Sardinia is blessed with amazing, rugged mountain nature and countless beaches in small coves. When it comes to wine, the island does not have the reputation of, say, Tuscany or Piedmont. Many a wine lover therefore ignores Sardinian wines - wrongly so, as we found out during our visit. Especially large wineries with hundreds of hectares, such as Sella & Mosca and Contini, dominate the scene and make really nice wines. We, however, went in search of small, passionate winemakers. what a treat it was!
VERMENTINO AND CANNONAU
After arriving at Olbia airport on the east coast, we leave the exclusive Costa Smeralda for what it is and cross the island in one stretch to our stay in Tresnuraghes on the west coast. A hefty drive, giving an impression of its mountainous character with the barren peaks of Gennargentu National Park as the highlight. Westwards, it becomes increasingly flat. We see little of viniculture along the way, but I am sure that will come. The main white grape is vermentino, whose wines can easily compete with those from Tuscany. The Vermentino di Gallura in the northeast is also Sardinia's only DOCG. In terms of reds, it is mainly cannonau that rules the roost.
SARDINE SOUL WITH A HINTERLAND TOUCH
Driving into the town of Tresnuraghes - a Spanish name - the navigation quickly directs us into an unpaved, dead-end street. Is that any good? But yes: the house number
belongs to the gate of Bed & Wine Anima Sardà, the Sardinian soul. When we get out and ring the bell, the beautiful dogs Zara and Giula come to meet us barking. As we are not fond of dogs, we wait a while for hostess Marieke who greets us warmly. The dogs turn out to be well-behaved and the very next day we are best friends. When we get out of the car after parking, Marieke starts talking, but the magnificent view of the coast, the sea, the fields and the hill town of Magomadas means we don't get much of it. When Jurgen joins them, they tell how they ended up in Tresnuraghes. After four years of searching in Italy, including the Marches, they fell in love with this place. They retrained themselves through wine and cooking courses from estate agent to bed and - no, not breakfast - but bed & wine owners, a B&B with a focus on wine. In all honesty, that's what we fell for when choosing our place to stay. But you will also find peace and quiet and stay in a comfortable room decorated in light pastel tones. Specially, two rooms have a separate panoramic room with a high table to watch the sun sink into the sea with a delicious glass. When the weather is nice, you do this outside at the table in front of the door, the centrepiece of Anima Sardà, of course. There you can enjoy the breakfast menu, the aperitivo included in the price, the dinner that can also be booked with or without wine tasting, a good conversation, or reading in peace. Sustainability is paramount. For instance, they apply the zero-kilometre principle as much as possible with wine from neighbours and fruit and vegetables from the kitchen garden. The garden is about 200 metres deep and half of it consists of an uprooted vineyard that is now growing again and being restored to its former glory. Jurgen already imported a number of better Italian wines with masservino.nl and in Tresnuraghes has immersed himself in Sardinian wines from local winemakers, who, if possible, work organically. Judging by the wines we taste, he has an excellent nose for them. Anima Sardà is located on the Strada del Vino, which leads through the vineyards around Bosa and past charming Sardinian towns such as Modolo, Magomadas and Tresnuraghes. Along the way, several cantinas invite tasting and buying.
Text Kees Verplanke
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