THE SACRED WINE AND FOOD OF SARDINIA

Once I've completed my cooking classes in Verona and Sicily, I usually take some quality time for a little R and R rest and research. As it turns out, not as much rest as research. This gives me a chance to visit and work in the regions of Italy that I haven't been to before.
With the help of a chef friend in Italy, whom I've known and worked with for several years, I was able to work at La Lepanto restaurant and spend time at the Sella & Mosca Vineyard in Alghero, Sardinia. This was a great chance to see, taste, work, cook and write about this beautiful island in the Mediterranean.

Sardinia's cucina is simple and tasty. Known for their crispy, paper-thin "carta da musica" bread, meat and fish dishes of lobster, spit-roasted sucking pig cooked over an open fire, grilled lamb, kid and mutton, which is prepared all over the island. This works so well with the perfect pairing of Cannonau D.O.C red wine and Vermentino di Gallura D.O.C.G. white wine.

In addition to more than 19 wines of DOC and DOCG, Sardinia has 16 IGTs, the most of any region. Sardinian wine today is an important reality. It is the quality of wine, which is what counts

Cannonau D.O.C. a red clone of the Grenachegrape. The vine originated from Spain. It is the second most widely planted grape variety in the world. A medium to full-bodied wine made of 75 percent Cannonau grapes and is blended with others, such as Bovale di Spagna, Bovale Sardo, Carignano, Pascale di Cagliari, or Monica and up to 5 percent of the white grape Vernaccia. These other grapes are also made into wines of their own names, as well as blends. It is the most renowned among Sardinian red wines, locally and outside the island. The grape does well in hot, dry regions, and its strong stalk makes it well suited for windy conditions. It ripens with very high sugar levels and can produce wines with 13 to 16 percent alcohol. The wines are warm and earthy, dedicated to the traditional style of Cannonau from 60-year-old bush-trained vine. The high alcohol content comes from long macerations of up to 25 days, no selected yeast and hardly any filtration, with very ripe fruit showing personality, with alcohol content: 13.5%.

Generally, the wines have ruby red and mahogany colors because of aging, with flavors ranging from blackberry, ripe plums, and green herbs and sometimes spiced and are medium to full body. It is dry, rich, soft taste bitterish aftertaste, slightly tannic. A very good food match is venison, game, poultry, and grilled red meat

Cannonau I.G.T. Red Ruby color, with violet reflections; intense fragrance, round and balanced taste. It is the most widespread blackberry vine in the island. It is grown on the entire Sardinian region, especially in Ogliastra, in the Barone, in the province of Nuoro and the surrounding areas, in Romangia and in other minor areas.

Monica di Sardinia D.O.C. Ruby red in color, turning orange with age. Known in all Sardinian provinces, especially in Cagliari located southwest of the island. Widely planted, light-colored, lightly flavored red grape of Spanish origin. Alcohol content: 15%.

Serve with: First courses, with game and spicy cheese, grilled red meats and stewed meats.

Whites

Vermentino di Gallura D.O.C.G. A white wine grape, thought to be related to Malvasia, and a variety grown in Italy's Piedmont region. It probably came from Corsica (the French island north of Sardinia) during the 18th century: it was brought along with Nebbiolo (Dolcetto) by the Piedmontese at the same time. Straw-colored, with greenish reflections, intense aroma with a fruity apple and floral fragrance, it is rich dry, and spicy, with a warm taste and medium bodied, round, well balanced, with a light bitterish aftertaste. A grape that is also found in Liguria and Toscana. A delicious white wine that goes well with all seafood. 10% alcohol content.

Vermentino di Sardinia D.O.C. a spicy, dry white grape of the Adriatic. It is also grown on Italy's mainland in the Ligurian region. Vermentino grapes are deep colored, fruity, and full-bodied. White paper color, or light straw-colored, with greenish reflections. It has an intense bouquet, lightly fruity (ripe golden apple), floral fragrance and citronella, lightly acidulous. It has a very low alcoholic content and is light-bodied, but soft. It produces a structured, balanced wine with a long mineral finish, vinified in barrel, and powerful yet full of vitality and elegance. The vine probably came from Spain and was imported in Corsica around the 14th century, and was used as table grapes in the past. It is as important among white Sardinian wines as Cannonau among red wines. Areas of productions are in Gallura, but also in other areas of Sardinia: Nuna, Logudoro. Alcohol Content: 12-14%, best serve very cold. Serve with: Seafood, shellfish, typical Sardinian meat dishes, roast suckling pig, roast lamb and kid; seasoned cheese.

Vernaccia di Oristano D.O.C. is a white wine grape that shares its name with several others in Italy. The most distinctive of Sardinian wine from a vine of uncertain origin, grown in the flat, sandy Tirso river basin around Oristano; it becomes a Sherry-like amber wine with a rich array of nuances in bouquet and flavor. Highly acidic grape made into Sherry-style wines. It is yellow in color, and becomes amber in maturing. Delicate, ethereal, intense penetrating fragrance. Rich, warm very intense tonic taste. It has a strong almond, bitterish aftertaste.

Copyright: © Maria Battaglia - La Cucina Italiana, Inc.