Sapore 2010: Italian Sideways - Part 17
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Day 17, Tuesday, March 2
After breakfast we pay our bill and check out of the Hotel Moderno, cross the bridge and head south on the regional road 195, then take the 295 to Santadi, where we visit the local winery and have a nice chat with the winery director, Raffaele Cani, who opens for us the new 2009 vintage of the Cala Silente (Silent Bay) Vermentino di Sardegna DOC.
From Sant'Antioco to Santadi, to Sant'Anna Arresi, to Pula.
We then head south again to Sant'Anna Arresi where we visit the rather spectacular, yet austere Mesa winery, owned by Sardinian artist Luca Fontana, then continue in direction of Cagliari, the capital city of Sardinia, driving across a mountain ridge before hitting the coast again, where we have our now usual picnic lunch facing the water.
In the early afternoon we arrive in the cozy, clean, modern small town of Pula, less then 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Cagliari, and take a room at the upscale, off-season Sant'Efis Hotel, by the water at Laguna di Nora (Nora's Lagoon). We still feel fairly pitiful, but want to take a walk in the cool, paved downtown, which is closed to car traffic from June 1 to September 30, anyway. In a small wine and food specialty store we purchase a young red wine made from an ancient grape brought over originally by the north of Spain, which I have never heard of, the Muristellu Isola dei Nuraghi IGT by the cantina Giogantinu, which the store owner tells us we can easily pair with seafood.
Sant'Efis Hotel, Nora Lagoon, Pula
For dinner we stay put at the hotel restaurant, La Torre (The Tower), for an early dinner. We are once again the only guests and enjoy red carpet treatment. The waiter brings over a complimentary bruschetta and opens the bottle of Muristellu for us, and, since he does not know the wine either, we invite him to pour a taste for himself as well.
We totally enjoy the dinner consisting of mixed salad for Brigit and Antipasto di Terra (Land Hors D'Oeuvres) for me as starter, followed by Spaghetti alle Vongole (Spaghetti with Clams) for Brigit and Spaghetti alla Bottarga for me, and Orata ai Carciofi (Sea Bream with Artichoke) for both of us, then Brigit wraps it up with an amazing creamy white confection called Semifreddo al Torroncino for dessert, while I am quite content with the complimentary glass of Mirto, the typical Sardinian liqueur served at the end of the meal.
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- Our Own Sideways: Index
- Piω Gusto 2009 Sideways Six Parts December 2009
- Island Sideways 2009 Five parts October 2009
- Vinitaly 09 Sideways - Four parts April 2009
- Arezzo Wine Sideways 2009 - Four parts March 2009
- Birthday Sideways 2008: Lake Tahoe & Yosemite Park - Five parts October 2008
- Vinitaly Sideways 2008 - Four parts April 2008
- European Sideways 2008 - Ten parts February 2008
- Iowa Sideways: A Quest for Wine in the Midwest - Two parts November 2007
- Southwestern Sideways: A Quest for Western US Wine Not From California - Ten parts October 2007
- Lonesome European Sideways - Sixteen parts March 2007
- Partially Aborted Sideways - Five parts October 2006
- Italian Sideways 2006 - Nineteen parts April 2006
- Our Own 'Sideways' Trip - Four parts October 2005
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