2016 Sella & Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna

WS89 Wine Spectator: A pretty, medium-bodied red, with a waft of potpourri lacing the wild strawberry and soft orange peel flavors. Bright and balanced, delivering a subtle, smoke-tinged finish.

A jewel in the Mediterranean, Sardinia is a rustic and enchantingly beautiful island with extreme geography and vinous diversity to tempt travelers and wine enthusiasts alike. Mr. Sella and Mr. Mosca fell in love with this land over a century ago and established Sella & Mosca, one of Italy’s most renowned wine estates.

As Sardinia’s foremost wine producer, Sella & Mosca’s premium wines are made exclusively from estate-grown grapes. In addition to native varieties such as Vermentino, Torbato and Cannonau, the winery has successfully pioneered the introduction of international grape varieties, notably Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hailed for centuries as a Mediterranean vine-growing paradise, multiple cultures over many centuries have ruled the large island of Sardinia. Set in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Phonoecians, Ancient Rome, and subsequently the Byzantines, Arabs and Catalans have all staked a claim on the island at some point in history. Along the way, these inhabitants transported many of their homeland’s prized vines and today Sardinia’s modern-day indigenous grape varieties claim multiple origins. Sardinia’s most important red grapes—namely Cannonau (a synonym for Grenache) and Carignan—are actually of Spanish origin.

Vermentino, a prolific Mediterranean variety, is the island’s star white. Vermentino has a stronghold the Languedoc region of France as well as Italy’s western and coastal regions, namely Liguria (where it is called Pigato), Piedmont (where it is called Favorita) and in Tuscany, where it goes by the name, Vermentino.