Agricola Punica, Montessu 2020

Fermentation with skins in stainless steel takes 15 days at between 25-30C, with periodical pumping over. Malolactic fermentation confers softness to the wine, which is then aged in barriques (30% new) for 12 months, before a further year of bottle ageing

In the south-western corner of Sardinia, between Cagliari and the white sand beaches of Porto Pino, is a wild land of Maquis. But here and there can be seen serried rows, where the scrubland has been tamed and planted with vines. Chief among those who have mastered this challenging terroir is Antonello Pilloni, President of Santadi winery.

For years, Santadi’s consultant oenologist was the great Giacomo Tachis. Of course, the late Tachis was better known as the innovative genius at Tenuta San Guido in his home province - co-creator of the first Super-Tuscan, Sassicaia. It was Giacomo Tachis who persuaded Tenuta San Guido winemaker Sebastiano Rosa to join him and Pilloni in a joint venture to realise the full potential of the Sulcis Meridionale region of Sardinia - following the Super-Tuscan model and planting non-indigenous grapes which would nonetheless thrive. (Santadi largely, although not wholly, concentrates on grape varieties typical to the region.)

The resulting estate was founded in 2002 and named Agricola Punica, after the Phoenicians of Carthage, who controlled this part of Sardinia from the ninth to second centuries BCE and were the first people to plant vines here. The supergroup of winemakers acquired 60 hectares of vineyards in two sites, Barrua and Narcao. Barrua wines are made closer to the coast, but both receive a beating from sunlight and heat, with occasional balm in the form of sea breezes, although as often as not, any wind is actually a warm Scirocco from North Africa.

As a result, varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon ripen more rapidly than in Bordeaux, and tannins can develop in the grapes while they’re still on the vine. Although they are located within the Carignano di Sulcis DOC, the planting of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Chardonnay mean AgriPunica’s wines are IGT-classified as Isola dei Nuraghi - a name with even more ancient history than Agricola Punica, referring to the Nuragic civilisation which occupied Sardinia from Paleolithic times until the Carthaginians arrived.