2023 Berteru – Cantina Gungui, Cannonau di Sardegna DOC, La Cava di Pulemaria, Sardinia, Italy.
The dark garnet and ruby hued young vine Berteru single vineyard La Cava di Pulemaria Cannonau (Grenache) by Luca Gungui in Mamoiada is joyously pure, mineral toned from the granite soils, red fruited, floral accented and lively in the glass with just a touch wild herbs and delicate spices. This cru bottling saw exclusively stainless steel maceration, fermentation and aging, making for a transparent, clean and exciting example of terroir driven and fresh Cannonau that shows of the high elevation and distinctive qualities in this region. The medium/full bodied palate has a rotation of Bing cherry, tangy plum, strawberry and black raspberry fruits, along with contrasting flowers and alpine herbal essences, a touch of pepper, minty fennel and a light earthiness. There’s ripe tannins, supple rounded texture and youthful acidity, all adding to a subtle structured profile, making this an easy wine to love and to enjoy now, though better with food, which would further enhance to pleasure here. This wine, the Berteru Cannonau, was all hand harvested from vines up close to 2,400 Feet, was fermented using indigenous yeasts only, encouraged by a a ‘pied de cuve’* which according to Luca is the only way to give a wine its true sense of place. Gungui leaves the must, all de-stemmed grapes here, in contact with the skins in tank for just under two weeks, then it is pressed off. After which this wine is aged for just about 6 months in stainless steel tanks, to preserve freshness, only being lightly fined, then bottled without filtration. The older vine Riserva gets an extra year in oak casks per the DOC rules and according to those in the know, it delivers a Châteauneuf du Pape like performance, though this one, only 114 cases made, is no slouch!
I was very impressed by this Berteru – Cantina Gungui Cannonau, so a big thank you to my friend and winemaker Giuseppi Cossu, who while doing his own harvest on Sardinia, managed to grab this just released bottle from Luca and brought it back to California. Cossu, like Luca absolutely believe Cannonau or Grenache is actually native to Sardinia and not as commonly thought an import from Spain, where it is known as Garnacha. The Spanish came here in the 14th Century, and Luca says that an ancient settlement that was being excavated in 2015 about 50 kilometers from Mamoiada revealed Cannonau grape pips; the settlement dates to about 2,000 years BC, which strongly, as Cossu says, suggests that the variety is indigenous to Sardinia. The Cantina Gungui wines are thankfully imported to the States, by Oliver McCrum Imports, and he lists them as Berteru, which means honest or sincere in the local dialect in the Mamoiada area. He says that originally Luca left Mammoiada to become a lawyer, and settled in Cagliari, the Southern ‘big’ city and capital of Sardinia. Gungui quickly became disenchanted with his city work and moved back to the remote countryside of Mamoiada to farm his grandfather’s three hectares of Cannonau. The oldest hectare of vines he has is 60 years old, though those used here are closer to 7 years old now and just beginning to show their potential. Mamoiada has similar granite soils of the highly regarded Gallura region, famous for Vermentino, to the north, which is also great for the Cannonau. McCrum explains Luca has been farming organically from the beginning and his philosophy, same as most top growers, is that less is more. As such they try to do as little as possible in the vineyards and the cellar, letting the land speak honestly through the wine, these limited bottlings are very rare and coveted.
($49 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive