La Contralta is a small beach a few kilometres south of Palau, near the Roccia dell’Orso. It is from here that this young winery, but with a huge wealth of experience behind it, takes its name.
The project came to life in 2019 with the purchase of a farm with 18-year-old vines south of Olbia and a stazzo in Palau where Vermentino and Cannonau are planted using the alberello method, typical of stazzi culture, in full respect of nature and the territory.
The deus ex machina at the head of the project is Roberto Gariup, an enologist from Friuli who arrived in Gallura in 2006. He fell in love with this territory to the point of putting down professional and personal roots here, bringing with him from his homeland an innate ability to make great wines. And indeed, the labels in front of us are great.
Roberto takes us on a tour of the brand new Enas winery and explains that the aim here is to produce “vertical, clean, direct wines” by working skilfully with the traditional grape varieties of our island.
He explains that it is not true, as is often believed, that Vermentino is a wine that has to be drunk within the year; on the contrary, with the right techniques in the vineyard and in the cellar it is possible to produce elegant, long-lived wines.
The production philosophy of La Contralta is sustainable agriculture: the wines are made from organically grown grapes. At the heart of the project is respect for nature, the landscape, the soil and the fruit. Also central is the granite that in this area dominates the landscape but also the soil, giving great flavour and minerality that are distinctive features of Gallura wines.
At the end of the tour in the beautiful new cellar, suspended between the modernity of the design and the tradition of the materials used, we sit down to taste the fruit of the great work of Roberto and his team.
Immediately we get confirmation of what we had been told: in front of us we have a different Sardinia, designed in every detail. Starting with the beautiful screen-printed bottles designed by archistar John Pawson and the names of the wines, a tribute to Umberto Saba.
Let’s start with Fiore del Sasso, Vermentino di Gallura DOCG, which is aged mostly in steel while the remaining 20% is aged in small first-pass French oak barrels.
We continue with the winery’s latest: Sicut erat, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT 100% from Vermentino grapes. It ferments in amphora for 67 days in contact with the grape skins, which are then separated and the wine is put back into the amphora for another nine months. Here the aromas of ripe yellow fruit, almond flowers, pastries and honey are incredibly intense.
Al Sol Brilla, probably the manifesto of this winery, is the next wine to be tasted and is a wonderful amber-coloured orange wine from Vermentino grapes. After 15 days in contact with the grape skins, the wine is aged twelve months in wood and another eight in steel before being bottled. We could go on and on about this wine, but perhaps the best thing is to enjoy it in the glass, even better if in the company of those who produced it.
We then move on to L’ora grande, Cannonau di Sardegna Doc, which is aged for six months in first-passage oak barrels. Beautiful ruby red colour, the nose expresses small red fruits, spices and a hint of balsamic scents.
We close the tasting with M’illumino, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT from Carignano grapes, aged in oak barrels for 19 months. The bouquet is intense, with hints of roses and bramble flowers, the spiciness is light.
For wine lovers who want to discover all the secrets of La Contralta we suggest a visit to the winery in Enas, 20 minutes from Altré. Here you can see where and how all the stages of the production process take place: from the arrival of the grapes to the heart of the plant where the barrels and amphorae are kept.
Click here for directions.
For those who want to enjoy an aperitif at sunset in a suggestive setting, perhaps after a beautiful day at sea, the right place is the stazzo of Capo d’Orso in Palau.
Click here for directions.
In both cases, booking is compulsory by calling +39 349 6806547, writing to visite@lacontralta.it or visiting the website lacontralta.it
Instagram: @lacontralta