A fun fact about Sardinia, known in Italy as Sardegna, and an island to the west of the Italian peninsula: It is a “blue” zone, one of five places in the world with the highest concentration of centenarians, or people who live 100 years and beyond.
I’m sure many people want to know the secret, and there are common threads across all 5 blue zones:
- Strong family and community ties
- Physical activity
- Healthy diet
- Moderate alcohol consumption
(Credit to Wine with Wanda, www.blackdresstraveler.com, for the info)
Casting aside any hypothesis that its wine is partly responsible for longevity, because we are not in the business of proving anything like that…the wines on their own are enjoyable, good value for price, and worth seeking out.
And we couldn’t be happier to introduce our partner, Audarya. The Pala family, who launched the winery about 6 years ago, bring 70 years of winemaking experience. Enrico, the father, works in the vineyards and the cellar. Nicoletta and Salvatore, sister and brother, run the winery day to day.
The name “Audarya” means “nobility of the soul”. Their winemaking philosophy is to be authentic to the land, and to let the characters of the soil and climate and grapes express themselves naturally in the wines.
Audarya has quickly risen to prominence, winning the esteemed “Tre Bicchieri” or “3 Glasses” award from the travel/food/wine publication Gambero Rosso, for its Nuracada Bovale.
I met Nicoletta Pala in New York City, at the Tre Bicchieri road show in February 2020. Gregarious and exuberant, Nicoletta took great joy in introducing me to her family’s wines. We remained in contact after the show, as Nicoletta visited other cities in the US for the road show…just prior to the lockdown in Italy, due to the pandemic.
At one point many weeks went by and I did not hear from Nicoletta. Then one day, I received an email from her; she had been forced to quarantine for 2 weeks, and after that it would be another 5 weeks until she was again permitted to go to work. I could tell she was excited to start the process of exploring a collaboration again, and we arranged for a tasting together…over Zoom.
Nicoletta introduced me to the indigenous white and red varietals, Nuragus and Monica, from Audarya’s location in Sardinia, in the southeast part of the island near Cagliari. These varietals are thought to have originated in ancient times, and the Pala family takes great pride in its examples. Nuragus, named after the ancient Nuragic people who built structures that still stand today, is a crisp, dry, slightly floral white wine. Monica is an every day, wonderfully drinkable red wine that is father Enrico’s choice as his daily wine.
For me, white wine made from the Vermentino grape was a “wow” wine…so complex, expressive, yet easy to drink. It is grown in other regions of Italy but is special and important in Sardinia. When tasting Audarya’s version with Nicoletta, I told her that it felt like tasting a wine in a field of wild flowers. Crisp, dry, with plenty of citrus, floral, and mineral characters; and a slight touch of baked bread.
The most popular wine out of Sardinia is Cannonau, genetically the same as Grenache or Garnacha. Audarya makes a wonderful version, with complex fruit characters shaped by long sunny days, but cooling influences from the sea and from mistral winds.
We are very excited to introduce the Audarya winery and the Pala family to Maryland!
See below for my tasting with Nicoletta.