La Vernaccia di Oristano is a unique product that owes its characteristics to the very restricted geographical area in which it is grown, the lower Tirso valley, in the province of Oristano.
The name derives from "Vernacula", an ancient Sardinian wine found in some writings from the early 1300s.
Legend has it that the wine originates from the tears of Santa Giusta, patron saint of Oristano, who would have created the drink to cure the malaria that plagued the area, which was rich in marshes.
The traditional cultivation calls for a concentration of around 10,000 vines per hectare with yields below 50 hectoliters of wine per hectare. To obtain sweeter berries, a particular low bush training system known as alberello latino was used, today replaced by the trellis system.
The clusters are small and cylindrical in shape, made up of small, rounded berries with very thin skin and a golden yellow color.
It appears that the name derives from "vernacula" (local grape) and is therefore of Roman origin; a hypothesis also supported by the fact that other types of vernaccia, which differ greatly from that of Oristano, are present throughout Italian territory.
Archaeological finds in the ancient Phoenician city of Tharros and the presence of an incentive to cultivate the vine in the first collection of laws of Sardinia, promulgated by Queen Eleonora d'Arborea in the 14th century, attest to the ancient origins of this enchanting nectar.
The harvest is strictly carried out by hand in the second half of September.
La Vernaccia di Oristano is a fortified wine with very intense aromas enhanced by aging in chestnut or oak barrels generally filled to 75-80% of their volume in order to allow the formation of the "flor", a veil of yeasts on the surface, which, through its action on ethyl alcohol and acetic acid, gives the wine its characteristic aromas.
A good Vernaccia, aged 10 years, can reach, and often exceed, 20% vol.
The wine presents a golden color; on the nose it is intense and complex yet at the same time harmonious, refined and delicate; one can detect aromas of myrrh, almonds and hazelnuts combined with orange peel, dried apricots, vanilla, musk and undergrowth – something truly exceptional!
On the palate it mirrors what the nose has already anticipated: finesse and harmony.
It was the first Sardinian wine to be awarded the DOC designation, in 1971.
Wine production has unfortunately plummeted, as have consumption levels, especially from the 1980s onwards, but those who produce it refuse to give up and are shrewdly seeking to promote initiatives, events and consortia.
The obtaining of the DOC disciplinare, never amended, is perhaps one of the causes of producers' problems; the disciplinare, born to promote the wine, has ended up stiffening production and making everything more difficult, according to those who try to market it.
Another contributing factor to Vernaccia's difficulties is the creation of the Valle del Tirso IGT disciplinare with an almost identical geographical delimitation.
Currently the vineyard area of the vernaccia grape variety is approximately 400 hectares, of which only half is registered with the chamber of commerce of Oristano.
Competition, especially from foreign products, and the economic crisis have done the rest, and today the wine of the Oristano area is now known to only a few palates.
In short, a wine with a fascinating history that nonetheless risks being lost, along with its emotions, traditions and ancient secrets.
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