Distinctive Sardinia and the Wines of Vigne Surrau

Sardinia is deeply distinctive. The island is detached sentimentally from its legal association with Italy. The languages spoken there today - including Italian - reveal its rich history, including isolation and invasion. The local Sarda language is considered to be the closest Romance language to "vulgar", or non-classical, Latin, and a dialect of Catalan is spoken in the northwestern corner of the island. Vinously, the grape varieties are historically Spanish.  

Unsurprisingly, the wines of Sardinia are as distinctive as the terroir, the grapes and the languages spoken by the people making the wines. Twenty years ago, Tino Demuro - one of 11 children who worked in family vineyards that had been cultivated for generations - purchased land in Arzachena, just off the famous Costa Smerelda, or Emerald Coast, on the island's northeastern tip.  

Today, Vigne Surrau makes about 420,000 bottles a year. That may look like a lot in print, but I rarely find the bottles here in the US. So, I was delighted to have a chance to taste through this quartet. I personally delight in Vermentino - from wherever it hails, and I love the salty zip and vivaciousness that Vermentino di Gallura (specifically) delivers in the glass. So, it is unsurprising that I particularly am fond of the Vermentinos from this winery that focuses 70% of its production on this white grape. The reds are attractive, too, in their sweet-and-savory contrast of flavors. I wish I saw these wines around more often.

Whites
92
Vigne Surrau 2019 Vermentino di Gallura 14% $27
Tasting of a tingly contrast between salted lemon and pungent sherbet, this is vinous and lightly textured with pithy tannins. Lifting acidity gives zing to the concentrated, generous palate with considerable, mouth-coating viscosity. White peach flavors give a youthful, exuberant vivacity on the layered, minerally and solid finish. This will develop well in bottle.
Drink: 2021-24 

91
Vigne Surrau 2020 Vermentino di Gallura Limizzani 13.5% $16
Lithe and juicy with exotic citrus influences, this is a dazzling, pure and easy to enjoy Sardinian white. Fresh and focused with notes of lemon curd and almond peel with hints of early tree blooms, this has riveting acidity and a pithy, tannic finish. Dynamic and robust at the core, this finishes with good harmony and a medium finish, over-delivering for its price point.
Drink: 2021-24

Reds
90
Vigne Surrau 2019 Surrau Isola dei Nuraghi 14% $27
Smelling of black cherries, blackberries and peat, this wine with a deep mulberry color is bracingly bold, cherubesque and high-toned in fruit character on the attack. The palate shows excellent integration of vigorous acidity, lightly sinewy tannins and super-charged youthfulness. A faint hint of CO2 tickles the palate and adds a touch of dryness on the asphalt-influenced finish. Polished and well-rounded, this is very drinkable now but has the guts and verve to hold on a while in bottle. There is a sophisticated rusticity to this wine that is very compelling!
Drink: 2021-24 

90
Vigne Surrau 2019 Cannonau di Sardegna Naracu 14.5% $16
Joyously fleshy and brimming with youthful vivacity, this perky red is ready to steal hearts and palates. It starts with an über-concentrated boost of black cherries then transitions into boysenberry, dried lilac and Lapsang Souchong tea. Riveting in flavor profile, this is also well-balanced on the palate with good acidic vitality and rather easy-gong, even caressing tannins. It is so vibrant that it would be a shame not to enjoy it in its youth.
Drink: 2021-24