Suddenly everyone is talking about wines from Sardinia, the beautiful Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean. We have tasted wines from Tenute Ólbios, a family-owned winery on the northeastern part of the island. The white wines are magnificent. The island’s white grape vermentino is a big star. The reds are made mainly from grenache, locally called cannonau.
Tenute Ólbios is found on the outskirts of the town of Olbia on the northeast coast of Sardinia in the region historically called Gallura, a name reputed to mean “stony”. The 60-hectare estate is owned and managed by Daniela Pinna and her husband, David. The summer temperature here is nice and warm, and, being close to the sea, there is always a refreshing wind blowing. Vermentino thrives in such an environment. The red grape cannonau, better known as grenache in the rest of the world, is also well established here.
This is a longer version of an article published on Forbes.com.
Vermentino is an important grape in Sardinia, as well as on the neighbouring French island of Corsica, just 11 km to the north of Sardinia on the other side of the narrow Strait of Bonifacio. Good quality vermentino is made all over the island under the appellation DOC Vermentino di Sardegna. Right here, where Tenute Ólbios is located, the growing conditions for vermentino is considered to be outstanding. The island’s only DOCG (denominazione di origine controllata), Vermentino di Gallura, covers the northeastern part of Sardinia.
The vermentino wines
The vermentino wines from Tenute Ólbios are exciting as well as excellent. They are entirely different from other vermentino wines I have tasted from Provence and Corsica. I ask Daniela the reason for this. Is it just due to the terroir?
“Yes, the terroir plays an important role and gives our wines a special character,” she says. “Thanks to its unique properties, our terroir can be defined as a cru. Our vineyard consists of various plots of land, all of which have sandy soil of crushed granite. We do not irrigate, not even in emergencies; therefore, the grapes have a high concentration of taste and aroma. We harvest by hand and sort the grapes carefully. In the cellar, every step of the vinification aims at extracting and preserving the aromas at their best.” (Cru is a term the Italians have picked up from the French and use to single out vineyards or subregions considered to have special charactersitics.)
She presses the grapes carefully and immediately cools down the must to better preserve the perfumes. The fermentation is at a low temperature, 10 degrees C, and lasts 40 to 50 days. The wine then rests on its lees for some time to give added body and mouthfeel and is then moved to clean tanks. At bottling they do a light filtering.
We have tasted:
In Vino Veritas 2008, Tenute Olbios, Vermentino di Sardegna DOC, Sardinia
This is a fascinating wine. It has a deep, golden colour, aromas of apricots, a bit of honey and distinct notes of oxidation; it actually feels a bit like a fino-sherry (but with a much more body). Long taste with structure. A remarkable and magnificent wine. Maybe not a style that everyone will like, but if you do (like I do), then you will love this. (~20 euro)
Daniela explains In Vino Verita’s particular character: “The grapes are late-harvested, then follows a skin maceration, soft pressing, fermentation in oak barrels. The wine matures partly in steel and partly in barrique for ten years in contact with film-forming yeasts (flor), which provide even more complexity to the wine. In Vino Veritas is the result of a long ageing process, aimed to grasp and extract the quality and the potential longevity of the Vermentino.”
The forming of flor explains the “fino” sherry-like aromas as a fino sherry also ages under a film of yeast called flor.
Lupus in Fabula 2019, Tenute Olbios, DOCG Vermentino di Gallura Superiore, Sardinia
Delicious wine, full-bodied with good mouthfeel and structure. Aromas of ripe melon and stone fruit. The medium-high acidity is entirely sufficient for the wine to feel refreshing. A wine with a strong personality. (~20 euro)
Sparkling wine
Daniela also makes a sparkling vermentino wine with the traditional method (second fermentation in the bottle):
Bisso 2013, DOCG Vermentino di Gallura Spumante Metodo Classico, Tenute Olbios, Sardinia
This is an excellent sparkling wine with a beautiful, deep golden colour. It spends 24 months on the yeast before disgorging. The aromas recall ripe stone fruit, toast and honey. The taste is full-bodied, and it works perfectly well throughout a meal, from the starter to the cheese. (~30 euro)
Red wines
A pleasant herbaceous character refreshes the warm and ripe fruit of the red wines.
We have tasted:
Cangrande. 17, 2016, Tenute Olbios, IGP Colli del Limbara Rosso, Sardinia
The dominant grape is muristellu, a local grape also called bovale sardo. These are both presumably synonyms for the grape graciano in Rioja even if the relation is not entirely established. Cangrande. 17 is an exciting and quite elegant wine that I like very much. It is relatively light in colour and structure. It has a special and unusual taste with a lot of tobacco and a distinct aromas of medicinal herbs. The aftertaste is slightly sweetish, perhaps thanks to the ripe fruit. (~22 euro)
“Cangrande. 17 is aged in medium-toasted barrels, which gives the wine some spiciness, which complements the rich fruit of the muristellu grape,”adds Daniela.
Nessuno 2013, Tenute Olbios, IGP Colli del Limbara Rosso, Sardinia
This is a powerful wine with a smooth character but with distinct tannins and aromas of ripe red berries, notes of raspberry jam, liquorice and wild herbs. The grapes are cannonau (grenache) and muristellu. The wine is aged 18 months in stainless steel. “Nessuno is aged only in stainless steel tank; here, in particular, I like to feel the tannin that washes the mouth,” says Daniela. (~20 euro)
“Both the grape varieties and my personal taste define the character of Cangrande. 17 and Nessuno”, she adds. “In fact, in red wines, I like to feel both the fruit, the tannin and the freshness. I use a particular tank for fermentation, which allows gentle extraction of the tannins and the organoleptic characteristic of the grapes. The fermentation also for the red wines is long.”
Rosé
The rosé wine Cavè is a rosé di una notte, which at Tenute Olbios means eight hours of skin contact.
Cavè 2019, Rosé di una notte, Tenute Olbios, Cannonau di Sardegna Rosato DOP, Sardinia
A pleasant rosé with a relatively strong colour and an intense red fruit. It is dry and has hints of tannins at the end, combined with a delicious freshness. A rosé that should work very well with food. The wine is aged 12 months in tank. Daniela harvests the grapes with good ripeness. She says harvesting rosé grapes early gives overly acidic and short-lived wines. She manages to get freshness in the wine anyway, not least thanks to the soil, which, she says, “is not not only suited for the vermentino, but it’s also ideal for cannonau”. (~15 euro).
“It is the combination of several factors which contributes to the character of our wines”, she reckons. “In general, what characterizes our production is our attention to every little detail in all stages of production. There is no hurry; all wines rest for a long time in the tanks in contact with the fine lees. The wine is then moved from tank to tank until it is clean. I, therefore, do not filter except for a light filtration before bottling.”
Attention to details pays off.
