Barbagia is inland, mountainous Sardinia, around the Gennargentu massif: stone villages, pastures, holm-oak woods and vines on granite and schist soils. It is the land of Cannonau, which gives some of its most intense wines here. The Barbagia typical geographical indication, created in 1995, gathers the area's wines that fall outside the DOCs. It is a tiny IGT: about 16 registered hectares and 150 hectolitres.
The rules
Bianco, Rosato and Rosso may use the grapes permitted in Sardinia in any proportion, and may be still, frizzante or sweet. There is also a Novello. Minimum alcohol is 10% and there is no minimum ageing.
A peculiarity on the label
When a grape name appears on the label, at least 85% of that grape is required. But the regulations expressly exclude grapes that have their own DOC in Sardinia. Among the whites, Girò, Malvasia, Moscato, Nasco, Nuragus, Semidano, Vermentino and Vernaccia cannot be named; among the reds, Cannonau, Carignano and Monica. So a Barbagia IGT cannot be called Cannonau on the label, even though Cannonau is often its base.
That is why the area's most representative wines are released as Cannonau di Sardegna, whose Classico version comes precisely from the provinces of Nuoro and Ogliastra. The IGT remains the space for free blends, minor grapes and producers' personal interpretations.
In the glass and at the table
Barbagia's mountain reds are warm and spicy, with ripe fruit and a mineral streak. They go with the pastoral cooking of the interior: porceddu, lamb, culurgiones, pane carasau, sausages and aged pecorino.
