2021 Santadi Carignano del Sulcis DOC Riserva Rocca Rubia, Sardinia

A focused, balanced and well-driven red with aromas of sweet cherries, pralines, dried leaves and warm spices. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. It’s well balanced with a dense core of berries and chocolate wafers on the palate and a precise, flavorful finish with excellent length. Drink or hold.

92 points jamessuckling.com

Santadi Carignano del Sulcis DOC Riserva Rocca Rubia is one of Sardinia’s great red wines and a standard-bearer for the potential of old-vine Carignano (Carignan) grown on the island’s sun-drenched southwestern coast. This is a wine with both soul and swagger, born from sandy soils in the Sulcis region where ancient, pre-phylloxera bush vines dig deep and yield grapes of remarkable concentration and finesse.

The Rocca Rubia Riserva is crafted by Cantina Santadi, a cooperative that transformed itself into a Sardinian powerhouse with the help of legendary oenologist Giacomo Tachis, the mind behind Sassicaia and Tignanello. In the late 1980s, Tachis partnered with Santadi to unlock the potential of Carignano from ungrafted vines aged 50 years and older. The result was Rocca Rubia, a wine that marries the rustic charm of the grape with the polish of skilled winemaking.

In the glass, Rocca Rubia is dark, brooding and intense. Aromas of black cherry, plums, bay leaf, scorched earth, leather and sweet Mediterranean herbs roll out with seductive warmth. On the palate, it's plush and generous, with ripe dark fruits, bitter chocolate and a salty-savoury minerality that speaks to the coastal terroir. Aging in small French oak adds fine tannins and a subtle layer of spice without overpowering the fruit. It’s powerful but never heavy, finishing long and balanced with hints of dried fig and wild thyme.

This is a wine that handles rich food effortlessly. It shines with grilled lamb, suckling pig, aged pecorino or dishes laced with rosemary and garlic. It also rewards cellaring beautifully for up to 15 years, gaining complexity and softness with age.