2020 Cantina Fradiles, Muristellu – Bovale Sardo, Bagadìu, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT Rosso, Sardinia, Italy.
Like the impressive 2016, this deep garnet/crimson hued and aromatic 2020 Fradiles Bagadìu shows off a dusty full palate of black cherry, plum, mulberry and fig, slightly rustic, but wonderfully seductive with its earthy old world charm, with hints of cut tobacco, leather, iron and truffle, as well as minty wild herbs, dried flowers, cedar, grilled orange peel and red spices. Maybe a bit deeper and more vividly powerful than the 2016, but pretty similar in the best way possible with lovely mouth feel and tannins structure. This Bagadiu, as noted before, comes from mature 40 to 60 year old Bovale Sardo vines on granite soils, at close to 2,000 feet up that are all hand tended, that are, as mentioned all organic and the wine saw a native yeast fermentation in stainless steel, where it spent 6 months before being racked to large used oak casks for another 10 months. Fradiles, and winemaker Paolo Savoldo, makes just about 200 cases of this wine each year and not much of it gets to our shores, but I highly recommend searching it out. Over the past few years I’ve tried quite a few of these Fradiles wines and all have been delightful and educational, they are also great insight on traditional Sardinian grapes and cuisine, which these wines really excel with, especially this one that wants a meaty dish, like lamb to bring out its full range of flavors. While Cannonau (Grenache) still is Sardinia’s most famous red, wines like this show this island is no one trick pony and there’s always something new to discover here.
The Fradiles winery on Sardinia, as mentioned here is a quality producer and offering an outstanding array of truly authentic wines, including this one made from the distinctive native or indigenous red grape Muristellu also known as Bovale Sardo (which is thought to be related to Graciano), which is very different from Bovale Grande (Carignan). Interesting still to me is this deeply flavored varietal, which is very different to the Rioja Graciano wines I’ve tried, and after tasting this fabulous Bagadìu 100% Muristellu it actually reminds me more of the powerful Aglianico wines of Taurasi in Campania. This wine, oddly not allowed to be labeled under the DOC rules because it is all Muristellu, is just a IGT table wine, even though it delivers terroir and varietal character in spades. There is a lot of confusion about the mysterious native varietals on Sardinia, once though to have been brought here from Spain during the 200 years of Spanish occupation, but carbon dating and recent historic finds tend to point to Sardinian wine growing way before the Spanish came to the island, maybe a thousand years before! My friend and Sardinian born sommelier/winemaker Giuseppe Cossu, Impromptu Wines, has provided me with some incredible information on Sardinia and was kind enough to share this rare wine and varietal with me, first with the 2016 vintage and now with this 2020 vintage, both exceptional years here. Again, this Bagadiu is a compelling wine and complex wine, which retains good natural acidity, great with hard sheep cheeses as well as with grilled meats, wild boar and or the mentioned lamb, enjoy over the next 3 to 5 years.
($45 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive