This post is my humble contribution to Cory (Saignee) Cartwright’s 32 Days of Natural Wine.
This is Day 15. Follow along for the rest of the voyage naturel!
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June 9th, 2010: Bari, Puglia —> Cagliari, Sardinia by plane. A day of sea and sand and too much liquore di mirto. Dawn the next day: Cagliari, Sardinia —> Sassari, Sardinia by train (and a very infrequent bus I almost missed because I fell asleep.)
Finally, I arrived to the Sassari stazione in the midday heat and blinding sun. It was a scorcher that day. I squinted. And made a fan out of notebook paper. And I waited. For what? For a man. I traveled to Sardinia to see a man. That man was Alessandro Dettori.
He was running behind. He had been in the hospital visiting his wife- who gave birth to their first child, a daughter, the night before. And he was still coming to pick my ass up? Yes, so it goes. With a general feeling of “I am not worthy,” into the car and off to the vineyard we went!
cannonau and a hazy sea in the distance
After some winding roads and chit chat, we emerged from the car in Badde Nigolosu.
Alessandro is young…youthful. Passionate and intelligent. He was excited to show me his land, his farm and his wines. Incredibly proud to be a Sardinian. Sardinian- not Italian. Those are two very different things.
The soil creeped into my weathered sandals. This felt like a happy place. As silly as that may sound. We stood in the Dettori cru where the vines have reached 139 years of age; a number that is hard for me to even wrap my brain around.
leaves burnt by the strong winds. It's OK alessandro says, they protect the rest.
wild asparagus that was growing next to a vine
after a month without rain, the soil remains dark and moist to the touch
Alessandro began working these vineyards and making wine with his grandfather when he was 12 years old. He continues to make wine as his grandfather did, with minimal interference. And to make a “simple bottle on the table”…a “wine for food- 50 years ago there was no Gambero Rosso!” Although I doubt many people could say a Dettori wine is anything but simple. I would understand that in another hour’s time when I sat down for one of the best lunches I’ve ever had.
We continued on and spoke of natural winemaking(“…this is not anything modern or new or future. It is the way it’s always been here.”), biodynamics (“Philosophy is for man- not nature.”) When pressed to define what he does, he considers himself to make honest wine…natural wine. “I make perfectly imperfect wine.”
He says you can either “make wine or an alcoholic beverage. I make wine.” It’s OK if you make an alcoholic beverage, there is a place for everyone. No need to be angry or to compete. Sometimes his wife wants McDonald’s. Once a month, she has the McDonald’s. It’s OK. But, don’t make an alcoholic beverage and pretend it’s wine.
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