Barbagia

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The mountainous and hilly landscape of Barbagia is dominated by Paleozoic granites and metamorphic rocks on which Mesozoic calcareous-dolomitic formations rest, making up the Supramonte.
• Along the principal tectonic lineaments, rivers have carved broad valleys, and during the Plio-Pleistocene basaltic flows, slope deposits, and terraced alluvial sediments filled those valleys, which were subsequently re-incised by present-day watercourses.
• Vineyard soils are often Entisols and Inceptisols developed in slope concavities, sometimes terraced, moderately deep, sandy loam in texture, skeleton-rich, and slightly acidic.
• On alluvial and slope deposits, more developed vineyard soils are found — Alfisols — showing clay accumulation horizons yet still skeleton-rich and fairly deep.
• The climate encompasses the coldest zones of Sardinia, with a mean annual temperature of 13–15 °C, January averages that may fall below 6 °C, and rainfall of approximately 800 mm concentrated in autumn and the winter–spring period.
• Close to the Gennargentu massif, precipitation reaches 1,000 mm per year, with possible snow cover for eight to nine days annually and significant wind activity throughout the year.
• Barbagia encompasses the territory of the Gennargentu and Ogliastra, the Supramonte, and the Nuoro area, with a landscape ranging from granite boulder fields to the buttresses of the Ogliastra side of the Gennargentu. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• Archaeological excavations at Duos Nuraghes have uncovered carbonised grape seeds dating to 1300 BC, attesting to a wine culture that pre-dates the arrival of the Phoenicians around 1000 BC.
• As early as the late nineteenth century, Cettolini recorded planting densities of 7,000–7,600 vines per hectare, densities still found in the oldest vineyards capable of producing wines of outstanding quality.
• Vines are trained mainly as free-standing bush vines (alberello), this being one of the areas of the region where that training form has been best preserved, or alternatively as vertical shoot-positioned trellises pruned to Guyot or spur-cordon.

• The nutrient-poor soils derived from granite weathering reflect a close relationship between the soil water regime and the harmonious development of the vine's root system.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-IT-A0784
• Official trade body site — Laore Sardegna