Cannonau and the Nuraghe of Sardinia with Surrau

Sardinia is Italy’s 2nd largest island located off the western coast of Italy separated by the Tyrhhenian Sea.  Today our Italian Food, Wine & Travel group (#ItalianFWT) is led by Jill Barth of L’Occasion as we highlight the wines and food of Sardinia, called Sardegna in Italian.   

Sardinia is one of the few regions I have yet to explore in Italy and I’m not sure why.  It has a rugged, mountainous interior with forests and scrub covered land.   It also has about 1,200 miles of coastline, some jagged, but the rest with beautiful beaches and blue-greenish crystal waters.  Some years ago I attended a wine tasting and luncheon hosted by Susannah of this group and Vigne Surrau.  I had the chance to taste through a number of their wines and meet the owner Martino Demuro alongside some pairings at a Boston restaurant.  I recently picked up a bottle I wasn’t familiar with of theirs, a 2020 Surrau Naracu Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, so I’ll be sharingthat today along with some more information on Vigne Surrau. 

The Winery ~ Vigne Surrau 

Vigne Surrau was established back in 2001 by the Demuro family whom are native Sardinians.  One of the twelve siblings, Tino, purchased vineyards in Arzachena at that time and began producing wines. They own 148 acres across 8 different locations in the northeastern corner of Sardinia.   The winery is named after the Surrau Valley in which it is located between the comunes of Palau and Arzachena, which is located right in the heart of Gallura.  The Gallura area of Sardinia is well known for its Vermentino, which is the only DOCG in Sardinia.  Vigne Surrau’s production is 70% made of Vermentino since this area shows the best expression of this grape on the island.  They are also only a 15 minute drive from the Emerald Coast, or the Costa Smeralda. 

Copyright of Vigne Surrau

The Wine  

The 2020 Surrau Naracu Cannonau di Sardegna DOC is made up of 100% Cannonau.  Under the Cannonau di Sardegna DOC the wines must have a minimum of 90% Cannonau with up to 10% of local red grapes. Cannonau is also known as Grenache in France and Alicante or Garnacha in Spain.  It is the primary red grape of Sardinia that is high in antioxidants including polyphenols and anthocyanins.  It may be part of the reason the Sardinian population has a life span of 90-100 years old.  Sunshine, great food and wine rich in antioxidants! 

Surrau’s Naracu, is named after the Nuraghe, which are ancient stone fortresses that are found all throughout the island.  The vines are located in sandy soils of granite origin, typical of this part of Sardinia.  The wine spends 6 months in stainless steel with an additional 3 months in the bottle. The wine was ruby in color with some transparency. The aromas reminded of a combination of raspberry and blueberry jam with a hint of spice. A dry, medium-bodied with moderate tannins. Juicy blackberries filled the palate with a hint of sweet tobacco that lingered on with a lengthy finish ending with finesse.  

The Nuraghe - sourced by Wikipedia copyright of Jack Aubrey

It’s been a crazy few weeks with the kids going back to school, sports starting and my normal routine all a fluster. I wanted to pair this wine with a Sardinian dish, but time and planning has been lacking these days. Although, there wasn’t anything wrong with my chosen dish of a Tuscan chicken and pasta dish with sundried tomatoes. I meant to throw in spinach, but realized I forgot to pick it up so I did throw in a side of fresh green beans with this lovely oil I so graciously received from my trip to Firriato in Sicily.  

What are your personal Sardinian favorite wines or dishes? 

Join our fellow Italian food and wine friends as they share their Sardinian wines and food pairings.  Catch us live on Twitter this Saturday at 11am EST @ #ItalianFWT.  See you there! Ci vediamo!

Culurgiones (Sardinian Pasta Dumplings) + Pala i Fiori Cannonau 2019 published by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 

Wine and Cheese Delivery! Quartomoro Orriu Cannonau di Sardegna and a Cheese Board from Curdbox #ItalianFWT from Wine Predator

Vermentino from Sardinia – Sunlight in a glass over at Crushed Grape Chronicles 

Mamoiada: When a Wine Area Finds A New Fresh Voice by Grapevine Adventures

Zuppa Gallurese and a Cannonau di Sardegna over at A Day in the Life on the Farm

Learn about the Italian island wine that has been called 'Sardinian Sherry’ in a republication of Rare Wines From Sardinia And Sicily Are Complex And Historic here on l’occasion

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Blending the Non-Native Grapes of Puglia with the Trentatre Rosso

Italy has a rich history of winemaking dating back thousands of years with hundreds of grape varietals founds throughout all 20 regions of Italy.  One of the many reasons I love Italian wine is the wide abundance of native, indigenous varietals found throughout the country.  Last weekend I visited a wine shop as I was passing through south of Boston for a party and I felt like a kid in a candy shop with their wide array of Italian wines that most have probably never heard of.  This is what I love about Italian wine!  Such variety and character with a depth of history behind these wines that demonstrate their deep roots in the Italian wine industry. 

This month Martin of Enofylz Wine Blog is hosting our Italian Food, Wine and Travel group (#ItalianFWT) and chose our theme of non-native varietals.  Although Italy’s indigenous grapes are gaining recognition and attention of the masses, it is always fun to explore the international varieties and their role and presence in Italian wine. 

When we talk about international grapes in Italian wine most are French grapes including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.  Throughout time international grapes have had a presence in Italian wine whether vine cuttings were brought over from other countries by personal selection or invasions.  Phylloxera, the vine disease that hit in the late 19th century, also has played a role in changing the Italian wine landscape and during this time some wineries chose quantity and higher yielding grapes over quality than preserving Italy’s native grapes.  This was the time that many of these obscure, rare native grapes faced extinction.   

Thankfully, some Italian wineries and winemakers over recent decades have focused on bringing some of these ancient varietals back to life.  In addition, with the creation of Consorzio and the DOC and DOCG designations, this has helped to focus on quality and to demonstrate the special terroir along with preserving the traditions of many winemaking regions throughout Italy and help promote the history behind many of these Italian wine appellations.  

You can find international varieties all throughout Italy. Merlot is actually one of Italy’s mostly highly planted grapes. Chardonnay can be found in the sparkling wines of Italy in the Franciacorta wine appellation. I’ve found many single varietals produced in northern Italy of grapes likes Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet Franc. Then there are many international grapes that are blended in with native grapes including the wine I’m sharing with you today. For example, many of you are familiar with the so-called “super tuscans” that are blends with these grapes like merlot or cabernet.  

A recent visit to Trader Joe’s had me scoping out their Italian section to see what unique wines I could find or just something different. I came across a 2020 Trentatre Rosso blend that was 33.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33.3% Merlot and 33.4% Montepulciano. As the name states, trentatre, means thirty-three that makes up the blend of these 3 grapes. At $5.99 I figured it was worth a shot to sample for this event. Come to find out upon research that this tends to be a well-liked wine upon other wine reviewers in previous vintages, but trying this for the first time I had nothing to compare it to. 

The 2020 Trentatre Rosso Salento IGT wine comes from the Puglia, aka Apulia, region in southern Italy located on the heel of the boot. This wine was aged 6 months in oak. I couldn’t locate much to give some background on the winery or how it was produced unfortunately. This wine was deeply ruby colored and had a rich nose of black cherry with notes of chocolate lingering. A hefty medium-bodied wine with some surprising firm tannin up front matched with good acidity and rich flavors of red and black fruits including plums, raspberries and blackberries. For the price I paid I don’t see how one cannot enjoy this wine, but I would grab some BBQ. That is all I thought of upon sipping this wine.  ABV 14%

Join the rest of our Italian food and wine lovers as they share their selections on Italy's non-native grapes. Catch us live on Twitter this Saturday at 11am EST @ #ItalianFWT. Buon weekend!

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be whipping up Deviled Eggs and a Chardonnay from Alto Adige
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest will be sharing The ‘Other’ Wine Grapes in Italy 
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass will be offering us Trentino: Another option for Pinot Noir fans
• Susannah of Avvinare will be contributing Oltrepo’ Pavese – Pinot Noir Reaches New Heights
• Deanna of Wineivore will be dishing up Butternut Squash Risotto Paired with Organic Merlot“
• Gwendolyn of the Wine Predator will be exploring Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc: Ivaldi’s Andrea Alta Langa DOCG #ItalianFWT
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm wonders An Italian Merlot? Sì, Grazie
• I’ll be sharing Mussels With Garlic and Parsley Paired with Cantina Terlan Kreuth Chardonnay

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