Agricola Punica Barrua, a blend of the experience and strengths of the names behind Sassicaia and Santadi.
The grapes for this superb wine are sourced from two distinctive vineyard sites at Barrua and Narcao. Barrua supplies mostly the Cabernet and Merlot grapes from old bush vines, whilst Narcao is planted mostly with Carignano. The vines are planted in a dense concentration, limiting the yield of each individual plant and increasing the concentration of flavour in the ripe bunches which are all harvested by hand. The whole bunches are destemmed and crushed into open concrete fermenting tanks where they are left for a few days to macerate with the skins before fermentation begins. Ageing is in French Alliers barrique, one third of which are new, one third are second fill and the final third are third fill. Maturation in barrique lasts for 18 months, at which point only the finest barrels are selected for blending. The finished wine is allowed a further ageing period of 12 months in bottle.
Wine Reviews:
Its persistent, it is already a pleasure to drink but clearly has good structure for future development, and its vigour on the palate belies its 14 per cent alcohol..for me this takes Sardinian wine to a new level of sophistication. In fact I was more impressed by Barrua 2002 than by Sassicaia 2001.Jancis Robinsons Purple Pages 14/10/05
Ready to Drink? Not really, but don't let that stop you.
Food and Wine Matches: Rich, full and classic world food, especially from Italy and France.
