Viticulture is an activity known to the Sardinian population since about 5000 years, and the special relationship created on this island, over time, between man and wine is so deep that it can be compared only with that in the Caucasus region. Even if we wanted to consider only modern times, those who had the opportunity to visit Sardinia in the early ‘900 would have been struck by the impressive quantity of wine producers, even for family use only. The rural inhabitants of that time were a breed that contained in every single representative a mix of sheep farming, agriculture and, consequently, viticulture. One of these was Battistino Pala who, already in the 1920s, produced for personal consumption a white wine and a red one obtained respectively by Nuragus and Monica, two vines (the first white berry and the second red berry) that he cultivated in the lands owned by Serdiana, 20 kilometres north of Cagliari Gulf.
This tradition was kept alive and expanded by Battistino’s son, Salvatore, who, in 1950, produced those wines no longer for personal consumption: the Azienda Agricola Pala Salvatore was born. Since 1950 much has changed, even the name of the company, which today is simply called Pala, but the love of this family for quality wine has never failed. The company passed, in 1995, from Salvatore to his three sons Mario, Gilberto and Enrico, with the last two who in 2007 took other roads and sold to Mario, the only current owner, their quotes.
Since 1998 the winery has started to produce, one after the other, a series of wines that have in short become true icons of viticulture of the Southern Sardinia and, in particular, of the Cagliari area. Among them there is, without doubt, Essentja, made from pure Bovale grapes cultivated in the sandy vineyards of Uras, Terralba and San Nicolò d’Arcidano, with an age between 80 and 130 years, with a yield of 40 quintals per hectare. After the manual harvest, the grapes are destemmed, pressed and left to macerate and ferment, at a controlled temperature, using pied de cuve of yeasts selected from those naturally present in the vineyards. The resulting wine then rests for four months in a concrete tank, for two years in oak barrels of 10hl, for two months in steel and, finally, for six months in the bottle, before marketing.
The 2015 vintage shows a ruby color of good concentration, with garnet streaks, and with an olfactory range that opens on notes of plum jam, mulberry, red currant and prickly pear, followed by myrtle, helichrysum, Mediterranean scrub and black pepper, with final slightly boisée echoes. In the palate are the softness and warmth to make the lion’s share, with the balsamic component and the iodine/mineral one to play the supporting role along with black pepper and a hint of tannin; all enriched by the return of the overripe red fruit and the vegetal hints that accompany the sip up to a good length closure.
Rating: 88/100
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