Alghero, Sardinia
To prepare for the festive season, why not getting a rarity with plenty of stories? Oscarì is a dandy of exciting origin, and he speaks Catalan with a cute accent. You can invite him to your home, but it is even better to visit him in his home town, in his estate, where the wind never stops, and the endless rows of vines sing about more than 3500 years of winemaking.
Holiday from Catalonia to a Catalan city in Italy
This online publication, SparklingSpain is dedicated to Spanish, mainly Catalan sparkling wines, and even though Oscar is from the Italian island of Sardinia, it is (more or less) Catalan. I live in Catalonia, in Penedés wine region, though I am from Hungary, my native language is Hungarian. I have learnt Catalan since I moved here with great enthusiasm, therefore it was a fabulous discovery to find Catalan culture in Sardinia. I was invited to be part of the jury of the Sparkling Wines Session of Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, which took place in the city of Alghero, on the north-west of the island. The Catalan influence came from the Crown of Aragon, from the golden age of the empire, when they conquered Alghero in the 14th century. Less glorious what they did with the inhabitants: many of them were transported to Spain as slaves, and they were replaced by families from Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and Majorca. Despite the following centuries of Spanish and Italian rule, the habitants – especially the older ones – still speak a local dialect of Catalan, and also the street names are in both Italian and Catalan. At Concours Mondial de Bruxelles we are always served by local sommeliers, and I had a little chat with our seasoned, lovely sommelier, who poured the wines for our table. He happened to speak Catalan quite well, and said that with his grandparents he still uses this language. He made my day, so did the city my trip – Alghero is fabulous, an ideal place to stay for a getaway. Not too busy but there is life, there are dramatic coasts but also charming beaches, and a cobblestoned old town with welcoming restaurants. Plus: Sardinia is ideal for feminists! In this island women and men always had the same rights, and rape was punished severely, with life sentence! No wonder the first female judge of Italy is from Sardinia, and there is a Nobel prize winner writer as well. Plus 2: Sardinia is among the 5 places of the world with the highest life expectancy, here women and men can equally expect a long life, as long as 110 years!
The photos: Catalan street name, local delicacy: roasted pig spiced with myrtle, me (on the left) and two Catalan fellow jury members)
A cavalcade of wine types
Sardinia is a huge island of wine, it is not exaggeration. The first evidences of winemaking date back to 1500 BC, when the pre-historic Nuraghe civilization settled down here. The grape seed traces were found near the city of Alghero, during the construction works of a roundabout. The village of Palmavera near Alghero is well worth a visit, we can see how this developed civilization lived in the typical stone buildings.
Now Sardegna has 25 000 hectares under wine, a bit more than in Penedés with its 23 000 hectares. However, what a richness of diverse styles! The island has a fairly large number of appellations: there are 18 DOC and 1 DOCG in Sardinia. Alghero DOC has the most types of wines undoubtedly, here they are (source: Alghero DOC official website):
• Bianco, also in Frizzante, Spumante, Passito versions
• Rosso, also in Novello, Liquoroso, Riserva versions
• Rosato, also in a Frizzante version
• Torbato, also in a Spumante version
• Sauvignon
• Chardonnay, also in a Spumante version
• Cabernet, also in a Riserva version
• Merlot, also in a Riserva version
• Sangiovese
• Cagnulari (or Cagniulari), also in a Riserva version
• Vermentino Frizzante
Alghero DOC accounts for the 17% of all the plantations of Sardinia, and while there are 413 wineries in the whole island, Alghero DOC has only 12 estates – though some of them are huge.
Photos: the Nuraghe village near Alghero with a fellow taster and her daughter enjoying the stone seat
Sella & Mosca – two visionary gentlemen
During Concours Mondial de Bruxelles events jury members are busy with judging in the morning, while after lunch we are taken to wineries of the region, and of course dinners are also about wines paired with local food. Sella & Mosca was one of the highlights of the trip, partially due to our guide, a lady with immense knowledge of the history of the estate. The winery is about a 25-minute-drive from Alghero, and we were driving some minutes also within the estate – because it is huge. We spent some time in a viewpoint, from where we could see the vast estate of nearly 600 hectares. It was founded in 1895 by two gentlemen, Sella, an engineer and Mosca, a lawyer. They used to spend a lot of time at the estate and they also built a whole village for the workers, including a chapel to take care of their souls. The houses of this village are now available to rent, the rooms are decorated with Sardinian embroidery and the view of the vineyards is a cure for the tired city dwellers.
As our guide explained, a lot of earthworks were done, huge amount of soil was removed to make plantations possible. The grape varieties are the following ones: Vermentino 44% (the most important white variety of Sardinia and its plantation is increasing), Torbato 21%, Cannonau (the local name for Grenache or Garnacha) 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20% and other grapes on 5%.
Photos: Sella & Bosca vineyards, cellar and a former house for grafting vines (hence the large windows, to get enough light for the precise work)
Torbato, the rescued grape
As our guide at Sella & Mosca explained, Torbato was cultivated by them only, and even now there is only a few wineries growing the variety. We learnt that the grape is originally from Catalonia, where it is already extinct, and Sella & Mosca cooperates with the University of Barcelona to revive the plantations in the mother land.
When it comes to an unknown grape, I always check the “grape Bible”, the comprehensive book of grape varieties written by José Vouillamoz, Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding. This is what Wine Grapes says about Torbato:
“DNA profiling recently confirmed that Torbato is identical to Malvoisie du Roussillon in southern France, also called Tourbat or Malvoisie des Pyrénées Orientales (Lacombe et al. 2007), and mentioned in Limoux, southern France, as early as 1804 (Galet 2000). Like many Sardinian varieties, Torbato is said to have been introduced from Spain during Catalan rule of Sardegna in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries but there is as yet no evidence to confirm this hypothesis.”
Well, there may not be evidence of the Spanish Catalan origin, but South West France also has Catalan roots, and as the book comments, the Torbato plantations in the region were weak and susceptible to diseases, and thanks to Sella & Mosca, they were replaced by the healthier Sardinian clones. Sella & Mosca produces both still and sparkling of the variety. Catore is the still version, a unique wine made of hand-picked Torbato, fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks with aromas of pear, apple and chamomile, a vibrant, juicy and refreshing, yet complex wine.
Oscarì, the protagonist
Since this website is specialized in sparkling wines, obviously my main focus was on the bubblies of the island, and Oscarì was one of the most exciting ones. It is a method traditional sparkling wine made of 100% Torbato from more than 20-year-old vines. The harvest takes place early September (for the still wine in October), unlike in Penedés, where harvest has shifted to August, in some places begin as early as the end of July). It is brut with only 3.5 g residual sugar. It was aged on the lees for a year. The estate’s description is the following: “A distinctively floral nose, with hints of hawthorn and orange blossom. In the mouth, the bead is fine and lively, the flavours are ample, clear-cut and assertive, the finish is harmonious and coherent, firm and vertical.” Well, I had the chance to taste it several times during the trip, and I more or less agree with the notes, except for the orange blossom, I have not detected any of that. More herbal aromas and flowers of a spring meadow, and yes, firm structure, balance and for me some tart herbal notes in the finish. It is far from the Champagne-s reminiscent of a French bakery and quite different from the cavas of fennel aromas, it is a completely different sparkling wine of its own style.
The label was designed by Antonio Marras, an Alghero-born artist. “With Sella & Mosca we share a love for Alghero. We share the aromas of myrtle and strawflower, ambat, the mistral, the sea, the dark shades of the olive groves and the reddish ones of the vineyards” – says Marras about working together with the winery. And who is Oscarì? According to the artist he was born in Ittiri, he “is an elegant Algherian, a bit of a dandy, an effervescent fop. He has lived in Paris and has returned to Alghero for Saint John’s eve.”
Definitely worth tasting, and the estate is worth visiting during an unforgettable stay in Alghero.
Visit and taste
Sella & Mosca wine bar is open all year.
Winery visits, tasting, vineyard tours are also available all year long, appointment is necessary.
Casa Villa Marina, the guest house of the estate also awaits guests all year.
More information
Text and photos by Ágnes Németh
The photos below: a stunning stalactite cave near Alghero, a shockingly beautiful view, and my favourite bar in Alghero with quite a gorgeous venue
