Region: Italy - Sardinia
Grapes: Torbato
Alcohol: 12%
Notes on the Wine
The straw yellow color is bright and shining, while the aromas range vivaciously from acacia blossoms and pink grapefruit to autolytic and bready notes. A trail of iodine reverberates within a savory, fresh and balsamic palate with a creamy yet dry and vertical start. The aromatic nuances continue on, drawn by the acidity into an interminable finish.
Notes on the Producer
In 1899, Mr. Sella (an engineer) and Mr. Mosca (a lawyer) from Piedmont, purchased the land bordering the pretty, historic port of Alghero on the northern coast, to establish a nursery for rootstocks. At the time, phylloxera was ravaging Europe, but as Sardinia is detached from the mainland, the island could harvest phylloxera-free baby vines, which were then sold in other regions of Italy and southern Europe.
In 1903, a massive ecological excavation commenced on the purchased land where the Sella & Mosca estate now sits. The rocky soil was overturned to plant vines as well as to build a complex including: the winery, worker housing, a school house, a small church, and 12.5 acre nature preserve maintained for Mediterranean botanical species.
The winery’s unique logo depicts a wine-pressing scene inspired by Egypt’s Old Kingdom. It is believed to be a stylized reproduction of a scene shown on a low relief in the mastaba of Mereruka tomb, Vizier of King Teti, in Saqqara, Egypt. The relief depicts five men using long poles to press the grapes contained in a sack, so that the juice filters through the fabric and falls into the jar below.
Sella & Mosca’s 1,600-acre estate, I Piani, constitutes the second largest contiguous vineyard in Italy, covering more than 1,200 acres of vines. It is one of the largest wine estates in Europe.
