U-Tabarka

Isola San Pietro – Sardegna

There is Italy. There is Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy. Then, there is San Pietro, an island off the coast of the the island of Sardinia. Here is U-Tabarka, a small winery growing Vermentino, Bovale di Sardegna, and Carignano del Sulcis. Started in 2010, this winery produces barely 60,000 bottles.

Is San Pietro unique from Sardinia. We asked one of the founders Giancarlo Perfetti, this question. His reply:

“San Pietro/Carloforte was founded in 1738 by the Ligurian people (who came from Genua/Genova). They speak differently from Sardinian people, they eat different dishes, they feel they belong to Italian mainland instead to Sardinia. The grapes we use are native grapes only, and they mainly grow in the extreme of southwest Sardinia (Carignano, Nasco, Small Bovale).
We, as the only winery on the island, want to express a particular point of view on wine, so we are not using common sardinian grapes as Cannonau, Monica, Cagnulari (which could anyway produce very good wines, no discussion on that).”

The soil here is sandy and therefore the vines are not susceptible to Phylloxera. Hence, 100% of the vines are ungrafted. U-Tabarka is one of few wineries in Europe to have ungrafted vines.

What does U-Tabarka mean? The name “U-Tabarka” is taken from Tabarka, a small Tunisian village, from where a small colony of Genoese fishermen settled in late 11th century. In 1738 the same colony moved totally to the Island of San Pietro (Saint Peter), which was until then uninhabited. The name is therefore an homage to the early settlers and their roots. That’s eventually from where all vines spring from.