WTI Magazine #67    2015 September, 4
Author : Jennifer Gentile Martin for www.vinotravelsitaly.com      Translation by:

It's summer time and mentally or physically being on the beach is just what the doctor ordered for most: that's why Sardinia is the perfect feature today as they have over 300 days of sunshine with a nice warm, Mediterranean climate with low rain. Today I wanted to share with you a wine from Cantine Argiolas winery located in Sardinia. This winery is located in Serdiana, which is northeast of the capital Cagliari. The winery has about 600 acres and produces about 400,000 bottles from their multiple estates. The specific vineyard, Costera, is located in one of the estates, Siurgus Donigala.

Cantine Argiolas began back in 1938 with the patriarch of the family, Antonio Argiolas. He later passed it down to his sons Franco and Giuseppe whom have now passed it down to their children. So today the 3rd generation of the Argiolas family is operating the winery. With the help of wine consultant Giacomo Tachis and Cantine Argiolas replanting their vineyards in the 1980's the focus is now fully focused on quality over the day's of when quantity mattered most on the island. The Argiolas family's philosophy is to focus on native varieties of the island.

The grape of the 2010 Argiolas Costera Cannonau that I'm sharing with you today wine is primarily made from the main native red grape of the island, Cannonau, but is also blended with other natives grapes including carignano and bovale. According to wine searcher, almost 1 out of every 5 bottles is actually made from the cannonau grape. Argiolas grows their grapes on grown on the gobelet vine training system, which I wrote about a few weeks ago for my Italian Wine Word Wednesday feature so we can all learn some Italian wine language week by week. You may be more familiar with Cannonau than you realize. It's actually the same grape as garnacha from Spain and grenache from France. It's been known that this grape arrived in Sardinia during the 13th century by the aragonese from Aragon, Spain.

The 2010 Argiolas Costera Cannonau actually does a secondary malolactic fermentation in glass lined concrete and then in small oak barriques for 8-10 months. If you've never seen wine fermented or stored in concrete it's pretty neat. You can learn why producers and wineries in Italy use concrete in their winemaking from an earlier post of mine. Full bodied, structured and warm at 14% alcohol, with juicy blackberries and a hint of pepper.

I sampled this wine just sitting on the patio with some pecorino cheese and a meatball pizza I made, but Argiolas recommends some roast suckling pig and lamb as well. Rated 90 points by Antonio Galloni of Vinous "Vinous / Antonio Galloni - "Another striking, entry-level wine, the 2010 Isola dei Nuraghi Costera caresses the palate with juicy dark cherries, plums, tobacco, spices and licorice.

Elements of sweetness, inner perfume and pure silkiness distinguish the Costera from the vast majority of its peers. A hint of sweet flowers and mint lingers on the finish." Average retail $16 (www.wine-searcher.com).