and hotels to attract and support wine tourism. Producers realize this is an impediment. Lia Tolaini-Banville, the new owner of the Pala winery, explained, "To enhance Sardinia's appeal as a wine destination, we must first address the lack of hospitality infrastructure. We need to transform these challenges into opportunities.” Tourism depends on access, ease of travel and the availability of comfortable accommodations. If these existed, tourists would have a better avenue to explore Sardinian wine.

“Indigenous” and Sometimes Confusing

I genuinely love Sardinia’s unique take on grape varieties that originated from international sources. Although Phoenicians brought Cannonau and  Nuragus to Sardinia around the eighth or ninth century B.C.,native Sardinians consider these varieties to be indigenous. By contrast, Spanish imports, such as Monica, Cagnulari, Vermentino and Carignano, only arrived in the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. Sardinia’s incredibly hot, dry climate is categorized as Mediterranean, but it is heavily influenced by Sirocco winds from the Sahara Desert and cold Mistral winds blowing down from the south of France. This leaves a profound imprint of terroir on every variety grown in Sardinia. Cannonau and Carignano are undoubtedly the two most important reds, but curious readers should not stop there.

Cannonau, a direct descendent of Grenache or Garnacha, can be found throughout the entire island, most often lumped into the all-encompassing Cannonau di Sardegna DOC. Unfortunately, the DOC designation does not guarantee a quality wine, nor one that communicates terroir. Buyers must be selective and purchase from the best producers with the longest track records. That said, there are some interesting developments with Cannonau that are worth checking out (more on that below). As for Carignano, the Carignano del Sulcis DOC, located in the extreme southwest of the island, delivers serious wines that mix power and structure. In many cases, the vines here are over 100 years old and ungrafted, thriving in an excessively warm environment that’s balanced by the cooling influences of the sea. Some of the best-known Carignano producers, such as Agricola Punica and Siddùra, label their wines with the Isola dei Nuraghi IGT. This is another all-encompassing Sardinian wine classification used for reds, whites and Rosati. “Isola dei Nuraghi” refers to the thousands of ancient stone towers strewn across the island, which, while romantic, does nothing to help consumers understand where the wine comes from or what to expect in the glass. Readers should also look to Santadi, Cantina Mesa, Argiolas and Angelo Rivano for some excellent examples of Carignano.