Variety: Cannonau, Sardinia‘s best-known red variety, as proud and wild as inland Sardinians themselves. The grape is known in France as Grenache and in Spain as Alicante.
Production area: The Cannonau vine thrives both on the warm, sandy soils of the Sardinian coastline and on the harsh, rocky terrain of the island’s mountainous interior. At Sella&Mosca, Cannonau is grown in the southeastern part of the estate, where it is exposed to the Grecale wind.
Harvest period: The grapes are picked in late autumn when the berries are just starting to dry.
Winemaking: The crushed and destemmed grapes are given lowtemperature skin contact for at least three days, allowing the extraction of colour compounds and tannins that will enable the wine to age unhurriedly in time-hallowed oak casks. Temperature-controlled fermentation at 25-28°C takes about 12 days.
Appearance: The initial ruby red gradually shades into warmer, less intense shades as the wine ages.
Nose: The faintly tousled woodland fragrances of the wine’s first year mature with ageing into a complex, elegant bouquet proffering distinct whiffs of violets that fuse well with the tertiary notes of spiciness contributed by cask conditioning.
Palate: Warm, dried and beautifully poised, with a restrained background note of plums and an aristocratic hint of oak.
Alcohol content: 13,5% vol.
Acidity level: The complex soft mouthfeel comes from biochemical changes that take place during the lengthy maturation process. By the end of ageing, the initial 7,5 g/l has fallen to 5,6 g/l.
Ageing: Complex, in several distinct stages, including periods in traditional Slavonian oak casks, steel and cement vats, concluding with ageing in bottle.
Serve: At a temperature of 18°C. Uncork the bottle at least two hours before serving, or better still pour into a decanter.
Food Matchings: Beautifully complements any red meat dish and makes a perfect partner for game.