Moscato di Sardegna

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Sardinia receives an average annual rainfall of 775 millimetres, an amount that would be sufficient for viticulture if distributed more evenly across the island and throughout the year.
• In the inland areas of the centre-north of the island, average annual rainfall reaches 1,000 mm, while in coastal zones and plains it does not exceed 600 mm, falling as low as 400 mm in the southernmost part.
• In the warm-temperate climate zone, which covers the greater part of the territory, mean annual temperature never falls below 15°C and average precipitation does not exceed 800 mm, making it the most suitable habitat for the vine up to 600 metres above sea level.
• The island is considered mountainous because its uplands, although not reaching considerable heights, have rugged forms with steep slopes and sharp gradients that influence the suitability of the land for viticulture.
• Sardinian soils include Quaternary alluvial deposits, calcareous, trachytic, basaltic, schistose, and granite-weathered soils, varying in depth and in their endowment of nutrients.
• The most frequent wind blowing over Sardinia is the Maestrale, an important natural component of the island's climate alongside the considerable windiness present in all seasons.

• The Moscato bianco variety was already known in Roman times, when Columella referred to it by the name uva Apiana, reflecting bees' attraction to the sweetness of its berries.
• The variety spread throughout Sardinia from 1736 onwards, thanks to the viticultural policy of the viceroy Marquis of Rivarolo during the Piedmontese administration, which made vine cultivation compulsory on suitable land.
• Moscato di Sardegna is traditionally produced from grapes grown in vineyards trained in the traditional bush-vine (alberello) system.
• The Moscato variety was struck by phylloxera around the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, after Sardinian vineyards had reached their greatest extent at the end of the 1800s.
• Sardinian Moscato wine was presented outside the island by the Regia Società Agraria ed Economica di Cagliari at the 6th Italian Scientific Congress held in Milan in 1845.
• Moscato di Sardegna was granted appellation of origin recognition in 1979, following the recovery of viticulture on new rootstocks after the phylloxera crisis.

• Moscato di Sardegna is bright straw-yellow in colour, with an aromatic, delicate, and characteristic nose and a sweet, delicate, and fruity palate typical of the Moscato style. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

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 PDO-IT-A1147
• Official trade body site — Laore Sardegna