Cannonau and Gamay del Trasimeno
We had a tasting of Cannonau & Gamay Trasimemo on 29th October.
Both grapes share the same DNA with Grenache/Garnacha, but grow in different regions. Cannonau grows in Sardegna while Gamay Trasinemo grows in Umbria around lago trasimeno. We served 6 wines including 3 single vineyard Cru.
The wines tasted
| Winery | wine | vintage | price (€) (1) |
| Cantine Dorgali | Viniola | 2018 | 15 |
| Puddu | Tiscali | 2020 | 13 |
| Coop Oliena | Irilai- Nepente di Oliena | 2015 | 17 |
| Sedilesu | Sartiu | 2021 | 13 |
| Sedilesu | Mamutione | 2021 | 17 |
| Cadinu | Ghirada Elisi | 2021 | 40 |
| Duca della Corgna | Divina Villa | 2021 | 11 |
| Duca della Corgna | Divina Villa riserva | 2018 | 16 |
| Duca della Corgna | Poggio Petroso (2) | 2018 | 22 |
Food pairing of Grenache wine is easy, in a way. Because it is normally spicy and rich and does not have aggressive tannin, so you don’t go really wrong. but,
We prepared a lot of food to pair with the wines, in the end we found simple neutral things actually go better with the wines today. like blank salty crackers and blank hard cheese. because the wines already have rich complex flavors, if the food also have rich and complex flavors, they end up disturbing each other, and cloud your senses.
All the wines go very well with “brigantini”, a kind of sweet soft cookie made of candied orange peel, anise seeds. all these wines are dry wines, by the way, I never believe the bullshit of “pairing sweets with sweet wines”
What do Cannonau & Gamay Trasimeno have in common?
They have rich flavors and do not have aggressive tannin and are more salty than acidic. they have more red berry flavors than black berries, they have multiple sweet and dry spice flavors and a hint of forest. They can go in two directions: one has relatively higher acidity(compared to other granaches), lighter body, volatile piercing fragrance like chili pepper and blood orange flavor ; the other has heavier body, more earthy flavors like cocoa powder, tobacco and leather.
when the wines are young, you might get more fruity and sometimes even jasmine green tea but when they get older you will get more wet leaves, mushrooms, mediterranean herbs.
What is the difference between Cannonau & Gamay Trasimeno?
Actually the difference between Cannonaus are bigger than the difference between Cannonau & Gamay Trasimeno, but there are more guests who prefer Gamay Trasimeno than the more expensive Cannonau.
What is the difference between the Cru and non-cru?
Cru/ single vineyard wines are more refined, smoother or to be more accurate: the fibers constituting structure is finer.
