Wine Region: Sardinia

(2020) In some ways I enjoyed drinking this most of all of Antonella Corda's wines Cannonau (Grenache), here made in a very Pinot-like, soft style, the colour pale and warm on the rim and the aromas of sweet damp earth, tobacco spices and savoury dark fruits as well as a touch of pulpy strawberry adding to the charm. In the mouth the fruit is elegant and precise, with a good framework of spicy tannin and keen acidity, but again that open-knit, Pinot-like texture and overall character and balance, it is delicious and charming. Price and stockist quoted is for the 2019 vintage.

(2017) Made on the island of Sardinia from Bovale (aka the Spanish variety Graciano) this packs 14% alcohol and has a dark colour, and a nose reminding me of roasted chestnuts, plum and soy, before a palate where ripe, sweet cherry fruit leads the way, before spices, a herby-woody note and the heft of the alcohol and grippy, fairly dry rustic tannin kicks in. Most certainly a food wine, it has a delicious authenticity,

(2015) This Sardinian wine weighs in with only 12.5% alcohol, and opened with a definite though very gentle spritz, perhaps just a little dose of carbon dioxide to keep it fresh before bottling. Fresh-sliced apple and pear aromas, followed by a palate showing a good level of sweetness in a light-bodied frame, but bone dry on the finish, lemon and apple core dryness extending into a fresh, seafood-friendly finish. £8.50, The Wine Society.

(2003) This has a big, dusty, impressively concentrated nose. It is very dense and almost jammy. The palate is chocolaty and packed with sweet, ripe fruit. Massive wine really, with tannic heft powering through a big, smooth, silky palate. Very deep, concentrated and impressive stuff.

(2000) Exotically floral and fruity with little notes of spearmint and ripe peach. Lots of very juicy, fresh, mouthwatering fruit on the palate. Lovely stuff with a stripe of keen acidity and excellent length.

(2000) This had a clean lemon-scented nose with little herbal and nut aromatics and a certain oilyness. The palate has quite good fruit and though very crisp, there is sufficient fruit to stand up to the acidity.