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Given that Giacomo Tachis (Sassicaia, Tignanello, Solaia, Solengo, and Camartina, among others) established Agricola Punica as a collaboration between Tenuta San Guido and the Sardegnian cooperative Cantina Sociale di Santadi, it's hardly surprising that Agricola Punica's Montessu is so good. Montessu is an off-the-Super-Tuscan-track wine that owns its intense ruby red color and velvety mouth-feel. Dark fruit aromas, licorice on the nose, an elegant palate, ripe tannins and a long satisfying finish make the Montessu a stunner of an everyday drinking wine.
- Country: Italy
- Region: Sardegna
- Subregion: Carbonia-Iglesias
- Commune: Santadi
Sassicaia’s taken a trip to Sardegna, and come back with the hottest debut bottling to ever emerge from the island—Agricola Punica’s Montessu—a masterful blend of Super-Tuscan sensibility and Sardegnian flair. It wouldn’t have come to be at all if Giacomo Tachis had taken a vacation. And, if your résumé reads like a Who’s Who list of Super-Tuscans—headed up by the legendary Sassicaia, with successors including Tignanello, Solaia, and Solengo—you certainly could use a little R&R. But when Giacomo Tachis periodically stepped outside the Tuscan sunlight, he found irresistible inspiration under the Sardegnian sun.
What exactly did he see in Sardegna? Paradoxically, it looked a lot like Toscana pre-Sassicaia—a place that didn’t have much credibility on the national wine scene, let alone the international front. He set about transforming its image—but not by superimposing his Tuscan paradigm, especially as the Sardegnians weren’t interested in Bordeaux varietals (Tachis managed, however, to get a little Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in there, as well as some Syrah). Tachis sought to base his gentrification on one of Sardegna’s main grapes, Carignano—a humble berry of Spanish origin. The Sardegnian terroir favors Carignano, and with seven hours of daily sunlight, this grape enjoys a rare chance to ripen to its fullest.
Convincing his Sassicaia colleagues—Marchese Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta and Sebastiano Rosa—of this grape’s affinity for Sardegnian terroir, Tachis conceived Agricola Punica, a collaboration between Tenuta San Guido and the Sardegnian cooperative Cantina Sociale di Santadi.
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