Noras Cannonau di Sardegna DOC

This celebrated winery takes its name from the medieval town of Santadi, in the Sulcis peninsula of southwest Sardinia – a landscape of contrasts and dramatic beauty, where the pure white sand dunes of Porto Pino and the greenery of the Pantaleo forest and its centuries-old oak trees, cork trees and holly oaks call home. Founded in 1960, Cantina Santadi began as a partnership between fine local growers, making it deeply rooted in the Sulcis terroir.

The Santadi vineyards cover 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of prime, gently rolling hills reaching right out to the sea. They are all within an eighteen-mile radius from the winery so that the fruit can be moved quickly. The sandy nature of the soil is conducive to the survival of pre-Phylloxera rootstock. In the words of enologist Raffaele Cani, “The parasite does attack the roots, producing small holes in them. These cavities, however, are immediately filled up by grains of sand that heal the wounds, as it were, allowing the plant to thrive in spite of Phylloxera.”

90% Cannonau and 10% Carignano. Cannonau, long believed to be a variety of Spanish Garnacha, was not only recently proven to be ampelographically distinct and native to Sardinia; it may well have been one of the most ancient wines in the western Mediterranean.

Santadi’s delightful version was named after Nora, Sardinia’s very first city, founded on the island’s southern seaboard around 1000-1500 BC, and Norax, a mythical Sardinian hero who came from the sea.