I had a chance to meet Antonio Argiolas and taste some of his wines from Sardinia (Sardegna) with the label of Argiolas Wines.  The tasting was held at The Royce a wine bar in Downtown Detroit, that my Bride and I have ventured to a couple of times.  While we were there, we met a couple that actually lived in the apartments upstairs and I asked if they knew any of the history of the building, as I have tried to place the building as I know that I passed it often, especially on my way home from high school as I went to catch the municipal bus back home, back then we didn’t have school busses.  The couple told me, that the building was originally built as apartments for the employees of S.S. Kresge, the “five and dimes” stores, that we called “dime stores.”  The Kresge Company eventually became “Kmart” and Detroit was still home base. I am sorry, but I find that information fascinating.

Antonio Argiolas was conducting the wine tasting and he is a direct descendant of Antonio Argiolas who founded and planted the estate in 1938.  He is regarded as the father of modern winemaking in Sardinia and he lived to the age of 102, giving credence to some that Sardinian wines are beneficial to a long life.  Antonio Argiolas inherited seven acres of wines from his father in 1938 and was the first to convert to modern viticulture.  The winery is now two-hundred-eighty hectares to the north and east of the city of Cagliari.  His sons, Franco and Giuseppe replanted the vineyards in the Eighties with the goal of reducing yields and focusing on Sardinian grapes. They produce over two-million bottles a year and the winery is now run by the grandchildren.

The first wine of the evening was Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino di Sardegna DOC 2020.  Vermentino di Sardegna DOC was established in 1988 and spans the entire island.  The origin of the grape is murky, in Italy it is Vermentino, in Provence and the Languedoc is Rolle for many centuries and some feel that it came from Spain.  The vineyards are basically limestone and marl and they received over three-hundred-days of sunshine and ocean breezes.  Costamolino is named for the area where Argiolas grows the grape.  The grapes are harvested in August and September.  They are totally involved with Stainless Steel vats for the Initial Fermentation for about thirty days and a small percentage of the wine also undergoes Malolactic Fermentation.  The wine is aged for about four months, with an additional aging in bottle for about three months.  The wine has a straw color and offers notes of stone fruits, citrus and a touch of pine.  On the palate a very nice dry wine with tones of white fruit, lemon zest, bright acidity and an abundance of mineral salinity that makes the wine seem so refreshing.