Wine & Food

Sardinian cuisine has two faces. Along the coast, everything revolves around fish, while inland it's all about meat, cheese, and hearty pasta, and the island's wines are attuned to exactly this divide.

Bottarga, the dried and pressed roe of the grey mullet, is grated over warm pasta or served in thin slices with a touch of oil. Its intense, slightly smoky, salty flavor calls for a white wine with its own acidity and salinity. A Vermentino di Gallura holds its own well. It doesn't overpower the delicate fish flavor, because the two complement each other.

Culurgiones, dumplings filled with potato, Pecorino, and mint, shaped like small braided ears of wheat, come from Ogliastra in the east of the island. They're usually served with tomato sauce or brown butter. A young, light Cannonau pairs well with them. A Nuragus, with its uncomplicated citrus freshness, also works nicely, as both let the filling take center stage.

Porceddu, a whole suckling pig slow-roasted over an open fire with myrtle branches, is the island's ultimate feast dish, and its fat and crackling skin call for both tannin and acidity in equal measure. A robust Cannonau delivers exactly that. The tannins cut through the fat, while the fruit keeps pace with the smoky aroma of the myrtle wood.

Finally comes Seadas: fried dough filled with unaged Pecorino, drizzled with warm honey. Sweet and salty at once. This is a case for the old rule that the wine must be sweeter than the dessert itself. A Malvasia di Bosa or an aged Vernaccia di Oristano brings enough sweetness and nuttiness to stand up to the honey, rather than seeming thin beside it.