Pala Cannonau I Fiore, Cannonau di Sardegna DOC

Description

Pala Cannonau I Fiore is a red wine made on the island of Sardinia. It is made from Saridinia’s probably most famous red variety, Cannonau di Sardegna – Cannonau is another name for the Grenache grape variety.

Pala’s beginnings in the wine business in Sardinia stretch back to their first harvest in 1950. Today, under the stewardship of Mario Pala and his family, the business, wine and vineyards have been modernised and Pala is now a benchmark point of reference for Sardinia’s wine-growing industry. When Mario took over in 1950 production was concentrated on producing bulk wine for other producers. Over the years the focus has been on quality rather than quantity and has now won many awards the world over and is considered to be one of the top Sardinian wine producers. Cannonau di Sardegna is widely planted all over the island however production of Cannonau is relatively small due to the widely used practice of short pruning on vines trained using the alberello system; this drastically cuts production. Alberello translates as “little tree”.

Pala Cannonau I Fiore is made from 100% Cannonau. The vineyards are located at “Is Crabilis” (Ussana) and “Acquasassa” (Serdiana) and, as mentioned above the vines are farmed in the low espalier, alberello method. The vineyards have an average age of 35 year sold and the soils are clayey / calcareous. After the harvest the grapes are soft-pressed and left to macerate for 6/7 days. After maceration fermentation takes place at controlled temperature and then the wine is aged for 6 months in cement and stainless steel tanks prior to bottling. It is then aged for another 2 to 3 months in bottle prior to release.

The Flower on the label is the Acquilegia Nuragus, one of the two hundred endemic species of Sardinia, a symbol of its diversity. It is a rare and protect flower which grows in the Gorroppu Canyon (Gennargentu National Park).