RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

Vernaccia di Oristano is a sherry-like fortified wine from Sardinia. In August 1971, it became Sardinia's very first wine to be granted an official DOC.

The vines which are responsible for this wine are grown in 20 communes within and around Oristano town. The grapes are harvested and pressed in the standard way, then oxidatively matured in barrels for three or four years under a naturally-developing film of flor yeast. The barrels are not filled to the brim, allowing the flor to develop over the wine, controlling the rate of oxidation to a certain extent. The musty, nutty aroma which results from this ageing is known in the local dialect of Campidanese as murrai. Cettolini, a 19th-century Sardinian microbiologist (and thus particularly well placed to comment on the qualities of this wine) said of Vernaccia di Oristano that "the delicacy of its completeness conquers us... that curious taste of bitter fruit, so gracious, so seductive"

Regrettably, given the fascinating style in which they are made, Vernaccia di Oristano wines are rarely seen outside Italy, and almost never outside Europe. 

(Source: https://www.wine-searcher.com/...)

https://www.gamberorossointernational.com/news/the-6-best-vernaccia-di-oristano-selected-by-gambero-rosso/?utm_term=82892+-+The+6+best+Vernaccia+di+Oristano+selected+by+Gambero+Rosso&utm_campaign=NL+DAILY+ENG&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MagNews&utm_content=8811+-+3798+%282024-04-24%29

Total production: 403 hectares

http://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=12997

This great wine is produced in Oristano, and it is probably one of the most ancient wines of the world: its production is dated back to Phoenician times which is proven by archaeological findings in the ancient city of Tharros, near the modern city of Cabras. Vernaccia di Oristano is produced with the homonymous grape. A wine of great complexity and great longevity, Vernaccia di Oristano is today produced by very few wineries which continue to keep high the glory of this ancient wine of Sardinia.

An ancient and noble species, found in Sardinia since the times of the Phoenicians, who introduced it along the Oristano coast, the Sinis peninsula and the ancient staging port of Tharros. Cultivation has always been exclusively limited to the Province of Oristano, where it is chiefly grown using the alberello latino method. It flourishes in the low terrain of the Tirso and Rio Mannu flood-lands. The name of the vine, held to have been conferred by the Romans, derives from vernacula, which means a grape of the zone. This would explain the presence of the Vernacce species in other wine-producing zones of Italy, although they have nothing in common with Sardinian Vernaccia. This superb wine, the pride of Sardinian oenology, owes its unique characteristics to an oxidative maturation, of at least 3-4 years in barrels which are not completely filled. The presence of oxygen encourages the rise of yeast to the top of the must, forming characteristic flor film, which contributes to the special aroma, known in the ancient vernacular as Murrai. This particular refinement happens even today in the traditional wineries (cantine di Oristano) made of straw and mud with a typical terracotta roof. As long ago as the 19th century, Cettolini wrote of Vernaccia, “… It must be judged by the senses… its aroma is worthy; the delicacy of its completeness conquers us- that curious taste of bitter fruit, so gracious, so seductive, of which we never tire. Instead, we submit”. This poetic description is well-suited to Vernaccia, a dry wine with a unique personality revealed to us through all its sensory expressions, including the warm amber shades of its colour, its complex, ethereal taste sensations of Madera, dried fruit, almond flowers and bitter honey which linger on the palate with extraordinary tenacity. Apart from DOC Vernaccia di Oristano, the first Denomination recognised in Sardinia in 1971, a young white wine known commercially as IGT Valle del Tirso is produced.

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