Who: Umberto Zamaroni e Carlo Perfetti
Winemaker: Giovanni Rombo
Founded: 2000
Where: Carloforte, Isola di San Pietro • Sardegna
Land: 9.5 hectares
Grapes: Vermentino di Sardegna, Carignano, Bovale (Bovaleddu), Moscato Calasetta, + Nasco Aromatic
Viticulture: Organic
How many bottles: 35,000
San Pietro boasts a landscape that is fundamentally rugged and wild with a picturesque coastline with a ramble of colors and scents of the Mediterranean brushwood. The winery, Tanca Gioia, is unique to the island, founded in 2000 by a courageous duo of friends who took interest in the land with its promising climatic conditions blessed with severe terrain of volcanic soil.
They grow indigenous grapes: Vermentino di Sardegna, Carignano, Bovale (Bovaleddu), Moscato Calasetta, and Nasco Aromatic. All the vines are ungrafted (no rootstock). The cultivation of the vines is carried out with minimum human intervention, with traditional treatments and mostly no irrigation. Each vintage is peculiar, giving an appreciative wink to the moist salty wilds, full sun, and sandy soil, wines made in the vineyard. During vinification, they work to preserve the aromas, elegance, and character of the wines, not to manipulate them. All their wines live and evolve in steel and glass, they do not use oak.
With the unusual name of "U-Tabarka" which they, in a way, subtitled the winery, Tanca Gioia pays homage to their land: this name is taken from the small Tunisian village of Tabarka, where a small colony of Genoese coral fishermen settled in the late 11th century. In 1738 when the coral was exhausted, the entire colony set off back to mainland Italy. Along the route back to the mainland, they stumbled upon plenty of coral in the sea off the Sardinian southwest coast. This uninhabited island became their home. To this day, Carloforte maintains strong cultural ties with the mainland towns of Pegli and Genova: the population still speaks a variety of Ligurian language called tabarchìn (or tabarchino, in Italian), separate from both Italian and Sardinian, which is used even by most children and taught in the island's schools.
HARVEST: Manually
VINIFICATION: steel and glass - no wood.
"Giancu"
GRAPE: Vermentino di Sardegna IGT
AGE OF VINEYARD: 20 years
ALTITUDE: 200 m above sea level.
SOIL: sand
TRAINING SYSTEM: spurred cordon
HARVEST: the grapes are harvested and sorted by hand.
AGING: 6 months in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature.
COLOR: Bright straw yellow with greenish reflections.
ON THE NOSE: fresh and inviting, aromas of fresh fruit, citrus and white flowers.
IN THE MOUTH: sapid, fresh, elegant and persistent, with good structure and pleasantness.
PAIRINGS: It goes well with preparations based on fish, shellfish, white meats, fresh cheeses and summer salads. Also excellent on its own as an aperitif.
BOTTLES: 4000 (333 CASES)
ALCOHOL: 13%
“M E D I A ”
“Ciù Roussou"
GRAPE: Bovale IGT Isola dei Nuraghi
AGE OF VINEYARD: 20 years
ALTITUDE: 200 m above sea level.
SOIL: sand
TRAINING SYSTEM: spurred cordon
HARVEST: the grapes are harvested and sorted by hand.
AGING: 6 months in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature.
COLOR: Intense ruby red with purple reflections.
ON THE NOSE: Complex and enveloping, the spiciness of black pepper and bay leaf, notes of plum, cherry, and blackberry jam.
IN THE MOUTH: Slender and elegant, with excellent tannins, savory and fresh, with a long persistence.
PAIRINGS: It goes well with dishes based on red meat, game, and fatty fish such as tuna.
BOTTLES: 3700 (308 CASES)
ALCOHOL: 14%
“M E D I A ”
What’s with the flamingo on the label?
Just outside of Carloforte, in the abandoned salt pans many highly unique bird species of the Mediterranean have taken up residency, including pink flamingoes and corse seagulls. The area has become a destination for bird lovers and adds to the magic of the island.
TANCA GIOIA • U TABARKA
Carloforte, Isola di S. Pietro Sardgna