Ep 403: Sardinia, Italy -- an Overview of Italy's Island with it's Own Accent

<p>Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, and lies off the west coast of mainland Italy. Much larger than Corsica, the wines here have a distinctly Spanish influence, with some Italian and French to boot. The wines are unlike any other you’ll encounter (although many you can only encounter them if you visit!). In this show we try try to sort through the grapes and regions of this island to get to the heart of what’s here (Grenache, Vermentino) and what to look for in the future.</p> <p> </p> <p>Sardinia is 150 miles (240km) off the west coast of mainland Italy. Across the Tyrrhenian Sea from Lazio (the province where Rome is located), Sardegna is sandwiched between French Corsica in the north and Sicily in the south at 38˚N and 41˚N latitude. The island is almost three times the size of Corsica with a population of 1.64 million people, with the largest city of Cagliari in the south. Known by the jet setters for the fancy Costa Smeralda in northeast tip, this big island is making more and better wines every year.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style= "display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/45638/5.jpg" alt="" width= "450" height="300" /><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Photo: Getty Images/Canva</em></span></p> <p>Here are the show notes:</p> <p>After some facts and history, I get the hardest part of Sardegna out of the way: the fact that it feels like there are a million appellations: 1 DOCG, 17 DOCs, 15 IGPs  and two-thirds is DOP level. It seems nonsensical – too many “line extensions” of the Sardinia brand!! There are more DOC and IGT titles than Basilicata and Calabria combined but has lowest production per hectare. This is especially confusing when you consider that there are just 25,000 ha/61,776 acres under vine, and 31,000 growers, who own tiny plots (and often form co-ops to economics work).  To try to clear up the DOC confusion, I break it down into the three big buckets:</p> <p><strong>“di Sardegna” Appellations: