SUSU 2019 [Bentu Luna] 75cl

Full Body, Dry (Cannonau*). DOC. Alc 14.5%.

An exciting new wine from the Sardinian vineyards of Bentu Luna - sister winery of prestigious Lombardy estate Castello Di Cigognola.

93/100 James Suckling; 92/100 Wine Enthusiast; 18/20 Jancis Robinson; Gold medal at Wow The Italian Wine Competition.

Important grape for Sardinia (35-70 year old vines) grown in an important wine zone right in the centre of the island, then produced at the winery estate on the central West coast (in Neoneli in the province of Oristano).

Tasting notes: A bold and exciting wine, with bright fruit on the nose (red currants, blood orange, pomegranate, black plum, some herbal notes , blue flowers (violets) and lots of spice. A firm structure, with notable yet supple tannins.

From Jancis Robinson: "Transparent deep blood ruby. Smells like white pepper and the most exquisite raspberries you've ever put your nose to. Wildly intense. Wildly beautiful. This is absolutely extraordinary. How can a wine be dense and yet soar at the same time? Crushed rose petals, sumac, cinnamon; damsons, sweet chamois leather, the whole spice souk sucked into a kaleidoscope, fresh dates, plums so sweet you turn your face to the sky in gratitude for being alive. As I taste this wine I feel like I am trying to gather up a riotous, glorious, tumult of flavours and every time I pick one up, I drop another, but it's not in a panic but in the sheer outrageous joy of this wine. It's a wine that is absolutely inside its own skin, so alive that tasting it sent goosebumps up my spine. It's wildly complex. When I take a sip of this wine, it owns me." (TC)

*Cannonau, known elsewhere as Grenache or Garnacha.

"Full bottle 1,225 g. 100% Cannonau from Sardinia/Sardegna. Susu means 'up'. Single vineyard, 40-year-old vines, in Neoneli. Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in used oak barriques for eight months. 1,500 bottles. CORE = 18 Transparent deep blood ruby. Smells like white pepper and the most exquisite raspberries you've ever put your nose to. Wildly intense. Wildly beautiful. This is absolutely extraordinary. How can a wine be dense and yet soar at the same time? Crushed rose petals, sumac, cinnamon; damsons, sweet chamois leather, the whole spice souk sucked into a kaleidoscope, fresh dates, plums so sweet you turn your face to the sky in gratitude for being alive. As I taste this wine I feel like I am trying to gather up a riotous, glorious, tumult of flavours and every time I pick one up, I drop another, but it's not in a panic but in the sheer outrageous joy of this wine. It's a wine that is absolutely inside its own skin, so alive that tasting it sent goosebumps up my spine. It's wildly complex. When I take a sip of this wine, it owns me. (TC)" February, 2022 ... "Full bottle 1,248 g. I see that some sources say this is DO Cannonau di Sardegna, but the label just says Vino Rosso. It is, however, 100% Cannonau. Very old vines. Spontaneous fermentation. Aged in used oak barriques for eight months. SCORE = 17.5 Absolutely gorgeous fruit, nose and palate. This is zinging with vitality! Peppery, raspberry fruit so ripe and sweet it seems to explode on the tongue. The fruit has a lustrous sheen, but at the same time, deep orange-scented acidity shoots across the palate like fine, fast arrows. Amazing focus – despite the almost psychedelic swirl of spice (juniper, Szechuan, clove, cinnamon, dried thyme) and rose petals and plush fruit, it still has this fierce, elegant, linear direction. Stunning. (TC)" July 2021  ... "100% Cannonau. Spontaneous fermentation in 20-hl concrete tanks. Total skin maceration three weeks. MLF in oak barriques of second passage and aged in the same casks for eight months. SCORE = 17.5 Lustrous mid crimson. Alluring lifted, peppery damson and raspberry nose with a whiff of oak. Sappy and nervy acidity cutting through damson and raspberry palate. Great focus and vibrancy on the finish. (WS)" March, 2021 - Jancis Robsinon.

WINERY NOTES:

Susu is a Cannonau with a spicy olfactory spectrum, enlivened by a note of pepper that interacts with ripe dark fruits.

Vinification : After a slow and careful destemming of the bunch, fermentation begins with spontaneous foot in 20 Hl cement tanks. Here the whole berries alternated with whole clusters begin their fermentation process. Process that lasts about 3 weeks during which light manual punching takes place after 2 weeks. Aging: the wine is aged for 8 months in second passage oak barriques. During this period he carries out the MLF and light battonage is carried out.

No. of bottles produced : 1,500

LEARN MORE: Follow this link to a podcast by Wine For Normal People that's useful for understanding more about the SARDINIA region (important for grapes like Vermentino, Monica, Cannonau, Bovale)!

Finally, an excerpt from an article by Walter Speller for JancisRobinson.com says "Sardinia has become a hotbed of activity, especially the high plain of Mandrolisai, where many old and very old vines of indigenous varieties can be found. Only now is the full potential of this area being recognised with the recent and considerable investment made by the Moratti family, responsible for some fine Oltrepò Pavese sparkling wine. A brand-new cellar has been built for their Bentu Luna estate on Sardinia. Star oenologist Federico Staderini is involved in this new enterprise as well as with their Oltrepò Pavese sparklers. The first vintages of the Bentu Luna wines ... are truly captivating and amazing expressions of Cannonau especially – the best I have come across so far in Italy. Some of these elegant, complex and, I expect, long-lived wines come in at a whopping 15.5%, but you wouldn't know it."