Sardinian Wines

Phoenicians were most likely the first to make wine from Sardinia’s native grapes, and the Catalans later introduced a number of Spanish varietals to the island. But, less than 20 years ago, Sardinia was still lucky to be deemed worthy of more than a paragraph in a book on the wine regions of the world. It produced quaffable whites for the tourist crowds on the Costa Smeralda; heavy, often oxidative, reds, mainly from Cannonau, drunk by the locals; and bulk wine used to add weight to wines produced in other, cooler regions. Today that’s changing, as Sardinia is hailed as one of the ‘emerging wine regions’ of Europe, with 1 wine with DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) appellation, 19 with DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and 15 with IGT (Indicazione Geographica Tipica) status (including the generic Isola dei Nuraghi, which applies to the whole island), the most of any Italian region. Officially, Italy’s DOCG and DOC appellations are now covered by the European Union’s PDO (Protected Denomination of Origin – DOP in Italian), while IGT wines come under their PGI (Protected Geographical Indication – IGP in Italian) designation. In practice, however, Italy has been slow to adopt these new European designations.