Garagisti di Sorgogno

Sardegna

Sorgogno

Garagisti di Sorgono is the project of four young friends from Sorgono, an old medieval hamlet in the geographical centre of Sardegna. As the name suggests, this is very much a micro-project, producing minimal quantities from very low-yielding old bush vines.
 
This is a remote part of Italy, seemingly untouched by the passage of time and civilisation, arid hilly country, where farmers have had to toil hard to raise crops from the impoverished soils. Viticulture is an age old tradition here, and the area is blessed with an enviable patrimony of some of Italy’s oldest bush vines.

The fruit for the Garagisti wines comes from four different vineyards located in the hills surrounding the village. The vineyards are at a height of 500-700 metres above sea level. The soils are a mixture of decayed red and white granites, with the vineyards planted to free-standing bush vines from 50-100 years old. The combination of old vines and soil type endows the wines with a mineral freshness that bellies their mouth-filling volume.
 
The three main local varieties, Cannonau, Monica and  Muristeddu are each used to make a mono-varietal wine. A fourth wine is made from a blend of these varieties with a small addition of a lesser known local variety called Girò.
The vinification is the same for each of the wines. The wines are fermented in a combination of temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and large wooden vats. At the completion of fermentation, the wines are aged for 12 months in used barriques, after which they are aged in bottle for a further 6 months prior to their commercial release.

These are powerful earthy meaty wines with a primal and almost brutal force.