Raìca is the exciting new venture of Piedmont winemakers Eugenio Bocchino and Cinzia Pelazza who, after escaping to the warmer climes of Sardinia over the years, recently decided to purchase a small vineyard there to showcase the island’s indigenous Vermentino (white) and Pascale di Cagliari (red) grapes. The vineyards lie on the sand and schist slopes of the Limbara Peaks, the island’s highest elevations nestled in the Northeast province of Olbia on the Costa Smeralda. Grown only a few kilometers from the sea, the wines sing with a salinity that only proximity to the ocean can provide. The farming and winemaking are biodynamic and the couple’s deep experience in Piedmont translates beautifully to this terroir, where the ocean’s moderating influence creates the temperature swings needed to sustain lovely acid structure and restrained ripeness. As with all of their wines, biodynamic farming, native yeast fermentation, minimal use of oak and added sulfites is the norm. The wines are fresh, sun soaked and salt sprayed! 

Turtles? Yes! These little guys can be found all over the vineyards.