 Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Horky. Have you ever tried any Cariniano from Sardinia before? For those of you who don't know, Sardinia is the second biggest island in the Mediterranean. Technically, it is part of Italy. Mediterranean climate, hot, dry, and it's perfect for the grape Cariniano. And that's what we're going to talk about today. It's also known as Cariniano in French or Masuello in Spain, where they believe it's actually from. You know, I've started to really, really fall in love with the grape and the island of Sardinia. I just got back from a trip. I've been there three or four times in the last couple of years. I'm going again pretty soon at the end of the year. And there are some really unique wines being made, wines that people I think really need to know about. The reason I went this last time was for the third annual Caliari International Wine and Food Festival. Downtown Caliari, it was a fantastic event. It was partially sponsored by Colteretti, Bank of Sardinia. There were stands, there were tons of, there were tons of wines being poured, tons of different consortios. There's a couple food stands, food competition. It was a really cool event. But the first day before the event started, I went to Succes. It's an area in the southwest corner of Sardinia. I taste with the consortio of Cariniano de Succes and that's what we're going to talk about today. For those of you who don't know, it's a grape at one time that was the most widely planted grape in the world because it can give high yields. The only problem is it can be tannic, acidic, have these wild crazy flavors that not everybody appreciates. But I think in Sardinia, it really makes some special wines. Cariniano de Succes can only be grown in vinified in the area of Succes, the southwest corner of the island. And it's cool because in France and in Spain, these grapes are sometimes blended with granace, or that kind of stuff. But here in Sardinia, they can be 85 to 100% Cariniano. So I'm going to go over one of those today. We have some famous producers like the cooperative Santati, which is known as one of the best cooperatives in Italy for red wine. We have their Reserva, the Rocca Rubio Cariniano de Succes and their Terra Brune Cariniano de Succes Superiore. It's so funny when I first tasted the Terra Brune, I thought it was good, but I thought it was a little bit pricey for what it is. You know what? I retasted the new vintages. I have to say I was wrong. I think this is a fantastic wine. Santati also has a project, a joint venture with Sasecchia. Yes, Tinnuta Sanguiolo, Sasecchia and Tuscany. And the joint venture is called Agri Punica. You know, these are their top wines, the Montesu and the Barua. These wines are not officially Cariniano de Succes because they have grapes blended into them. They're IGTs, but the Barua has 85% Cariniano. So I kind of consider it, you know, of that same style. But we're going to taste a small producer today. I have the Nero Mineira. This is by, I can't remember the guy's name. Enrico Esu, that's right. This is the Cariniano de Succes 2017. It's spontaneous fermentations. It does not see a lot of oak, if any, if I believe. And I think this is just a good example of the grape, not a big name as the Agri Punica, the Santati. There's also another fantastic producer called Sarduce there. It's another cooperative, makes some really nice well priced wines. And that's what I like about these wines. They're well priced. They offer lots of complexity for the consumer. You're going to have a dark but not pitch black color on these wines. The Nero Mineira is everything that I actually like about the grape. You're going to get some kind of red raspberries, some dark cherries on the Mediterranean brush on the nose. Cariniano has this wild kind of savage note, a little bit of meat, a little bit of pepper, really complex and interesting nose. This is what I like about Cariniano de Succes. On the palate has everything that you would expect from Cariniano. The wildness, meatiness, pepperingness. But you know, these wines in Cariniano de Succes, they are rounder, a little more silkier and easier to drink. They still have some chewy tannins, but they're not wild and crazy like other examples may find. I really feel like these wines have for enough roundness, fruitiness, and silkiness for the casual drinker, but offer enough old worthy, earthy, gamey flavors that really hardcore consumers are want. And it still has those grippy tannins and peppery finish. I think these are fantastic wines. I think I gave this wine, I'm putting it in a future article, 92 points. I think it's a fantastic wine. To learn more about these wines, you'll have to read our article about the Calleare International Wine and Food Festival. I'll put that link in the description box. So guys, do yourself a favor, go out and try some of these Cariniano de Succes wines. I mean, I think the Sant'Ade Rocorubia around the world can be found less than 20 bucks. I think the same as Montessor, the Tarabruni are a little more expensive. They're in the $30 to $50 range. Sardos Pater produces really nice wines in the under $15 range. There's other producers also doing some great things with the grape in the area. So guys, let me know. Have you tried the grape Cariniano, 100% Cariniano before in a wine? If you like this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Exotic Wine Travel. I will see you at the next episode.