SANTADI Cantina SANTADI Santadi (prov. Cagliari, SARDEGNA) Sardinia is an island with an eventful past, to put it Riserva) wins year after year the top awards. mildly. Its wines reflect that history: in the In spite of the climate, also some local white grape provenance of their grapes, and in their character, varieties, like the Vermentino and the Nuragus, which is often surprising. make for splendid Santadi wines. Finally, a fine In the southwest of the island lies the Sulcis. This and rare case is their Latinia, made from the local is not a town, nor a province, rather a zone that Nasco-grape, which in its sweetness and alcohol stretches over some 30 kilometres, from the inland rather resembles a sherry. town of Santadi towards the coast at Porto Pino and further westwards towards the peninsula of In the words of Raffaele Cani, the Cantina Sant’Antioco. In Porto Pino, you find the famous Santadi owes its success to the man who, in the white sand dunes and beaches that appear in many eighties of the last century, fell in love with a vacation guide. Sardinia and its viticultural possibilities. Giacomo Going inland, however, all is quiet. That is where Tachis was the person who, even long after his many of the Santadi soci (‘members’) grow their official retirement, continued to look after the wines. Some of the vineyards however are situated winery. It will be no surprise that today’s near the sea side on an extremely meagre soil consulting winemaker, Umberto Trombelli, has where phylloxera never got a chance; here we find been a student of Tachis. vineyards older than 100 years, where up till 5 generations of winegrowers did nourish the same vines. The countryside rises slowly, from sea level to Santadi at 135 metres. Immediately behind the town, however, high peaks reach for over a 1000 metres. That is how the hot Mediterranean climate is tempered, both by the sea and by the mountains. This is a land for strong red wines, and indeed you encounter some grapes that also fare well in Mediterranean southern France, like the Carignano (Carignan) and the Cannonau (Grenache), resulting in the Carignano del Sulcis DOC and the Cannonau di Sardegna DOC. A local grape they employ, the Monica, is protected by the Monica di Sardegna DOC. Some Carignano del Sulcis wines from the Cantina Santadi are for ever price winners. For example, their Terre Brune (Carignano del Sulcis .